Know All About 'Bo'!

By Staff

Thursday, April 16, 2009, 14:14

Charlie, the Portuguese water dog had a memorable moment in its life as it entered into the courtyard of White House. Being the pet dog of the Obama girls- Sasha and Malia-Charlie (Renamed as 'Bo') is in limelight now. Here are few things that you would love to know about Bo:

The previous owners initially trained the web-footed Portuguese water dog to herd fish into nets along the Algarve coast.

Bo's breed name in Portuguese is Cao d'Agua, meaning "water dog"

The first description of the breed can be seen in the diary of a monk, written in 1297. In the diary, he mentions about a dog with a "black coat of rough hair", who drags a dying sailor out of the water.

The breed used to carry messages from ship to ship during the Spanish armada.

It is in the list of rarest pedigree from 1960s.

The average life expectancy of a Portuguese water dog is 12-15 years.

The breed sheds less hair than other breeds, releasing less of the allergy-causing protein.

Some experts say the poodle; Kerry blue terrier and Irish water spaniel descend from the Portuguese water dog.

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