Friday 27 February 2009

Portuguese Water Dogs

The White House's promised "first puppy" is to be of the Portuguese Water Dog breed, according to the BBC. (I am grateful to a dog breeder who contributed to "Good Evening, Wales" for the information that they got their name because they were used to swim between fishing-boats with messages in the days before mobile phones.)

Our friend Gary Lewis of Maesteg will no doubt confirm that they are more robust than the breeds which suffer grotesque genetic deformities, such as are listed here.

However, I worry that they may not be the complete answer to Malia Obama's allergy problem. Dog and cat saliva is a major allergen, as I found to my cost when young, staying with an aunt who kept poodles. This is another breed whose selling point is that it does not shed hair.

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