Craig and Suzanne Kuehn
Our Family and Travels
We were introduced to Portuguese Water Dogs when Suzie was looking for dogs that don't shed. When a cancer sniffing dog from Berkeley had her litter in 2002, Olivia was picked out. Olivia won her first dog show when she was nine months old. It didn't take long for Olivia to earn the title, champion.
We were introduced to world we knew nothing about - dog shows.
We had no idea at the time that Olivia would have a special dog in her first litter. Lady Bug was that dog. Lady Bug went on to earn more points than any other Portuguese Water Dog in US history. She was in the Best in Show ring two years in a row at Westminster.
When Olivia was pregnant with her second litter, our Breeder took her to nationals just for marketing purposes. She surprised everyone by earning an Award of Merit. This went to the top ten PWDs in the country.
After not eating for a few days and only a few bites for the proceeding week, Olivia was put down on February 26, 2018 . Olivia had other physical issues.
The breeder asked to take another dog, one that was twice size of the other puppies in his litter. That's how we got Brutus. Brutus is a year younger than Olivia and always acted like a puppy. Brutus is also Olivia's nephew (though we think they are unaware of that).
In all the dog shows we have attended, Brutus is the biggest PWD we have ever seen. Brutus is also a little ADD. So it came as very pleasant surprise when Brutus made Champion.
In September 2016, we learned the sad news that Brutus had bladder cancer. Four months after his diagnosis, Brutus died January 14, 2017.
Our breeder is Aviator Kennels in Shingle Springs, CA.