Google ★★★★★ 5.0 from 49 reviews (Mar 2026)
946+ dogs trained in the Macedon Ranges Read success stories →

Portuguese Water Dog Training

Do you have a Portuguese Water Dog that needs some training help? Natalie from Crazy Kind Calm dog training can help!

With over 900 dogs trained across the Macedon Ranges, Natalie understands the unique personality and needs that come with this wonderful breed.

Portuguese Water Dogs are athletic, intelligent dogs bred to assist fishermen. They're energetic, water-loving, and eager to work — with a curly coat and an enthusiasm that needs proper channelling.

Common Portuguese Water Dog traits and training needs

  • High energy — bred for all-day physical work and needs significant daily exercise
  • Mouthy breed — uses their mouth to carry things and communicate
  • Can be exuberant and jumpy during greetings and when excited
  • Intelligent and needs mental stimulation — boredom leads to destructive behaviour
  • Pulls on lead, especially near water or when excited about activities
  • Can develop separation anxiety if too dependent on their family

Portie owners have an athletic, clever dog who approaches everything with enthusiasm. If yours mouths your hands, drags you towards every body of water, or can't settle without a good run first — that's the working heritage coming through. Their intelligence and eagerness to work with their handler makes them excellent training partners. They just need enough outlets for all that energy.

Mango - Portuguese Water Dog dog training

Portuguese Water Dog Training Options

Whether your Portuguese Water Dog is a new puppy or an older dog with some habits to work on, we've got options to suit.

One-on-one dog training
🏠

One-on-One Training

Personalised sessions in your home, where the challenges actually happen. We work together on your specific goals — whether it's pulling on lead, barking, poor recall, jumping up, or something else entirely.

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Puppy school class
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Puppy School

Group classes in Kyneton for puppies aged 8-16 weeks. Build confidence, learn essential skills, and socialise with other pups in a safe, supportive environment.

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Portuguese Water Dog (and others) Success Stories

★★★★★ Google
"We were close to the end of our tether when we contacted Natalie to see if she could assist with our young, antisocial JR terrier. Natalie has helped us to better understand the behaviours and motivations of our pups, and how to navigate and manage situations that cause angst for both pups and humans alike. Natalie has worked with us on manageable training tasks to improve behaviours in a range of real-life situations. Our relationships with our pups, and quality of life for all of us, are now much improved. I highly recommend Natalie's approach and philosophy - it's made a positive difference for us."

concar carcon March 2021

★★★★★ Google
"Our experience with Natalie was great. She is extremely knowledgeable and has a wonderful approach to dog training. We learnt so much in our 90 minutes and have already seen a huge change in our dog. Highly recommend her services!"

Rhys A May 2022

Ollie
Border Collie • Kyneton
★★★★★ Google
"We just had a family/dog training session with our dog Ollie. Not only is Nat most excellent in imparting heaps of very useful and ace knowledge about our dog, I am most stocked about how she managed to teach (or shall I say train) our kids to train the dog :) - Now that we all got taught how to best train our doggo, we can tackle it together and it's not just a "parent's" job. Thanks heaps Nat x"

Isabel Mettler

Border Collie dog training in Kyneton
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Some of the Portuguese Water Dogs (and others) We've Trained

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Maisie Labradoodle dog training
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Molly Woodend

Ready to train your Portuguese Water Dog?

Let's talk about your goals and how we can help your Portuguese Water Dog become the best dog they can be.

Get in touch