We were part of an elite group of skilled rescuers called B.A.R.K B.A.R.K (Baseball Aquatic Retrieval Korps). That’s right, we were tasked with rescuing one of the most important items in baseball – the ball. For a few seasons starting in 2000, when home run balls were hit from Pacific Bell Park into the San Francisco Bay, six Porties would gear up, dive in, fetch the ball, and bring it to land. The balls, called “Splash Hits,” were auctioned off to benefit Pets In Need, a nonprofit no-kill shelter. No biggie, just saving lives one ball at a time!

The Portuguese Water Dog breed has ancestors dating back centuries, including the Poodle. We were bred to help Portuguese fishermen catch fish, fetch gear from the water, and deliver messages to other boats. We would swim all the way from the warm Portuguese coast to the freezing cold waters of Newfoundland and Iceland! Those were some tuff working dogs. Back home in Portugal, we’re known as Cao de Agua, which means “dog of the water.” We even have webbed feet – we might as well be amphibious! By the 20th century, technology was used to do the jobs we’d been doing for so many years, and we were no longer doing the whole fishing dog thing. Since humans didn’t need us anymore, our breed declined and we almost went extinct. If it wasn’t for a wealthy, PWD lover named Dr. Vasco Bensaude, you may not even know we ever existed! He sent ships to the Southern coast of Portugal to find some of us, and a ship captain told him of one marvelous PWD in particular. As the story goes , the owner di