| What is Water Rescue? Water Rescue is a type of training which is popular with water dogs like Newfies and PWD’s. Dogs are trained to perform life-saving tasks, like towing a person to shore, taking a life jacket out to a person, and towing a boat. For many years, only the national breed clubs of various water dog breeds sanctioned water rescue training and certification. In 1992, a group of people (under the leadership of Judeen Stauffer) in Texas developed WET DOG, whereby dogs of any breed could be trained for and gain titles in water rescue work. |
| Dog Scouts: Offers merit badges for different levels of water safety, boating safety and water rescue. | ||||
 Water Safety Level 1 (Puppy Paddlers) |
 Water Safety Level 2 (Beach Buddies) |
 Water Safety Level 3 (Boating Safety) |
 Water Safety Level 4 (Water Rescue I) |
 Water Safety Level 5 (Water Rescue II) |
Related Programs and Links:
Golden Triangle Dog Obediance Group: Water Education Training
Colonial Newfoundland Club - Water Rescue Dogs: The Newfoundland Club of America awards the following titles for water competition: WD=Water Dog and WRD=Water Rescue Dog. They also offer WET DOG.
Newfoundland Club of America - NCA Water Test Regulations: The NCA Water Tests are a series of exercises designed to develop and demonstrate the abilities of purebred Newfoundland dogs in an aquatic environment. Historically, the Newfoundland has functioned as a working companion to humans in draft and water rescue work.
Portugese Water Dog Club of America - Water Trial Manual:The PWDCA Water Trial program is the beginning of another chapter in the history of the Portuguese Water Dog as it provides a context in which to record our present efforts to preserve the past and insure the future of this noble working water dog.