About Legado
Welcome to Legado PWDs, home of the "Ladies of Legado", and their breeder Janis Watts. Founded in 1984, Legado has produced many top quality Portuguese Water Dogs who have achieved their titles in the breed ring as well as in performance venues such as obedience, agility, rally and water work. Along with those titled dogs have come an equal number of top quality, loyal and dedicated family dogs who have won the hearts of their owners over a lifetime.
The search for just the right companion dog for me and my partner at that time, Mart Miller, began in the early 1980's. It wasn't until watching the Westminster Kennel Club show, seeing a most unfamiliar, but intriguing dog, that was so totally impressive, I knew at last, I had found the dog I was looking for, . . . but I did not know what kind of dog it was! With not much information to work with the search began (pre-internet), and it took several months before I discovered that I had seen none other than "Charlie" (CH Charlie de Alvalade), the beloved ambassador of the breed. . . and finally I discovered that this awesome dog was a Portuguese Water Dog.
At last, knowing what I was looking for, I set about trying to locate a PWD, wanting to learn everything I could about the breed... That too, turned out to be quite a challenge, but finally there was one PWD entered in a local dog show and the long-awaited meeting was about to happen. "Dora" was her name, (Ch Isodora do Mar) and as I knelt down to pet her, she came up to me, placed one paw on my shoulder, and pretty much let me know that this would be the beginning of a life long love affair for me with Portuguese Water Dogs. She was right! Charlie was the bait, Dora set the hook, and I've been caught in that net ever since. Incidentally, a number of years later Mart and I co-owned a dog named Thor (CH Thor of Dell Mountain, CD) who happened to be a son from a mating between Charlie and Dora! Thor is still a part of my breeding program.
After a lengthy search, in 1984 I finally found my first Portuguese Water Dog, "Lucy",( CH Lucia Flor de Mar) in New York. Although she got her Championship and her CD, Lucy was never bred due to mild hip dysplasia. It was through Lucy that I was introduced to the world of dog shows, and some wonderful PWD owners who have been good friends for many years.
When Lucy was a little more than a year old, the search for a 2nd PWD, ultimately my foundation bitch began. In 1985 "Leza" (Ch Gentileza do Mar), from the kennel of Sonja Santos in New York, became Legado's foundation bitch. Leza graced Legado with many excellent Portuguese Water Dogs of exceptional temperament and quality. During those years, there were very few PWDs in Arizona, and we mostly had to travel to California to find other PWDs for competition. We traveled with both Lucy and Leza, who soon came to be known as the "Ladies of Legado". As the years passed, more Ladies joined the pack; you will meet them along with other members of the Legado family. At the present time my "Ladies" are Lyndy, Leal, Loni, Libelu and Liza.
As for me, I am a semi-retired administrator of a busy OB/GYN practice in Glendale, AZ. A lot of my time is spent with the PWDs, we train for agility, obedience, tracking and water work, and when we're not training we just hang out and have fun together. I am a member of the Arrowhead Kennel Club, several PWD Regional clubs, a founding member of Rio Salgado PWD Club, a member of our national club, PWDCA, since 1984, and now serving on their Board of Directors. Also, as an approved AKC judge for Portuguese Water Dogs, I enjoy the opportunity to attend shows when invited to judge the breed. And ever so often we have a litter of PWD puppies and that is when the fun really begins . . . !