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.

Wet Dog - Water Education and Training Dog Obediance Group: A water rescue training organization for ALL breeds of dogs. Wet Dog offers several titles: WETT (Water Education & Training Tested) WETX (Water Education & Training Excellent) WETXX (Water Education and Training Double Excellent)

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:

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 Clb 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.

Dock Dogs - To the best of our ability, all dog / handler teams will compete in DockDogs events on docks that are as close as possible to the dimensions of the dock used in the Great Outdoor Games. This includes height off the water at the take-off point (20 to 24 inches), runway distance ( 30 to 48 feet) and slope of dock (none). This also includes the presence of a judging dock or extension to one side and extending another 30 feet from the end of the competition dock.

Sport Mutt - From everyday household mutts to national champions. Whether you're playing in the water, or competing in the Big Air finals. SportMutt can help make your game exactly what you want it to be.