DE LEAO KENNEL AND ITS BREEDER

DE LEAO KENNEL

The Portuguese Water Dog is sometimes called the lion dog because of the appearance of its traditional clip.  With this in mind, it is particularly appropriate for a kennel devoted to breeding only Portuguese Water Dogs to be named De Leao, as this is Portuguese for the lion. 

De Leao Kennel is owned and operated by Renee Reiherzer (Rye-her-zer).  Renee currently owns seven  Portuguese Water Dogs and generally produces one litter of Portuguese Water Dog puppies a year.  I ask that all prospective dog owners read the A Message For Prospective Owners page of this web site. 

Prospective owners and breeders who are considering using a stud from De Leao Kennel may want to explore the Photo Galleries.  Photographs of all current De Leao Portuguese Water Dogs can be found on this web page, along with pictures of past De Leao dogs and dogs produced by De Leao. 

THE BREEDER

Renee Reiherzer has been involved in dog breeding for twenty + years, starting first with Collies and moving on to Portuguese Water Dogs in 1985. 

Champion Ilara Sardio AWD ROM was Renee’s first Portuguese Water Dog.  Sardi became a champion at the age of eight months and earned the water title Apprentice Water Dog (AWD) and the title of Register of Merit (ROM) just days before his tenth birthday.  Sardi appeared on the Top Ten Group Placing Dogs list three times and on the Top Ten Sire list twice.  Sardi placed Best of Breed at the 1990 Purina Invitational dog show and placed Best of Breed at the 1995 Louisville, Kentucky dog show, where he defeated 72 Portuguese Water Dogs.  Sardi was the foundation stud of the De Leao Kennel line. 

Renee has bred and owned other Top Ten placing Portuguese Water Dogs, and she was named to the list of Top Ten Breeders in 1998,  1999 and 2002.  She also bred and owns Champion De Leao’s Malandro, who placed first on the Top Ten Dam list of 1998. In 2002 her sire Int'l & AKC CH De Leao's Close Encounter was ranked #3 and Int'l & AKC Ch Farmion's Don Juan De Leao was ranked #4.  In addition her dam In't Ch De Leao's Space Odyssey was ranked as the #1 dam for 2002. 

Since 1986, Renee Reiherzer has been a member of the Portuguese Water Dog Club of America, Inc. (PWDCA).  She has served on numerous national Portuguese Water Dog committees and currently works as a member of the Awards committee and the Judges’ Education committee.  Reiherzer acted as president of Valley of the Dogs, a Portuguese Water Dog regional club that existed as a subgroup of the PWDCA and included the states of Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.  For ten years, Reiherzer was a contributing editor at The Courier, a magazine devoted entirely to the Portuguese Water Dog.