Lagotto Romagnolo

yep. they were used for hunting waterfowl but lost that job due to man irrigating the marshlands. now they are used to hunt for... TRUFFLES! according to the book i have it is the only breed specialized in this skill.  the book also says that truffle-searchers have kept their knowledge of this breed a secret due to their keen ability at finding them.
well... i guess the secret is out now! lol

cute little dogs eh?

Never heard of them!  I cannot even pronounce it's name!  Not to be mean but that dog is kinda ugly.

Aw I think they're kinda cute! I'm on the lookout (casually) for curly or wire-coated dogs who aren't terriers for some friends of mine who want to get a family dog soon but the mom is mildly allergic to dogs. Some other people in their family have PWDs and that always gets my vote but for some reason they keep looking at other breeds and the dad really really wants a pound mutt (but with allergies in the family, that might not be such a great idea). I'll file this breed away in the memory banks for next time I see them. I just don't see them as a terrier household. Two young kids, first-time owners, I don't know, maybe it's my terrier bias showing.

Spanish Water Dogs or Perro d'Agua are also gaining in popularity (comparitively) here in the US. They are a general purpose farm dog similar in their native land to the English shepherd here - farm protection, hunting, and light duty herding. They are apparently not as intense as many herding breeds, favoring their water retriever genetics more strongly than, say, the typical American farm cur or shepherd.

Curly coat, docked tail - they are extremely handsome dogs, I think - I'd love to have one someday. The coat can be clipped, styled long, or corded and is of course low shedding since they are closely related to the PWDs, poodles, etc. Right now they are FCI and UKC only (not sure about UKC). Since one line of my family is Spanish I'd be combining my Scottish heritage with my Spanish in my dog choices! (BCs with the SWD).

Is this not the most adorable dog you've ever seen? []

These guys are really growing in popularity over here. I've been seriously tempted by them because they've had all the prey drive bred out of them so they aren't distracted from the truffles. Good for my rabbits. []

I got to see one at a show a few months ago when I was meeting some Finnish Lapphunds. It was way too cold to stop to chat, though, and there was a massive storm blowing in. They're quite cute and apparently very sweet. I'm secretly wanting to find a dog to train to find bat roosts by smell so I can take it to work with me. There's a guy over here that's been training dogs to sniff out bat roosts quite successfully. I don't think the water catchment folks would be convinced to let me take a dog into their precious water catchment, though (even though there are coal miners mining under it!), and it would be hard to find accomadation for a work dog. [:'(]