Who we are:

Welcome to Starboard Portuguese Water Dogs!

We are Kelly and Rick Jones and live in Newark, Delaware. We have two adult girls, Meghan and Kaitlyn, who live in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Rick is retired after working 36 years as a computer engineer designing and developing large databases and health information systems. Kelly currently works part time as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist in the health care industry.

We were introduced with our first Portuguese Water Dog in 2013 with our pet Kody. Kody is one of the smartest dogs and quickly led us to fall in love with the breed. In 2019, we got our second PWD and first conformation bitch, Josie, GCHB CH Hytide-Paragon Two for the Show CGC. After finishing her Grand Championship with Michael and Michelle Scott, Rick learned how to handle to complete Josie’s GCHB and ended up attending Westminster in the spring of 2022. Josie has perfect health testing across the board and produced her first litter of 11 puppies in March 2022 with Bowie, GCHP CH Far Away Black Star CGC TKI. Out of the 11 puppies, 5 were placed in show homes and all 5 (3 dogs and 2 bitches) earned their Championship or greater in conformation.

From the March 2022 litter, our daughter Meghan owns and handles Bentley, CH Paragon-Starboard Journey into the Night. Meghan and Bentley are currently ranked in the top 10 of all owner-handled PWDs for 2024 and have completed their NOHS Bronze title.

We also kept a dog from the March 2022 litter, Dewey, CH Paragon-Starboard Night Rider of the Sea. Rick showed Dewey as an owner-handler to earn Dewey his Championship.

This is a little history of how we became breeders and handlers. On top of conformation, Rick also trains dogs in agility and water work. The most important motto we live by is the Golden Rule, treat others the way you want to be treated. As breeders and owners of wonderful PWDs, we believe in positivity and helping others. We are committed to only breeding dogs that have clear health testing to improve the quality of the breed whether your dog is participating in sports or is just a loving companion. We will continue to breed, show, and train Portuguese Water Dogs as a hobby because we are passionate about the breed. We expect to have very few litters, but we will make sure all the litters we have will be of the highest possible quality.