Irish Water Spaniel breed guide

The Irish Water Spaniel is hardworking and brave in the field and playfully affectionate at home, alert and inquisitive. AKC calls it playful, smart and eager to please, a reliable worker that will try its best so long as it understands what you ask.

It has lots of energy, appreciates a job and needs fun, interesting training sessions to keep from getting bored.

Irish Water Spaniels live 12 to 13 years. AKC says your veterinarian should be reminded that the Irish Water Spaniel may react badly to sulfa antibiotics and the deworming medication Ivermectin.

Most Irish Water Spaniels are healthy and responsible breeders screen for hip and elbow dysplasia, allergies and thyroid disease.

Grooming should begin early, so the dog learns that it is a positive experience and gentle brushing and nail and ear cleaning belong in the regimen.

A typical sporting dog, the Irish Water Spaniel is active and high-energy and needs lots of daily exercise: long walks or hikes, running alongside a bicycle, chasing a ball in the backyard or playing with other dogs.

By at least the late Middle Ages rat-tailed spaniels were working the waterways of southern Ireland and curly-coated Irish water dogs matching the Irish Water Spaniel description appear in Renaissance writings.

The Irish Water Spaniel as we know it began in the 1830s, when sportsman Justin McCarthy set the type with his famous dog Boatswain. It has since earned a reputation on both sides of the Atlantic as an incomparable retriever of waterfowl.