The Irish Water Spaniel, or Dog of Irish Water, is a dog at once rare and very original, which, although it is not a new arrival in the canine world, represents a certain mystery still. Where is he from? How old is he? Everything related to this dog before the nineteenth century is apparent from the legend or suppositions.
Some scholars argue that the Irish Water Spaniel is at least two thousand years old, as it would be a direct descendant of known water dogs in the Middle East and Egypt well before our era. The latter would also be the ancestors of the Barbet and the Portuguese Water Dog, and it is easy to imagine that the Arabs could be responsible for their arrival in Europe, they who occupied the Iberian Peninsula for many centuries and have advanced as far as Poitou. But, with regard to whom the Water Spaniel would have made the long journey from the Middle East to Ireland, the question remains unanswered.
For other dog breeders, the breed would be at most two hundred years old, because its history would go back to the French Revolution. Aristocrats emigrating to Ireland would have brought with them great Poodles able to hunt in the marsh, then the crossings of these poodles from France with Setters (Irish of course) would have resulted in the creation of the current Irish Water Spaniel. The defenders of this version are the most numerous, especially in France, naturally, because it is quite plausible that the emigrants, aware of the cynegetic possibilities of the green Erin, have carried in their luggage dogs of water, which do not could be Poodles or Barbets (which, at the time, was little different). On the other hand, the dark brown color of the Irish and Poodle breeds are quite similar from a genetics point of view.
Such an argument, of course, has its detractors, especially among the British; A. Gondrexon-Ives Browne states, for example: "This hypothesis is to be dismissed because of the totally different structure of the hair. The absolutely pure inheritance of the breed tends to prove that it has been raised for a very long time without any contribution of foreign blood. Indeed, it is true that the hair of the Poodle is of a fine and woolly texture, that it is very long and forms elastic crimps, whereas that of the Water Spaniel is oily and forms short stiff curls. Moreover, it is undoubtedly to the oily nature of the hair of the Spaniel of Water that another suggestion is made: that of a possible kinship of this dog with the Retrievers; all originating, more or less directly and exclusively or not, from the island of Newfoundland; and especially with the Curly Coated Retriever. However, according to the literature on this latter breed, it appears that the Water Spaniel is an ascendant of the Curly Coated rather than the reverse.
Even the "classic" authors of canine history provide little clarity. Thus, Hugh Dalziel, in British Dogs, admits that the origins of this dog remain unknown, while emitting the idea that he could be the ancestor of all the Spaniels. There are few books on Irish dogs, and when Colonel HC Cane quotes passages from Anna Redlich's The Dogs of Ireland in his study of the breed, nothing is known about the past. Irish Water Dog, except that this dog is the only survivor of three breeds assigned to the same job.
It is likely that the Irish Water Spaniel will keep its secret for a long time. On the other hand, the milestones of his career in the field of dog-eating are a tangible field on which one can rely, because, when one asserts that it was about 1834 that began its rational breeding, this does not prejudge anything the seniority or the recent creation of the breed. It seems that this dog appears for the first time in an exhibition in 1862, during one of the first events of its kind in the world, in Birmingham. It is certain that it was found in 1873 in Manchester: the five judges, who had to examine subjects belonging to 31 races, should not have seen much Irish Water Spaniels before, since they included him in the class. "Other breeds" in the company of a dachshund. It should be noted, however, that the Water Spaniel of Ireland has the honor to be part of the small number of breeds recognized with certainty at this date, since it appears in the Kennel Club's first Studbook (born in 1873). This Studbook, published in 1874, is none other than the census of the dogs presented in the thirteen exhibitions which took place between 28 and 29 June 1859 (Newcastle) and the 24, 26 and 27 December 1873 (Manchester).
It was not until 1890 that the first Irish Water Spaniel Club was created, which testifies to the rarity of the breed, even so far. It is at the end of the century that this dog spreads among waterfowl hunters, and especially among the most passionate of them, who do not hesitate, for example, to cross the Channel to practice their favorite sport. The British thus frequent various territories in Picardie, in Brittany and in Normandy, with a predilection for the marsh Vernier, near Pont-Audemer, true paradise of the hunt. The Irish Water Spaniels had to be introduced in quite large numbers and enough to impress the local hunters, since they are at the origin of the race named Epagneul de Pont-Audemer.
The Irish Water Spaniel will experience the height of its popularity during the inter-war period. In 1926 a second race club, the Irish Water Spaniel Association, was created, and until the eve of the Second World War, the statistics record an average of fifty subjects each year. This figure may seem modest, but the very narrow specialization of the race must be taken into account; In addition, the Water Spaniel must withstand the growing popularity of the Retrievers (Game Rapporteurs), who also have strong skills for working with water. Finally, its very original appearance should not make us forget that it can not be converted into a pure companion role, because of its oily hair. A population of the order of half a thousand subjects, at that time, seems more than honorable. In the years 1920 - 1930, the breed was established in the United States, Canada and France.
After the Second World War, which decimated its breeding, the Irish Water Spaniel will go through a difficult period. It is obvious that the possibilities of use of this dog tend to be restricted, because the swamps are almost everywhere drained to be transformed into farmland, when they do not become natural reserves, prohibited to hunting. Fewer and fewer, too, are the hunters who decide to opt for hyperspecialized breeds, which would require them to have several dogs permanently to hunt different game in different territories.
The scarcity of Irish Water Spaniel may have seemed inexorable, but the extent of its decline in the 1950s provoked a reaction: a dog so original and part of the British canine heritage has no right to disappear. So there were enough fans to put the Irish Water Spaniel in the limelight, and today its numbers have never been so important since they are in the order of a thousand in Great Britain. Britain.
This dog, as its name and appearance clearly indicate, is specialized in hunting marsh, pond, estuary and on the seashore. The work in the water, the most demanding, requires that the dog is has a very robust constitution and a temperament to match. This is the case of Irish Water Spaniel, whose character can be described as ardent, impetuous, energetic, and to whom one can not deny, moreover, a great physical courage. And the Irish dog still has other assets, also essential: its skin a bit oily, its greasy hair and his fingers "webbed" (the fingers of all dogs are "webbed", more or less, but the Water Spaniel is part of the breeds whose interdigital membrane is particularly developed).
However, the Irish Water Spaniel can showcase his qualities in various jobs. Thus, his retriever atavism appears very pronounced, for he has many noses, and, as befits any good retriever, he has. great training skills, so fiery and passionate. But it is recommended not to delay in undertaking his education: if he learns quickly and well in his youth, he is less malleable when he reaches adulthood. Very enduring, with a lot of memory, having the sweet tooth with game, the Irish Water Spaniel is therefore a first strength retriever, as at home on land as in water. Indeed, its curly fleece which protects it very effectively in ice water also protects it from the climatic rigors, the contact of the spine and the brambles. And, of course, used like any other Spaniel, this duck and waterfowl specialist will be of great service in hunting rabbits or running birds.
Like any Spaniel who respects himself, he is sometimes a bit cabochard, but in a fairly firm hand, it is a dog pleasant to live, very attached to his masters, affectionate and balanced: in a word, a very good companion, except for the fact that his oily hair imposes some constraints. Her fleece is also extremely dense and therefore requires regular care, failing which she tends to bathe, string, which removes much of its cachet; and is not allowed in exhibitions.
The original aspect is today a pledge of success for the races which are provided with it, and, from this point of view, nature spoiled the Irish Water Spaniel: it suffices to observe his eyes, slightly bridles, which give him a particular look; his tail, first covered with the same curly hair as the rest of the body, and ending in "rat's tail". |
White on Chest.
English (United Kingdom) 
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