Irish Water Spaniels

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Irish Water Spaniels

Posted : 9/25/2006 4:05:05 PM

We have had brittany's and English Springers, but I have always admired the Irish Water Spaniel, unfortunately, there aren't many represented in the Great LakesArea, although I have seen more recently. Any good info on them? How do they fare with other dogs? How stubborn are they? Is coat maintenance a big issue? Usually the ones I have seen are groomed out for conformation, and I am sure that there is an investment of time for that, but day to day maintenance is what I am wondering about.

C K

Posted : 9/25/2006 6:21:30 PM

I've met three Water Spaniels so far. I think it was 1 American and 2 Irish. Either way, one of the Irish ones had been trained for service work, I believe he was there to help the woman get up if she fell, but I'm not sure. She swears by the breed. They seem to do well with other dogs, the three I met all lived together. I don't know much on their temperament other than the fact that they were very sweet dogs, but by how well the service dog performed, they didn't seem very stubborn at all. Coat matinance isn't a huge issue, the coat needs to be brushed out a couple times a week, but it didn't seem like it matted too badly. Again, I've only met the dogs a few times, but every time I've seen them they seemed to be perfectly behaved and somewhat laid back. Once they hit the lake though.... lol

kritter714

Posted : 9/25/2006 6:42:09 PM

I know several irish water spaniels tempraments vary wildy from very sweet to very dog aggresive with most on the sweet end they look laid back but really are balls of fire as my friend says they should vibrate with energy grooming is not to difficult as far as I can see no where as difficult as a poodle.
they do have major issues with seizures very few lines are seizure free