About IWS
10 things you might not know about Irish Water Spaniels
1) They were originally bred to hunt, flush and retrieve wildfowl in the marshes and bogs of rural Ireland.
2) All of the IWS in the world can be traced back to a single dog Boatswain, bred in 1834 in Ireland by an Irish Field Sports Enthusiast Justin McCarthy from Dublin.
3) The Irish Water Spaniel is the only surviving Water Spaniel breed in the British Isles, all others are now extinct.
4) The Irish Water Spaniel coat doesn’t moult and can be spun and knits similar to alpaca. They are worth considering for anyone who suffers from asthma or allergies.
5) They have webbed feet which makes them very strong powerful swimmers.
6) The breed remains rare, with just 105 being registered in 2006.
7) Their most distinctive feature is the breed’s coat which has crisp dense curls of a liver brown colour.
8) They make good family pets and are loyal, endearing and affectionate, possess a real sense of humour and are great fun to be around.
9) The modern IWS is a multi purpose Gundog and can be used for wildfowling, picking up, rough shooting (both flushing & retrieving) and in the beater’s line flushing game.
10) The Irish Water Spaniel possesses exceptional powers of scent and at least one has been used as a “Sniffer Dog”.