the novice trainer there are many books available to help in getting started with the training process. It is often best to avail yourself of a couple of books to develop an understanding of the various techniques used and to find a program that best fits your needs and personality. There are also numerous training clubs and professional trainers around the country that will assist members in accomplishing the task of creating a good flushing dog or retriever, and new owners will benefit from searching out such groups to assist them with the process. What is most important is that the novice trainer seeks assistance so that the training techniques used are appropriate and will lead to success for both the dog and trainer.
The American Water Spaniel’s webbed feet and all-around field abilities make it a natural and confident water retriever.
SPANIEL OR RETRIEVER
If you find yourself among a number of American Water Spaniel owners and want to effect a strong debate, just ask the question, “Are these spaniels or retrievers?” The answer will vary from owner to owner and probably be centered more upon how each owner uses his dog in the field than on the actual characteristics of the breed.
This has been a long-standing debate among AWS field enthusiasts and is likely the root cause for the delay in classifying the breed with the American Kennel Club. Even the solution to ending the debate over classification involved a compromise of sorts that permitted the two sides of the argument to meet somewhat in the middle with the spaniel supporters gaining AKC classification as a flushing spaniel and the retriever supporters obtaining a requirement that no title is awarded until a dog demonstrates its ability as a retriever in American Water Spaniel Club Retrieving Certificate Tests.
Tangle, owned by Jim McKibben, with one of several ducks retrieved during a morning’s hunt in Wisconsin.
It has long been stated that the chief cause for the debate about “spaniel or retriever” is found in the breed’s name, the American Water Spaniel. If it were not for throwing that word “water” into the name there might never have been this controversy and people may have been more accepting of the breed’s abilities as an all-around hunting dog. It may also have been helpful if there would have been a designation by the American Kennel Club or some other voice of authority defining just what a water spaniel is and what it does so that it could be compared to other types of dogs like retrievers, pointers or spaniels.
While the answer to this debate may never be determined, one can look to noted experts to find a clue to the likely answer that may actually lay this matter to rest. First is to find a definition of just what a water spaniel is, and we get somewhat of an explanation from John R. Falk’s The Complete Guide To Bird Dog Training, where he describes the American Water Spaniel as a dog that was “…developed principally for duck hunting, his versatility was recognized early on and even in the latter part of the nineteenth century he saw considerable work springing marsh birds in the lowlands and ruffed grouse and rabbits in the uplands.” It is this versatility to function both as a retriever and as a flushing dog along the varied cover of wetland areas that makes a water spaniel.
So, according to Falk, we should not look upon a water spaniel as simply a retriever but as much more. It should be a versatile dog that is capable of flushing game and retrieving it from land or water. This is in keeping with the writings of many of the breed’s early developers and supporters, including Driscoll Scanlan, who was quoted by Howard Peterson in 1938 as saying, “As a retriever the American water spaniel is well-nigh perfect by nature...The American water spaniel is equally at home afield or astream. Endowed with a faultless nose, this breed works thicket, rough ground or almost impenetrable covert, depending on body scent for game location...It does not point game but springs it...The dogs are easily trained, quick to learn to drop to wing and shot.”
If that is not enough to help settle the debate one can also read the words of John Scofield, a prominent breeder of the 1940s and 1950s who wrote, “There seems even today some confusion on the part of individuals who want to classify the American as a Retriever. This is a mistake and should never be considered. The American is typical Spaniel; his heritage proves that beyond a doubt, and the American Kennel Club upholds that Spaniel classification.”
Looking back at the writings of the breed’s originators and early promoters helps us to see exactly how they looked upon the AWS and its special fit in the world of sporting dogs. With the advent of American Kennel Club classifications and the special testing program established by the AWSC, maintaining the American Water Spaniel as more than simply a retriever should be easier. With AWS owners able to test the versatility of the breed rather than relegating it to nothing more than retriever tests, the breed should stay true to its root heritage and characteristics.
For 50 years, from the time of initial AKC recognition, the American Water Spaniel’s breed standard remained unchanged. Then, in 1990, at the urging of the AKC and in an attempt to better explain key aspects of the breed’s physical characteristics, the standard was changed to that which is found today. The standard is used as a blueprint for the breed’s ideal physical structure and serves as a guide breeders should follow when choosing to produce quality American Water Spaniels. The breed standard also serves as a measure by which judges can evaluate dogs presented to them at conformation shows. By seeking out the opinion of conformation judges and evaluating one dog against others of its kind, breeders are able to make more informed decisions regarding the dogs best suited for their particular breeding program.
A little white on the chest or toes of the American Water Spaniel is permissible by the AKC breed standard.
Most American Water Spaniel breeders understand that maintaining the breed’s physical characteristics is as important as maintaining the breed’s original purpose as an all-around hunting dog. People choosing to breed their American Water Spaniels should pay particular attention to the symmetry of the breed’s physical qualities and to avoid overdoing one characteristic for another. Novices will do well to seek the advice of a knowledgeable AWS breeder and to work with the person from whom they obtained their AWS, if that person has himself been breeding for a substantial period of time. Such breeders will have the best understanding of the strengths and weaknesses found within their own line of dogs and thus can best direct the novice along a positive path.
One of the first physical attention-grabbing characteristics of the AWS is the breed’s coat. The coat can be curly, marcel or some variation of the two. What the coat should not be is straight or flat, except in specific areas of the body which include the face, forehead and fronts of the legs. A dog whose coat is predominately flat does not properly represent the American Water Spaniel’s ideal coat type. The term marcel is used to describe a wavy coat pattern as opposed to one that is curly and is a term that is often misunderstood by newcomers to the breed. Such individuals should remember that the breed was first recognized in the 1920s, an era that produced “speakeasies” and female dancers called “flappers.” It was one of the flapper hairstyles that was worn tight to the skin with uniform waves that most likely influenced the term used to describe a wavy-coated American Water Spaniel as marcel.
BETTER THAN THE AVERAGE DOG
Even though you may never show your dog, you should still read the breed standard. The breed standard tells you more than just physical specifications
