Overview
The English Water Spaniel was a British gundog used mainly for hunting waterfowl. It looked like a curly-coated springer spaniel, usually liver and white.
The breed died out in the early twentieth century, with the last dogs seen in the 1930s. It is thought to have helped shape several modern breeds.
History
Water spaniels were described by Dr John Caius in 1570 and were probably known to Shakespeare. By the early 1800s the breed was named in sporting books and used for duck hunting in East Anglia. It predates the Irish Water Spaniel, which was developed in the 1830s.
By the late nineteenth century few true specimens remained, and the Kennel Club offered only a class for water spaniels other than Irish. The breed was gradually absorbed into other spaniels and was extinct by the 1930s. It is thought to have contributed to the American Water Spaniel, Curly Coated Retriever and Field Spaniel.
Appearance
A lean, long-legged spaniel about 51 cm tall with a long, narrow head, small eyes and long ears covered in thick curls. It had a barrel-shaped body and large feet, and a curly water-dog coat, typically liver and white with a white belly and brown back.
Temperament
Records describe an intelligent and capable worker, a strong swimmer that dived as well as the ducks it hunted and was clever enough not to be lured away from nesting places.
Care and exercise
The breed no longer exists, so it cannot be kept. It was a working gundog that would have needed plenty of swimming and active work.
