American Water Spaniel Facts You Should Know (with Pictures).

by

Quick Links: Table of Contents

American Water Spaniel Breed Overview

The American Water Spaniel is a medium-sized dog.

The adult American Water Spaniel stands 1 foot, 3 inches to 1 foot, 6 inches tall at the s.

The American Water Spaniel belongs to the Sporting Dogs group.

Dogs in the Sporting Dogs group, like the American Water Spaniel, were bred to help hunters catch and retrieve feathered game. Some sporting dog breeds such as Retrievers, which were built for swimming, were bred to hunt waterfowl in water.

Whereas sporting dog breeds like setters, spaniels, and pointing breeds were bred to hunt quail, pheasant, and other game birds nest on grasslands.

Many Sporting Group breeds have thick, water-repellent coats that protect them from harsh hunting conditions.

The fact that American Water Spaniels belong to the Sporting Dogs group is one of the reasons why American Water Spaniels have the personality and temperament that they have.

The temperament of the American Water Spaniel is generally described as:

  • Energetic
  • Friendly
  • Intelligent
  • Obedient
  • Protective
  • Trainable

History of the American Water Spaniel Breed. Where American Water Spaniels came from

The American Water Spaniel is also known as the AWS and was first developed in the 1800s in and around the state of Wisconsin.

Hunters liked that the American Water Spaniel was versatile and could traverse all different sorts of terrain with water being its specialty.

The United Kennel Club recognized this breed in 1920 and was followed by recognition by the American Kennel Club much later in 1986.

American Water Spaniels are great at hunting side by side in stealth mode beside their owner and are extremely loyal and watchful dogs.

This breed can be great for families as long as they keep active with their dog.

American Water Spaniels can survive in almost all climates and are great for wet and watery places like marshes and lakes.

.

What the American Water Spaniel Looks Like

The American Water Spaniel is a medium-sized dog that is most notable for its peculiarly curly hair.

American Water Spaniels most often are liver or chocolate brown in color and have curly coats that get even curlier when wet after a bath or swimming.

This breed is bred for hunting and retrieving much like a Labrador Retriever except it can swim for long distances with exceptional skill and speed.

Water dogs that have curly coats will often have a funky smell over time that comes from the accumulated oils this coat produces to protect the skin from becoming water-logged during its adventures.

It is important to scrub and shampoo the coat weekly if it is an inside dog that does not live on a farm.

An American Water Spaniel is a sporting dog that is very trainable and eager to please.

While it will take effort to wash and groom this breed, they are sweet and loving animals to keep as companions.

It would be well worth the while to explore a life-long relationship with an American Water Spaniel.

Proper training should be started early and an owner of an American Water Spaniel should be willing to put in the time to walk their new dog or to have the property to let their dog roam.

.

Best American Water Spaniel Breeders

American Water Spaniel Breeders in the United States

We have researched reputable American Water Spaniel breeders that you can buy a puppy.

Go to this page for our complete list of reputable American Water Spaniel breeders in various states in the United States.

On this page, you will see how much these breeders sell their puppies for, and how many puppies they have available.

A few of these breeders are listed below.

  1. Tim Nichols

    Puppy Price: $800

How Long American Water Spaniels Live

The lifespan of the American Water Spaniel is typically from 12 to 15 years.

American Water Spaniels live long if they eat well, drink well, exercise well, and visit the veterinarian regularly.

How Fast American Water Spaniels Can Run

How fast a dog breed can run is a good measure of how athletic the dog breed is.

The American Kennel Club (AKC) regularly conducts dog running competitions. The AKC records the running speed of competing dogs in these competitions. These competitions are open to all dog breeds.

Based on our analysis of the speeds of 3 different American Water Spaniels, the average speed of the American Water Spaniel is 23.3 mph (37.5 kmph).

The fastest speed on AKC record that the American Water Spaniel ran in a race is 25.44 mph (40.9 kmph) and the minimum speed on record in a race for a American Water Spaniel is 21.63 mph (34.8 kmph).

Click here to see how the speed of the American Water Spaniel compares to the speed of other dogs and other mammals such as cats, horses, humans, etc.

How fast American Water Spaniel can run compared to other mammals

Good Names for American Water Spaniels

Here are some really good names that are typical for the American Water Spaniel ranked by popularity:

  • Zena
  • Bodie

How Intelligent are American Water Spaniels?

American Water Spaniel
Intelligence Rank 44 out of 130 dog breeds
Trainability Tend To Learn New Commands After 25 To 40 Repetitions

According to Prof. Stanley Coren, a Canadian psychology professor/dog trainer, the total intelligence that a dog demonstrates is the addition of three types of intelligence. These intelligence types are:

  1. Instinctive Intelligence: This is the natural intelligence that comes from instinct. For example, dog breeds that have been historically bred to be guard dogs will have a high `guarding` intelligence compared to dogs that were not bred for guarding.

  2. Adaptive Intelligence (learning and problem-solving ability): This indicates what a dog can learn to do for himself or herself. Adaptive intelligence is specific to each dog, and not breed specific. You can improve your dog`s adaptive intelligence by investing time to train your dog.

  3. Working/Obedience Intelligence: This type of intelligence is breed-specific. Certain dog breeds tend to have higher working/obedience intelligence than some other breeds. This intelligence is the closest to what we might call school-learning ability and it is based upon what the dog can learn to do when instructed by humans. This type of intelligence can be measured for each dog breed and compared to that of other dog breeds.

Professor Stanley Coren measured and ranked the working intelligence of about 130 different dog breeds.

Prof. Coren found that the American Water Spaniel has an obedience intelligence rank of 44 out of 130 dog breeds. Thus, Prof. Coren put American Water Spaniels in the `Average Working/Obedience Intelligence Dogs` category.

This means that American Water Spaniels tend to learn new commands after 25 to 40 repetitions.

However, we should mention that a dog should not be judged based on its intelligence alone. There are other important factors you need to consider when deciding on which dog breed to get. These other factors include sociability, adorability, and compatibility of the dog breed with your lifestyle.

See the intelligence ranking of some other dog breeds below:

Breed Intelligence Rank
Border Collie 1
German Shepherd Dog 3
Shetland Sheepdog 6
Belgian Tervuren 14
Collie 16
Weimaraner 21
Belgian Malinois 22
Pomeranian 23
Cardigan Welsh Corgi 26
Chesapeake Bay Retriever 27
Bedlington Terrier 40
Curly-Coated Retriever 41
Kuvasz 42
Chinese Shar-Pei 51
Maltese 59
Italian Greyhound 60
Chihuahua 67
Shih Tzu 70
Pekingese 73
American Bulldog 77

How Popular are American Water Spaniels with New Dog Owners?

Every year, the American Kennel Club (AKC) publishes information on how popular a dog breed is in that particular year. The AKC gets the popularity information of a breed from how many dogs of that breed the owners register with the AKC every year. The AKC collects this data for about 200 dog breeds.

The graph below shows the popularity trend of the American Water Spaniel.

The popularity of the American Water Spaniel averaged over the years is Number 159 out of about 200 dog breeds.

Do not get a dog breed just because it is a popular dog breed. And do not reject a dog breed just because it is an unpopular breed.

Health Problems in American Water Spaniels and How to Prevent Them

Every dog breed has its own set of health problems that it tends to develop. There is nothing like a perfect dog breed.

The American Water Spaniel is prone to certain genetic health conditions. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) is an organization that keeps track of genetic health problems in dog breeds.

From the extensive records that the OFA keeps, the OFA knows what health problems each dog breed is naturally prone to develop.

Hence, the OFA recommends which health screening breeders should perform on a dog breed to make sure that the breeders won`t breed `defective` dog parents that can pass down defective genes to their puppy offspring.

If you want a American Water Spaniel puppy that will grow up to be healthy, make sure that your American Water Spaniel breeder screens your puppy or your puppy`s parents for the health problems that the OFA recommends for your puppy`s breed. This will increase the chances that your puppy is free from genetic defects.

The following are the health tests that Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) recommends that breeders should screen American Water Spaniels for:

  1. Cardiac Evaluation
  2. Eye Examination- Biennial exams until age 6 (every two years).
  3. Hip Dysplasia

You can find out more about OFA`s recommended tests for American Water Spaniels here.

Dog Breeds That Are Similar to American Water Spaniels

If you have not made up your mind on which dog breed to get, you may also want to consider some other dogs similar to the American Water Spaniel.

We crunched the numbers and found that the following dog breeds that have similar behavior and temperament as the American Water Spaniel:

  • Border Collie (74 percent match with American Water Spaniel). Learn more about the Border Collie here.

Other Things to Know About American Water Spaniels

Here are some of the very important characteristics of the American Water Spaniel that you need to know about the American Water Spaniel breed:

  • American Water Spaniels do not like to be left alone.
  • American Water Spaniels do not have the tendency to drool.
  • American Water Spaniels do not adapt well to apartment living.
  • American Water Spaniels are not the best dogs for new dog owners.
  • American Water Spaniels cannot tolerate cold weather. They are vulnerable to the cold.
  • American Water Spaniels do not get along well with other dogs.
  • American Water Spaniels have a very low prey drive. This means they get along well with other pets.
  • American Water Spaniels do the things they do with very low vigor. They are not forceful.
  • American Water Spaniels can tolerate hot weather.
  • American Water Spaniels are very easy to train.
  • American Water Spaniels are easily disturbed by noise in their environments. They are sensitive to human tone. They will understand the tone of your voice when you try to correct their behaviors with a firm tone.
  • American Water Spaniels are great family dogs. They are very affectionate with family.
  • American Water Spaniels get along well with kids. They are kid-friendly.
  • American Water Spaniels are prone to nip and chew at things.
  • American Water Spaniels have a high tendency to wander. They are easily distracted by other animals or objects.
  • American Water Spaniels have very high energy levels. They need a lot of exercise time to release their high energy.
  • American Water Spaniels require a lot of exercise. They are good for owners who like to exercise.
  • American Water Spaniels are very playful.
  • American Water Spaniels weigh 25 to 45 pounds when fully grown.
  • American Water Spaniels are 1 foot, 3 inches to 1 foot, 6 inches tall at the s when fully grown.
  • American Water Spaniels have a lifespan of 12 to 15 years.