THE ENGLISH WATER SPANIEL. 

 BY WILLIAM A. BRUETTE. 



Y many the old English Water Spaniel is considered 

 extinct, but this claim I can not allow, for scattered 

 throughout Great Britain, as well as in a few 

 instances in America, are perfect specimens of the 

 breed, in the hands of sportsmen who know their true 

 worth, and who use them extensively in their private shoot- 

 ing. Were the good qualities of this dog better known, they 

 would be very popular among our inland duck-shooters. 



The English Water Spaniel is historically older than the 

 Irish, and all writers on canine histiology, since the four- 

 teenth century, have described him with more or less care. 

 Doctor Caius says: "The Water Spaniel is that kind of a 

 dog whose service is required in fowling upon the water- 

 partially through a natural towardness and partially by 

 diligent teaching is endued with that property. The sort is 

 somewhat big, and of a measurable greatness, having long, 

 rough, and curled hair, not obtained by extraordinary 

 trades, but given by nature's appointment." In the Gen- 

 tleman" s Recreation a similar description occurs. In the 

 Sportsman's Cabinet, written about 1802, this dog is 

 described as having the hair long and naturally curled, 

 not loose and shaggy; and the engraving by Scott, from a 

 drawing by Reinagale, which accompanies the article, repre- 

 sents a medium-sized, liver and white, curly-coated Spaniel, 

 with the legs feathered, but not curled. Youatt, in his 

 "Book of the Dog," has a wood-cut showing a similar type, 

 but says: "The Water Spaniel was originally from Spain; 

 the pure breed has been lost, and the present dog is prob- 

 ably descended from the large water dog and the English 

 Setter." 



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