Irish Water Spaniel 277 



H. D. Gardner, of Milwaukee, was quite an extensive breeder about 1880, 

 and at one New York show had a string of nine. Old Irish Nell being at 

 the head of eight of her progeny, some nearly three years old, and in the 

 following year the entire entry of seven were of his breeding. 



The interest in the Irish water spaniel was almost entirely Western, 

 and at one Chicago show that we remember there were more than twenty 

 of the breed shown, including Mr. Donoghue's Count Bendigo, a great 

 winner in his day, and an American-bred dog at that. The Milwaukee 

 combination was still the strongest when it came to making a good display, 

 and when Mr. Olcott imported The O'Donoghue from the Skidmore kennels 

 he got a dog that many considered the best ever shown; but we never thought 

 him the equal of old Barney, though he certainly was a very fine dog and 

 sired a number of good puppies. Mr. Olcott also had Chippewa Belle, a 

 daughter of old Irish Queen, who was by Champion Barney. Chippewa's 

 sire was Dan, who was by Champion Mike, the Shamrock dog. Now if 

 those who grew enthusiastic over The O'Donoghue had transferred their 

 laudations to this bitch they would have shown good judgment, for, when in 

 coat, she was one of the very best and quite capable of beating the dog. 

 These named dogs were being shown about twenty years ago, and when they 

 were retired, together with the dogs they were capable of defeating, the 

 ebb set in with a vengeance in Irish water spaniels. Patsy O'Connor bemg 

 about the last to retire, which he did after having been exhibited for seven 

 or eight years, most of the time as the property of Dr. Daniels, of Cleveland. 



It was nothing unusual for from sixty to eighty or more Irish water 

 spaniels to be registered in the course of a year at that time — eighty-three 

 was the record for 1886 — while at the present time the annual entry with 

 the American Kennel Club may reach half a dozen, but does not always do 

 so. Of late years several attempts have been made to arouse interest in the 

 breed, and Mrs. D. H. Evans, who originally showed Irish and field spaniels 

 about ten years ago, offered the very handsome Sunninghill Challenge 

 Cup through the Spaniel Club. These efl^orts had little result, and we 

 find from the stud book for 1893 that only eleven Irish were recorded as 

 having won prizes that year, and of these only three were shown in the 

 East. There were two at the New York show and one other dog was 

 shown at Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington. Of the remaining 

 eight, four were shown on the Pacific coast, leaving four to do duty between 

 Pennsylvania and the Rocky Mountains. It was at this stage that Mr. 



