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CHAPTER LVII. 



THE WATER SPANIEL. 



IN spite of the remarks made by Dr. Caius anent the Water Spaniel, there appears to be no 

 mention made of him by subsequent writers for many years ; and this fact is the more inexplicable 

 when it is considered that allusions are made by several of them to the Water-dog, which, 

 however, is also alluded to by some authors in addition to the Water Spaniel, as will be seen later 

 on. The idea that has been forced upon us by the perusal of several of the earlier writers on canine 



WATER-DOG, FROM " ICONhS ANIMALIUM." 



subjects is, that the Water-dog was a descendant of the Water Spaniel referred to by Dr. Caius 

 in his " Englishe Dogges," and that he had become crossed with other breeds to such an extent 

 that a great deal of his original identity was lost, and, generally speaking, dogs who were used for 

 the pursuit of wild-fowl were designated Water-dogs. As will be seen from the accompanying 

 illustration, which is taken from " Icones Animalium," by J. F. Riedel, there was, in his day, a 

 Water-dog which very much resembled the Irish Water Spaniel of the present time, and there can 

 be very little room left to doubt that this dog had much in common with the Water-dog. That the 

 latter variety was largely used for sporting purposes is beyond all question, and Nicholas Cox, in 

 his work, " The Gentleman's Recreation/' devotes a considerable space to the Water-dog, and gives, 

 in addition, a number of general rules to guide beginners in the act of breaking him ; these we 

 reproduce below. 



The description which Nicholas Cox gives of water-dogs is as follows : 



" I shall begin with the best proportion of the Water-dog and, first, of his colour. Although 

 some do attribute much to the colour, yet experience lets us know they are uncertain observations. 

 To proceed, then, your dog may be of any colour and yet excellent, but choose him of long hair 



