Breeds / Large
Irish Water Spaniel puppies
The Irish Water Spaniel is the tallest spaniel, a curly coated retrieving breed that is playful with its family and reserved with strangers. It is highly trainable, low shedding and needs both real exercise and regular coat work.
The facts
- Size class Large
- Country of origin Ireland
- Adult weight 20.4 to 30.8 kg
- Adult weight in pounds 45 to 68 lb
- Adult height 53 to 61 cm
- Energy level Moderate
- Grooming Moderate
- Coat type Medium curly
- Typical lifespan 12 to 13 years
- Good with children Fine with supervision
- Good with other dogs Fine with supervision
Where these come from:
About the Irish Water Spaniel
The Irish Water Spaniel is the tallest of the spaniels, developed in Ireland to retrieve wildfowl from cold water and bog. It is unmistakable: a dense coat of crisp liver ringlets, a topknot of loose curls falling over the forehead, and a smooth tapering rat tail with no feathering at all. It stands 53 to 61 cm and weighs 20.4 to 30.8 kg. The character is clownish with its own people, quietly reserved with strangers, and among the most trainable of the sporting breeds.
It needs proper daily exercise, and swimming suits it better than anything else. The coat sheds very little, rated 1 out of 5, which is not the same as being low maintenance: brush at least weekly to the skin and have it trimmed and shaped every couple of months or it turns ragged and matted. It is a quiet dog indoors and it rates middling with children, so supervise. The common mistake is letting the curls go three months without attention and then facing a clip off.
What to expect at eight weeks
At eight weeks a Irish Water Spaniel puppy is sleeping around 18 to 20 hours a day, is not house trained, and cannot hold on for more than an hour or two at a stretch. A large breed puppy at eight weeks looks deceptively normal sized and will roughly double every few weeks for a while. Keep exercise short and low impact, the growth plates are wide open. Expect moderate energy, in short bursts separated by long naps. Grooming needs are moderate, so build the brushing habit now while the coat is still short and easy. The socialisation window is open and closing: everything it meets calmly now, from vacuum cleaners to men in hats, is easier for the rest of its life.
Health worth knowing about
Conditions this breed is reported to be predisposed to. Predisposed does not mean inevitable, it means ask about it.
- Hip and elbow dysplasia, screened by hip and elbow evaluation of breeding stock
- Hypothyroidism and other thyroid disease, detected by a blood test of thyroid hormone levels
- Follicular dysplasia, a coat loss condition diagnosed by a skin biopsy
- Skin allergies, diagnosed by ruling out other causes of itching and by allergy testing
- Adverse reactions to sulfa antibiotics and to ivermectin, which the vet should be warned about before prescribing
From Irish Water Spaniel breed information at https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/irish-water-spaniel/. Discuss any of these with your own vet.
Your Irish Water Spaniel puppy's first six months
- Vaccination schedule, dated for your country.
- Worming and parasite schedule.
- Feeding calculator. Set expected adult size to Large for a Irish Water Spaniel.
- Adult size predictor, to check growth against the 20.4 to 30.8 kg adult range.
- Puppy names and the first week checklist.
Other large breeds
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Not veterinary advice. Breed information is general. Your own dog, and your own vet, always win.