English Water Spaniel

The English water spaniel is an extinct British sporting breed once used for waterfowl and wetland retrieving. Historical descriptions suggest a curly or wavy-coated spaniel, often liver and white or similar in color, able to work from boats, marsh edges, and rough water. It influenced or overlapped with later water-working spaniels, but it no longer exists as a living standardized breed.

Today the English water spaniel matters mainly in breed history, pedigree research, and discussions of how British gundogs developed. No responsible seller can offer a pure living English water spaniel unless the name is being used informally for a mix or reconstruction project. Researchers and breed historians should separate period descriptions from modern assumptions, since old sporting names were sometimes applied loosely. For owners seeking a similar working role, living spaniel and retriever breeds offer clearer health, temperament, and registry information.

Colors: Albino, Apricot, Bicolor, Black, Black and Tan, Black and White, Black Mask, Blue, Blue and Tan, Blue Merle, Blue Roan, Blue Tick, Brindle, Brown, Brown and Tan, Brown and White, Chocolate, Cream, Dapple, Domino, Fawn, Fawn and White, Gold, Gray, Grey, Harlequin, Irish Marked, Leucistic, Liver, Liver Mask, Mantle, Mask, Melanistic, Merle, Mottled, Parti-Color, Piebald, Red, Red and White, Red Merle, Red Roan, Red Tick, Reverse Brindle, Roan, Sable, Saddle, Silver, Speckled, Spotted, Tan, Ticked, Tricolor, Tuxedo, White, Yellow