American Water Spaniel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Other names | American Brown Spaniel, American Brown Water Spaniel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Common nicknames | AWS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Origin | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Notes | State dog of Wisconsin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dog (domestic dog) |
The American Water Spaniel (often abbreviated to AWS) is a breed of spaniel which originated in the United States. It was developed in the state of Wisconsin during the 19th century from a number of other breeds, including the Irish and English Water Spaniels. The breed was saved by Dr. Fred J. Pfeifer, who set up the breed club and standard, and whose work led to recognition for the breed by the United Kennel Club, and later, the American Kennel Club. While they are the state dog of Wisconsin, they remain a rare breed.
They are medium-sized dogs, and have a double layered coat, which comes in a variety of brown related shades. A versatile hunting dog, they are also suitable for apartment life due to work by breeders to develop a breed with an even temperament. The AWS may have been involved in the development of the Boykin Spaniel.