My wife and I cared for an Irish Water Spaniel pup while the owner recovered from unexpected surgery. Without a doubt he was one of the smartest pups I have ever been around. At 10 weeks I had him doing play retrieves on both land and water. At 12 weeks I had him sitting on the whistle and looking out over the pond. Just play stuff, nothing real formal. He loved it.
It was really hard to return him to his owner when the time came. My wife got real attached to him as well. The owner didn't hunt, but she did turn him into a show and dock diving champion.
They are a great breed with a lot of waterfowling history. The biggest challenge is finding one from real field stock. Even the breeders in the UK import dogs from here periodically.
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