Virtually unknown outside of the United States, the American Water Spaniel are considered a rare breed, which was obviously created by mixing Irish Water Spaniels and Curly-Coated Retrievers.
Since the 18th century this long legged medium sized spaniel was developed primarily as a hunting dog to retrieve from small boats such as skiffs or canoes. Active and muscular, strong swimmer, he was sometimes referred to as the lifeguard of dog breeds.