American Water Spaniel · Sporting Group
The American Water Spaniel Wall
The wall is forming · Be among the first families to add yours
Those who have crossed
Rusty
May 2012 – September 2023
Water surfaces in every season — rivers, marshes, the backyard sprinkler in August
Example
Hank
October 2011 – January 2024
The same stretch of Wisconsin river reveals itself across eight autumns
Example
Willow
March 2014 – November 2025
The curly brown coat notices itself against snow, sand, and summer grass equally
Example
Otis
July 2013 – April 2024
Strangers appear in photos asking what breed this is — it happened everywhere
Example
Nellie
February 2010 – August 2022
Ducks surface in the early photos. Couch cushions surface in the later ones. Both were home.
Example
Pages marked 'example' are demonstration bridges showing what a memorial looks like — not real families. The small lines beneath each are examples of what Memory Weather surfaces over time.
Remembrance
American Water Spaniels were remembered for being able to do everything and never making a fuss about it. They swam, they retrieved, they flushed birds from cover, and then they came inside and curled up like they hadn't just worked a four-hour hunt. The versatility was quiet and total.
They were Wisconsin's dog — one of the few breeds developed entirely in America, shaped by the Fox and Wolf River valleys for a specific kind of Great Lakes duck hunting. Most people never met one. The families who had them knew exactly what they had.
“Every time we took him anywhere, someone asked what breed he was. Every single time. He was the best dog no one had ever heard of.”
What to remember
When you create a bridge, these prompts help you hold the details that matter most — the ones that fade first.
How many times did someone ask 'What breed is that?' Describe the conversation you had a hundred times — and whether you ever got tired of it.
What did they do in water? Describe the swimming — the style, the enthusiasm, the moment they first realized what they were built for.
What was the transition like — from working dog to couch dog? How fast did they switch, and did they have a ritual for each mode?
Where was their spot? The exact place in the house they claimed as theirs when the day was done.
What would you want people to know about the breed that they can't learn from a book or a website?
Did they ever do something that reminded you this was a rare, old American breed — something that felt hardwired and ancient?
Words that stayed
“Forty pounds of curly brown coat who could swim for hours and then sleep for hours with equal commitment to both.”
physical
“He retrieved a duck, a tennis ball, and a Croc in the same afternoon. The Croc was the proudest carry.”
funny
“People keep asking us what breed our next dog will be. We keep not answering, because there is no replacement for what she was.”
absence
“She was the best dog no one had ever heard of. We explained the breed a thousand times and never once minded.”
character
“Twelve years. One of the rarest breeds in America, and we had one. We had one.”
time
The math
American Water Spaniels typically live 10–14 years.
Hip dysplasia and progressive retinal atrophy are the most common health concerns, with cardiac conditions also appearing in the breed. Pattern baldness — unique to the AWS — can thin the coat in older dogs. Because the breed population is so small, health research is limited, and many AWS families navigate the senior years with less breed-specific guidance than owners of more common dogs.
If your American Water Spaniel is in their senior years, this is the right time to start their bridge — especially for a breed this rare, every memory preserved matters.
Start their bridge now →The shape of this loss
One of the rarest American-bred dogs. AWS were developed in Wisconsin's Fox and Wolf River valleys for duck hunting. That specific, curly-coated, all-American versatility is irreplaceable.
The rarity makes the grief lonelier. When a Golden Retriever dies, the world understands — the breed is everywhere, the loss is legible. When an American Water Spaniel dies, most people don't even know what you lost. You explain the breed one more time, and this time the explanation is past tense.
There may never be another one in your life. That is the particular grief of a rare breed — the knowledge that what you had was not just a dog but an encounter with something most people will never experience.
The best dog no one ever heard of. And now the house knows exactly what it lost.
Memory Weather
How a bridge deepens with timeOver time, WenderBridge surfaces patterns already present in the photos and memories you choose to keep here.
Your AWS's photos reveal water in nearly every season — lakes, rivers, marshes, and the unexpected puddle that was always good enough.
Memory Weather notices the curly brown coat against changing landscapes — the same dog, four seasons, always at the center of the frame.
The question surfaces in the stories: 'What breed is that?' It appeared in more memories than you realized.
Memory Weather is available with Full settings.
Questions families ask
Add your American Water Spaniel to the wall
Every AWS who has been loved deserves a permanent home on the wall. Their bridge is free to create, free to visit forever, and free to share — because what they gave was rare and unrepeatable.
Celebrating a living AWS?
If your American Water Spaniel is currently wet, curly, and looking at you like the lake was the best idea anyone has ever had, WenderPets is where you'll find the sculptures, lamps, and gifts made just for them.
WenderPets →American Water Spaniel bridges are hosted permanently and will never disappear.