Life Expectancy information of the American Water Spaniel Dog Breed
The life expectancy for this particular breed is 10 – 12 years.

Age comparison between the American Water Spaniel Dog Breed and a Human
Age comparisons between dogs and humans are always a matter of debate - we hope that the following information clarifies the situation. After the first year of life, a dog is equivalent to sixteen human years. After two years, they are equivalent to a 24 year old, at three years a 30 year old, and each year after, add 5 human years to determine a dog's age.

The Pictures reflect the Size of Adults - not Children and Puppies!
The pictures above allow for a useful comparison of sizes providing an accurate portrait of the size of an average American Water Spaniel - essential information but unique to this site. It should also be noted that the pictures feature adults. The size of puppies are naturally considerably smaller and the full grown size of the animal can easily be forgotten when confronted with cute puppies! The slogan " A dog isn't just for Christmas - it's for life!" was necessitated by well meaning people buying puppies at the Christmas, unaware of the puppies growth rate. The pictures provided make it extremely clear exactly how small puppies will develop and whether it will suit the life and living conditions of the family.

American Water Spaniel Puppies info
The Puppies section, accessed via the Site Index, provides detailed information about Choosing the right puppy, Puppy Training, Puppy Care and Puppy Behavior, Growth & Development. We recommend that the following considerations should always be taken into account when choosing puppies:

• Budget - Purchasing, training, equipment, medication and feeding costs of the breed
• Convenience and Grooming time e.g. long or short hair
• Personal situation - time available and medical conditions such as allergies, asthma or back pain
• Exercising requirements for the American Water Spaniel breed
• Living Conditions for the dog breed - suitability for puppies
• Family - child suitability
• Puppy and Dog Names - The Importance of choosing the right names

Sporting Dog (Gundog) Breed Information
Dogs in the Sporting group, which are referred to in England as Gundogs, which include the American Water Spaniel, can be divided into three main categories - Retrievers, Pointers and Setters.  These dogs were bred primarily to work with people to hunt game birds. Some of these dogs work in water whilst other dogs are more suited to  work on land and many of the dogs in the Sporting dog category are comfortable and capable of working in either land or water environments. Sporting dogs, including the American Water Spaniel, are particularly suited to wood and field activities. The Retriever, Pointer and Setter dogs and their main functionalities are as follows: 

• The Retriever dog - Retriever dogs find and return killed game to the hunter. Some Retrievers are especially equipped, for instance with a water-repellent coat and webbed feet, for retrieving downed waterfowl.
• The Pointer dog - Pointer dogs stand in front of their quarry, with their nose and body rigidly still , thus directing (or pointing) the hunter to its location.
• The Setter dog - Setter dogs were originally trained to set, or crouch, in front of game preventing the escape of the quarry. The hunter would make the capture with a net. 

Sporting Dogs hunt by air scent, as opposed to ground scent used by the dogs categorised as being in the Hound category. Characteristics and features of Sporting Dogs have been introduced and strengthened by breeding with animals who already demonstrated the desired traits. Breeding for appearance was only introduced in the 19th Century. Before this time dogs and puppies were bred to increase useful abilities and traits helpful for the duties they were intended for. Thus, the various Sporting breeds, or Gundogs, including the American Water Spaniel, were initially introduced to help man according to his specific requirements such as:

• Hunting game birds
• Hunting waterfowl
• Retrieving game that had been shot and wounded
• Pointing to game to allow the hunter to catch or shoot the quarry
• Startling, or flushing, birds from their cover

In this day and age only a few American Water Spaniels might undertake these tasks, but nevertheless, they still harbour the skills and characteristics that made the original American Water Spaniel breeding program successful.

It is said that they are perhaps the most intelligent of the breeds, resulting in their wide variety of uses and their ease of training. These dogs like to be around people and are active and alert and require regular, invigorating exercise and lots of attention.