KENAI
American Water Spaniel

The breeds · gun dog · flushing/retrieving

AKC Sporting · UKC Gun Dog · FCI standard 301

American Water Spaniel.

'An all-around hunting dog, bred to retrieve from skiff or canoes and work ground with relative ease': a dual-purpose waterfowl retriever and upland flushing dog.

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

17INHeightall 16.5. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
25–45LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 37.5 lb (30 to 45); breed bitches 32.5 lb (25 to 40).

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

16.5 in (15 to 18)

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1990

Center is the midpoint. The AWSC field page repeats 15-18 inches.

Weight

dogs 37.5 lb (30 to 45) · bitches 32.5 lb (25 to 40)

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1990

Center is the midpoint.

Coat

Marcel (uniform waves) to closely curled; undercoat required 'to provide sufficient density to be of protection against weather, water or punishing cover'; moderate feathering on the legs; solid liver, brown or dark chocolate

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1990

Shedding

Shedding 1 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

3 of 5 · Medium-length curly or marcelled double coat

DerivedAKC breed standard, 1990

Derived from the standard's coat description: medium double coat = 3.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

Needs daily outlets: field or obedience training, runs, swimming or play; an AWS without them 'may develop inappropriate behaviors'

Breed clubAmerican Water Spaniel Club

Qualitative; no minutes band from a registry.

Energy

AKC Energy Level 3 of 5 ('Moderate'); the AWSC: 'active dogs that will do best when given the opportunity to work off some of their energy'

Breed clubAKC

No RKC exercise band exists; exercise_need_min not recorded.

Grooming load

2 of 5 · AKC Coat Grooming Frequency 3 of 5 ('Weekly'); Shedding Level 1 of 5

Breed clubAKC

No Royal Kennel Club page exists (breed not KC-recognised); AKC breed page band used as the fallback band. AKC 'Weekly' maps to KENAI 2. The standard allows trimming and ear shaving but requires neither.

Grooming

'Relatively low maintenance' but 'will require a bit of grooming' (AWSC); weekly brushing (AKC band 3 of 5)

Breed clubAmerican Water Spaniel Club

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

'An all-around hunting dog, bred to retrieve from skiff or canoes and work ground with relative ease': a dual-purpose waterfowl retriever and upland flushing dog

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1990

AWSC: 'excels in the field as either a waterfowl retriever or upland flushing dog'.

Primary game

Waterfowl from skiff or riverbank, and upland birds flushed in cover ('hunt, flush, and retrieve game of all kinds')

Breed clubAmerican Water Spaniel Club

The club names no single bird; the standard names the skiff-retrieving origin.

Range

Close ('stay close to the gun on hunts')

Breed clubAmerican Water Spaniel Club

Search pattern

Fast-working with high prey drive but methodical: learns where game is likely to hold and concentrates there; stays close to the gun; a hard flush, often with a brief hesitation before putting the bird up

Breed clubAmerican Water Spaniel Club

Water work

'American Water Spaniels enjoy the water ... although they may not always have the splashiest entry, once in the water they will swim with absolute determination to retrieve'; bred to work from a skiff

Breed clubAmerican Water Spaniel Club

Cold water

4 of 5 · Dense undercoat specified for protection against weather and water; 'bred to retrieve from skiff or canoes'; will 'spend countless hours retrieving from a skiff or from a riverbank' (AWSC)

DerivedAKC breed standard, 1990

Derived from coat (akc_std) and the breed's water work (awsc_field). Not 5: a medium coat on a 30-45 lb dog, not a Chesapeake.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Hip dysplasia

7.8% · 987 OFA hip evaluations to date: 91.4% normal (13.3% excellent, 61.2% good, 16.9% fair), 7.8% dysplastic (4.9% mild, 2.6% moderate, 0.3% severe); rank 152

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA breed statistics are voluntary submissions and skew toward breeding stock; the OFA itself warns that abnormal results are under-submitted. Cumulative all-years figure; the service prints no period, so 'to date' = the read date. Not among Hou et al. 2013's 74 breeds (too few public records); the OFA summary is the only percentage.

Elbow dysplasia

2.2% · 138 OFA elbow evaluations to date: 97.1% normal, 2.2% abnormal (1.4% grade 1, 0.7% grade 2)

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA breed statistics are voluntary submissions and skew toward breeding stock; the OFA itself warns that abnormal results are under-submitted. Cumulative all-years figure; the service prints no period, so 'to date' = the read date.

Most common disorders

The parent club and OFA name three dominant health issues for CHIC: hip dysplasia, eye disease (cataracts, retinal problems, glaucoma) and heart disease (murmurs, valve malfunction)

Breed clubAmerican Water Spaniel Club

Club statement only; no VetCompass or insurer prevalence exists for this small US breed. The club's AWS Health Survey page was not read in this pass. OFA to date: advanced cardiac 63 evaluated, 7.9% abnormal, 7.9% equivocal; congenital cardiac 334 evaluated, 0.6% abnormal; CAER eyes 353 evaluated, 6.8% abnormal (distichiasis 45.0%); DM DNA 121 tested, 33.1% carriers, 7.4% affected; thyroid 88 tested, 95.5% normal. (OFA data service, read Oct 5 2026.)

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 3; Mental Stimulation Needs 3; Trainability Level 5; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 3; Openness To Strangers 3; Good With Other Dogs 3; Shedding Level 1; Coat Grooming Frequency 3; Drooling Level 1; Affectionate With Family 3; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 3.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

What to ask a breeder for

The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.

No KENAI kennel lists the American Water Spaniel yet. If you breed them, list your kennel free: it shows on this page and in the hunting dog breed finder, under every handler whose answers land on the breed.

Side by side

Or let the selector rank the American Water Spaniel against your own answers.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 5 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
AWS, American Brown Spaniel

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

All published breeds

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