KENAI
Spanish Water Dog

The breeds · gun dog · water dog

AKC Herding · UKC Herding · FCI standard 336

Spanish Water Dog.

FCI 336 utilization: shepherd dog, hunting dog and assistant to the fisherman. AKC: sturdy, athletic dog suited to herding, hunting and assisting fishermen; AKC places the breed in the Herding Group. UKC: strong herding, hunting and guardian instincts; moved from the Gun Dog Group to the Herding Group on Jul 1 2013. RKC (Gundog group): traditionally a waterfowl retriever and herding dog, particularly in southern Spain; also worked alongside hunters and fishermen retrieving game from water. SWDCA: a multi-purpose farm dog whose primary function has historically been herding goats, sheep and cattle, with hunting after the flocks were secured..

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.

13.7YRMedian lifespanmeasured on real dogs.
0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
31–49LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 40 to 49 lb; breed bitches 31 to 40 lb.
1HRSExercise, every dayRKC: up to 1 hour per day.. The constraint most homes get wrong.

The body

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

Height at the shoulder

dogs 17.3 to 19.8 in · bitches 15.8 to 18.1 in

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2022

Span of AKC and UKC/FCI. No source prints an ideal.

Weight

dogs 40 to 49 lb · bitches 31 to 40 lb

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club

AKC standard prints no weight; the figure is the AKC page header and UKC/FCI.

Coat

AKC: single coat, always curly and woolly; cords when long; smooth or wavy coat is a disqualification. UKC: always curly and woolly, presented natural at 1 to 4.75 in. FCI 336: always curly, woolly, cords when long, show length 3 to 12 cm. Colors: AKC solid (black, brown, beige, white), Irish-marked or parti-color with white; UKC and FCI: white and black or brown shades, bi-color only with white; tricolor and tan points not admitted. RKC: sheds 'No'.

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 2022

Registries agree on the coat; show-length figures and color lists differ and are stated by source. The RKC breed page color list is broader than the three standards and is not repeated here.

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 · AKC: single coat, always curly and woolly; recommended show length 1 to 6 in; forms cords when long. FCI 336: woolly, curly, clipped subjects admitted, max 12 cm for shows.

DerivedAKC breed standard, 2022

Derived from the standard's coat (medium-length single woolly coat, clipped once or twice a year = 3). The AKC standard calls it a single coat. No measured data.

How long they live, and what they cost

Measured on real dogs, with the sample and the spread. Never a guess.

Median lifespan

13.7 years

MeasuredMcMillan KM, 2024

McMillan et al. 2024 / Dogs Trust table. The upper confidence bound is NA in the table, so high is left blank. UK population; 37 deaths behind the estimate. Teng 2022 does not include the breed.

The dog at home

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

Exercise need

RKC: up to 1 hour per day.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC is a UK registry band, not a study; mapped by the library rule. AKC page prints energy level 4 (AKC band, not mapped).

Energy

4 of 5

Breed clubAKC

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

Grooming load

3 of 5 · RKC: grooming more than once a week; coat length medium; does not shed; coat is typically clipped once or twice each year. AKC standard: coat must be shown natural, any brushing, scissoring or aesthetic trimming is penalized so severely as to eliminate the dog; sole clip is a one-length utilitarian kennel clip. UKC: traditionally sheared completely once or more per year.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band 'more than once a week' mapped to 3 by the library rule. AKC page prints coat grooming frequency 4 (AKC band, not mapped); the registries differ in presentation rules, not in the coat.

The work

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

Role

FCI 336 utilization: shepherd dog, hunting dog and assistant to the fisherman. AKC: sturdy, athletic dog suited to herding, hunting and assisting fishermen; AKC places the breed in the Herding Group. UKC: strong herding, hunting and guardian instincts; moved from the Gun Dog Group to the Herding Group on Jul 1 2013. RKC (Gundog group): traditionally a waterfowl retriever and herding dog, particularly in southern Spain; also worked alongside hunters and fishermen retrieving game from water. SWDCA: a multi-purpose farm dog whose primary function has historically been herding goats, sheep and cattle, with hunting after the flocks were secured.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 336, 2019

The registries disagree on the headline role (herding at AKC and UKC, gundog at RKC); both stand. FCI 336 is Group 8, Section 3 water dogs.

Primary game

SWDCA: on dry land, rabbits and upland fowl (the dog flushed, the hunter shot, the dog retrieved); owners hunted on foot, dogs stayed at an easy distance; hunting was subsistence, not sport. SWDCA: it is probable the breed retrieved waterfowl in the marshes; documentation of how it hunted is thin and much comes from conversation. RKC: retrieving game from water.

Breed clubSpanish Water Dog Club of America

SWDCA states there is little printed history of the breed's hunting use. No test or trial statistics read.

Also used on

SWDCA: herding goats, sheep, cattle and pigs, guarding against predators, and the seasonal migration with Spanish Mastiffs. Antonio Garcia Perez (quoted by SWDCA): a small, historically late northern population worked like Portuguese Water Dogs on fishing boats. Modern use in Europe and Scandinavia: search and rescue (SWDCA); the breed is also described as excelling at air-scenting.

Breed clubSpanish Water Dog Club of America

Breed-club history pages; the Garcia Perez quotes are the club's.

Search pattern

SWDCA: as a flushing dog, kept a comfortable and easy distance from the hunter on foot; air-scents. Garcia Perez (quoted by SWDCA) calls it a marvelous tracker and retriever but warns the dense wool catches in underbrush, and that short wool swims and dives less well than long.

Breed clubSpanish Water Dog Club of America

Club description of the traditional hunting style, not a trial standard.

Water work

RKC: webbed feet and strong swimming ability for efficient movement in water; the naturally corded coat protects against the elements; works wet marshy areas and dry landscapes. FCI 336: coat adapted to the humidity and drought of the marsh regions; qualifies it as helper to waterfowl hunters and fishermen. SWDCA lists a Junior Water Dog test and dock diving among its activities.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Registry and club wording. No retrieve-from-water test standard read.

Cold water

3 of 5 · Single woolly coat that cords when long; marsh and coastal work; traditionally sheared once or more per year

DerivedAKC breed standard, 2022

Derived: water work and a dense woolly coat suit it to wet ground, but it is a single coat, often sheared short, and Garcia Perez (via SWDCA) says a short-coated dog never swims or dives as well as a long-coated one. No measured data.

How common the problems are

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

Hip dysplasia

21.5% · 438 OFA hip evaluations, current all-data, accessed Oct 8 2026; 21.5% dysplastic (mild 14.4, moderate 6.6, severe 0.5), 77.2% normal (excellent 13.5, good 51.1, fair 12.6)

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's own breed statistics (rank 47). Small n. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock, with normal results over-represented. SWDCA has a hips page (OFA and PennHIP), not read.

Elbow dysplasia

0.6% · 160 OFA elbow evaluations, current all-data, accessed Oct 8 2026; 0.6% abnormal (grade 1 0.6, grades 2 and 3 0.0), 99.4% normal

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's own breed statistics (rank 154). Small n. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock, with normal results over-represented.

Most common disorders

RKC breed health lists breeder tests for: prcd-PRA (DNA), eye scheme with gonioscopy (BVA/KC/ISDS), congenital hypothyroidism with goitre (DNA), neuroaxonal dystrophy NAD-TECPR2 (DNA), hip scoring (BVA/KC). Wikipedia lists hip dysplasia, PRA, hypothyroidism, Addison's disease, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, allergies, cataracts, CHG, distichia, cherry eye and neuroaxonal dystrophy.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC lists the tests; it gives no frequencies. Wikipedia is editorial and carries a needs-citations banner.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 4; Mental Stimulation Needs 5; Trainability Level 4; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 4; Openness To Strangers 3; Good With Other Dogs 3; Shedding Level 1; Coat Grooming Frequency 4; Drooling Level 2; Affectionate With Family 5; Playfulness Level 4; 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.

No KENAI kennel lists the Spanish Water Dog 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.

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. 9 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
SWD, Perro de Agua Espanol, Turco Andaluz

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