There are very few Irish Water Spaniels in the world that have achieved “famous” status. In the world of show business, only a handful of the dogs are actually named as they make their appearances on TV or in the silver screen. In the world of dog show competitions and sports, a few have achieved champion status, but not necessarily that elusive famousstanding. Here are some examples of famous Irish Water Spaniels.
In the 1983 U.K. TV series The Irish R.M., an Irish Water Spaniel made its debut as a dog named Maria. Also in a 1996 film starring Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson called The Long Kiss Goodnight, an Irish Water Spaniel made a 30-second cameo appearance. In both cases, none of the dogs real names were mentioned in the credits. There are only a few Irish Water Spaniels that made it in show business and more often than not, they were not given due acknowledgment.
When it comes to dog show competitions and sports trials, there are numerous canine champions to name, but only a few of them have actually achieved fame. Arguably, one Irish Water Spaniel champion that certainly made it to the books is Champion Ratie of Helperby. The dog was owned by Sir Clive Coates and it achieved champion status in the British Field Trial Competition of 1936. What makes Ratie distinctive from the other champions is the fact that the dog finally achieved Spaniel competitor status during its time. Before the 1950s, the Irish Water Spaniel was classified within the category of Retrievers and it was not allowed to compete in Spaniel competitions. These days, however, the Irish Water Spaniels are allowed to join competitions for both retriever and spaniel participants.
Other arguably famous and yet unnamed pooches are Justin McCarthy's first line of Irish Water Spaniels. It is said that Justin McCarthy from Dublin is the acknowledged father of the breed, with persuasive suggestions that the man had mixed Barbets, Poodles and Portuguese Water Dogs to create the familiar conformation of today's Irish Water Spaniels. Unfortunately, McCarthy never kept breeding books or registries, and therefore his pooches have gone unnamed even until now.
Champions that come from specialty competitions are acknowledged whole heartedly by Irish Water Spaniel enthusiasts. As the popularity of the dog breed mounts, public interest in the Irish Water Spaniel also increases. Public awareness to the plight and welfare of the dog helps in the preservation of the dogs accepted conformation and temperament. Irresponsible breeding of the Irish Water Spaniel has not only contributed to the decline of the dogs eminence in all sporting categories and dog show competitions, it has also apparently halved the dogs life. Earlier reports have claimed that the Irish Water Spaniel used to live for as long as 15 years. Today's Irish Water Spaniel only lives to about 8 years max.
This year's Specialty winners include:
Best of Breed is Champion Poole's Ide Marksman Maclean
Best of Opposite Sex was CH Poole's Ide Then There's Maude
Winners Dog / Best of Winners was Champion Kimswick's Remember When
Winners Bitch was Champion Finnibone's Love to Watch Her Strut
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