These “spaniels” were owned by Mrs. Orby Hunter and were painted by Ben Marshall.
Their names were “Diver” and “Shuckleback.”
Diver is a barbet/English rough water dog/poodle type of water dog, but Shuckleback looks like a proto-curly coated retriever.
Maybe a bit of St. John’s water dog had been crossed in, or maybe he was of a sort of water dog that is part of the St. John’s water dog’s ancestry.
I imagine the Tweed water dogs being very similar to Shuckleback, just of the yellow or reddish coloration.
I assume curly coated retrievers had a waterproof coat, but wet poodle fur sops up water. What happened? Or is poodle fur more like Maltese fur because people who had poodles often had Maltese too? I could guess a little sheepdog coat mixed in when none were watching, but original sheepdogs surely had a waterproof coat.
The old poodle had a very waterproof coat. The ancestral water dog of England was fairly large poodle called a Great Rough Water dog.
That roached back is still pretty common in retrievers, especially curlies and Chessie.
The old-fashioned large (standard) poodle had a curly coat that was firm, springy, almost like coiled fine wire. Small tight curls, but longer tha a Curly retriever. Over time the poodle seems to have changed to a softer, fluffier sort that can be brushed out into a bouffant ‘do and easily sculpted. This softer coat is not as water-repellant and if the dog is to do field work, will probably be kept in a short “sporting trim”.
The little poodles might well have had some introduction of other toy breeds in order to reduce size. Could have affected coat quality as well.
No retriever should have a sponge coat. Maybe the bird dog ring ought to be near a big plastic wading pool, and before trotting around the ring, the bird dog breeds ought to swim back and forth in the pool, so everyone can see what there coat looks like AFTER swimming.
What does a show type Irish Setter look like after a swim, how many Labs have coats so loose that the water gets to their skin? The Poodles aren’t in the Sporting dog group, but how long before lack of attention to what the coat does in water, causes other bird dogs to no longer belong there either? What happens to a show Cocker when it fetches a stick out of a pond, lots of insulting coat, or wet sponge?
Our local Golden club used to have a Wet Dog Class after our working certificate tests. If not still wet, the dogs were soaked with a hose, then judged by a regular conformation judge. Lots of fun, and sometimes very revealing!
Maybe a bit of shared ancestry with the border collie on the right, don’t you think? “Guessing the parents” is one of the best conversational ‘ice- breaking’ games in dog walking country around here, occasionally leading to friendships – and more…!