Canis lupus hominis

Rake was an Irish water spaniel, and this depiction of him clearly suggests that the smooth hair on the muzzle was not always definite characteristic of the Irish water spaniel. It clearly points to ancestry with the rough water dog.

Stonehenge describes Rake in Dogs of the British Islands:

Rake was descended from M’Carthy’s celebrated dog Boatswain, on the side of his dam; but his grandsire on the other side, also called Boatswain, was from another kennel. He was considered by Capt. Montresor and by Mr. M’Carthy himself to be a good specimen of the breed; and their endorsement must be regarded as final.

Justin McCarthy’s Boatswain did look a lot more like a modern dog, but it is just as likely that many Irish water spaniels were bearded dogs that closely resembled poodles or barbets.

That description nicely fits the English rough water dog, which some authorities claim was the same breed as the poodle. I tend to think that it is not, but it is a very similar dog to the poodle and barbet.

Water spaniels, then, were an early form of “doodle.” They were crosses between the English rough water dog and some kind of setter or spaniel. Ireland was, of course, well-known for its setting spaniels, and the fact that some IWS were good index dogs leaves some suggestion of this ancestry.

These Irish setting spaniels came in many colors, and it is likely that there were livers among the red and whites. Remember that red and white was the most common color of all spaniels living in the British Isles until roughly the mid-nineteenth century.

It is very unlikely that the Irish water spaniel ancient. It is much more likely a product of breeders living in the Early Modern Era. I would put it somewhere in the late 1500’s.

The poodle-type dog, in its various permutations and strains, has existed for a long time. Although genetic evidence suggests that these strains are probably not all related, this poodle-type form has been an important type for millenia.

The whiskers on old Rake tell us more about the ancestry of the Irish water spaniel than one might assume. The classical story is that these dogs existed in their “Afghan hound” type coat– which isn’t even caused by the same genes as the Afghan hound coat– for thousands of years.

Rake proves that story simply to be false. Utterly false.