Wisconsin’s best friend a surprise
American water spaniel is state’s official dog
Most Wisconsinites know the American badger is our official state animal.
Many are also aware the sugar maple is our state tree and the muskellunge is our state fish.
Some may also be able to recite the state flower (wood violet), state bird (American robin) and even the state soil (Antigo silt loam).
But according to those who keep them, comparatively few state residents can name the official Wisconsin dog.
Take a moment and ask yourself – what breed of Man’s Best Friend was developed in the Badger State and later enshrined by the Legislature?
No, it’s not the Labrador retriever, although Labs are the most common sporting breed.
It’s the American water spaniel. If this is news to you, you’re not alone.
“I’ll bet 99% of Wisconsinites don’t know (it’s the state dog),” said David McCracken, 71, a breeder and trainer of American water spaniels who lives in Sumter, South Carolina, but visits Wisconsin, the ancestral home of his favorite breed, often.
McCracken said the most common question he gets when he brings his dogs to Wisconsin is: What breed is that?
Here’s a primer: The American water spaniel is one of only five dog breeds developed in the U.S. and the only one that originated in Wisconsin. It was used beginning in the mid-1800s as a retriever for market hunters, primarily for waterfowl in the Fox and Wolf river systems.
The dogs are a medium-sized sporting breed, standing 15 to 18 inches at the shoulder and weighing 25 to 45 pounds.
It was and is prized by waterfowl hunters for its double-coat and hardiness in cold weather.
But as any AWS owner will tell you, that only scratches the surface of the breed’s positive attributes.
“Smart and inquisitive,” said Pam Kozak, 61, of Park Falls, as Wiley, her 5-year-old AWS put his head on her knee. “And very affectionate.”
Awareness of the breed ran especially high in northwestern Wisconsin last week when McCracken, Kozak and other members of the American Water Spaniel Club gathered for their annual Specialty and Hunt Test.
The fields and ponds at the Douglas County Wildlife Area near Gordon bounced and splashed with dozens of curlyhaired, brown streaks of lightning. It was undoubtedly the greatest concentration of American water spaniels on the planet.
One of the reasons even most Wisconsinites don’t know of the breed is its rarity – the world population of AWS is estimated at just 3,000 dogs.
“If people only knew, these dogs would be way more popular,” said Susan Goodman, 51, of Phelps, New York.
Goodman has raised and trained dogs for more than 20 years. In the past, she focused on Labrador retrievers.
Over the last decade, she and her husband Rob Goodman changed exclusively to AWS, which she said are smarter and more affectionate than Labs
The breed owes its standing to Fred J. Pfeifer, a New London physician who is credited with developing and standardizing the breed. Pfeifer secured United Kennel Club registration for the AWS in 1920. The American Kennel Club recognized it in 1940.
The American water spaniel was designated the official state dog of Wisconsin in 1986, following years of effort by teacher Lyle Brumm and his 8th-grade students at Washington Junior High School in New London.
An official state marker in New London commemorates the breed’s standing.
The dog is even mentioned in the Wisconsin Blue Book: “The American water spaniel was de- veloped as a practical, versatile hunting dog that combined certain physical attributes with intelligence and a good disposition. No flashy show animal, the American water spaniel is described as an unadorned, utilitarian dog that earns its keep as an outstanding hunter, watchdog, and family pet.”
According to historical accounts, the breed earned its value to market hunters due to its high work rate and relatively small size. A hunter could lift the dog into a skiff or canoe with one hand, a feat difficult or impossible with a Lab or other larger retrieving breed.
The coat of the AWS is another top feature. It has a crisp-textured, tightly-curled or wavy outer coat and a protective undercoat. Colors include liver or chocolate, sometimes with a small white spot on the chest, according to AWSC literature.
The breed has achieved the highest levels at hunt tests run by AKC, UKC and other groups.
McCracken said he used to keep Boykin spaniels for dove hunting and Chesapeake Bay retrievers for waterfowl hunting.
About 20 years ago, his Boykin and Chessy died and he contemplated not getting another dog.
His wife talked him into looking at an AWS, a dog that could do “everything.” He did and since 2001 the AWS is all he owns.
“They retrieve right out of the womb,” McCracken said of the AWS. “They are smart as a whip and tough, too.”
McCracken said AWS have been trained to blood trail to retrieve white-tailed deer and other game and are also used to hunt squirrels.
More than half of the estimated 3,000 AWS are found in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan, according to followers of the breed.
Still, it’s not common to see them in the Badger State.
“We’re a well-kept secret,” Kozak said.
So the AWS is smart, hardworking, versatile, can handle the cold, is compassionate and “flies under the radar.”
Sounds like this uniquely Wisconsin dog breed is a lot like its humans, doesn’t it?