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Posts Tagged ‘finding an IWS’

Finding an IWS

Posted in dog shows / conformation, life with dog, puppy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 14, 2009| Leave a Comment »

I was looking through my blog stats, and found that lots of people get here by doing a search on “finding an IWS dog”. Here’s what I did:

  • Read everything on the web about Irish Water Spaniels.
  • Go to the Irish Water Spaniel Club of America website, and look at their breeder referral page. Contact the closest breeder and ask them about their Irish Water Spaniels.
  • Go to a dog show and talk to owners, breeders, and handlers of Irish Water Spaniels. The people are usually really friendly (unless it’s right before show time — then they might be rushed). The AKC has a list of all the shows, and about a week or so ahead of each show, you can follow links to the show’s pages. They will indicate what time and how many (if any) IWS will be at that show.
  • Join the IWS yahoo group, read, and ask questions.
  • Do the same above steps for another dog breed you’re interested in, so you can compare. This will give you a much fuller picture of both breeds and their people. I did this with Portuguese Water Dogs.
  • Make nice with all these people. See if you can get an appointment to go meet somebody’s dog at home. Try to meet both dogs and bitches. Since I’ve had Cooper, I’ve participated in group meet-and-greets, where several owners bring their dogs to the same place.
  • Be prepared to chat about your experience with any dogs you’ve had in the past, what kind of home and yard you have, your other family members (human, canine, feline, avian, and other), and why you’re interested in an IWS.
  • Send a thank you note to everyone who helps you. (I know — so 20th century, but people like it and it’s good karma.)
  • If you haven’t found your breeder yet, go back to the IWS yahoo group and ask about available puppies. Say what you’re looking for: a companion, a show dog, a hunting dog, an agility, obedience, rally, dock diving or flyball dog, or whatever. If you’ve done all the above steps, enough people will know who you are and will be more likely to help you.

Here’s what I couldn’t have known ahead of time:

  • If you do get an IWS, be prepared to be adopted by the IWS family. The IWS people are a major reason to choose this breed. And that’s good because IWS can be a challenge to live with — most likely you’ll need all the help you can get. They’re also a wonderful group to celebrate your successes with.

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