| At Tara Kennels, our goal is to breed happy, healthy Irish Water Spaniels with excellent temperaments and the ability to do it all. All our dogs are tested and certified for hips and thyroid. We are proud to say that dogs bearing the Tara Kennels prefix compete in flyball, agility, obedience, field, freestyle obedience (dancing with dogs) and conformation (with 6 dogs in the top 10). But we are most proud of the fact that our dogs make loving family pets. Our males tend to be very outgoing, happy-go-lucky dogs who love everyone they meet and aren't ashamed to show you this by jumping up and giving you a big wet kiss. Our females are also very outgoing and loving, but are much too dignified and refined to exhibit such a display! The girls do tend to love one person best. Irish Water Spaniels belong to the Sporting Dog group. They have been bred for a job that requires them to have the stamina to tirelessly retrieve water fowl in all sorts of weather. They are energetic dogs both inside the house and outdoors. As such, they require a fair amount of exercise. If you're looking for a "couch potato", this is not the breed for you. An hour or so of any fast paced activity should be sufficient to keep your dog happy and well conditioned. Good daily activities include a brisk walk, ball retrieving, swimming, hiking, etc. We do recommend that you enroll your puppy in a basic obedience class at around 6 months of age. This will give your puppy a chance to be around other dogs and people and will help make him a well socialized pet. As we said before, the Tara Kennels line of Irish Water Spaniels have terrific temperaments but some puppies do go through a "fear period" between the age of 9 months and 15 months. Don't worry, with a little patience and training your pup will outgrow this, but it is important that you help him through this period by coaxing and encouraging him to go over and confront the things that scare him. The worst thing you can do is to grab your puppy in your arms and tell him that everything is OK. By doing this you are feeding his fear and will have a much tougher time trying to breaking him of this bad habit later on. Irish Water Spaniels are a heavily coated breed and as such require regular grooming. They should be thoroughly brushed at least once a week with a pin brush or slicker brush. They should be bathed and scissored every 4-6 weeks in order to keep the coat in good condition. You may like to join the Irish Water Spaniel Club of America. You will receive a monthly newsletter, membership list, and breeder's directory. It is a great source for IWS info, show and performance results, health issues and warnings, litter announcements, and training tips. I hope you will find the information in this website helpful and informative in assisting you in your decision on whether an Irish Water Spaniel is the right dog for you. Tara Darling-Lyon
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