In 1995, my Dad bought me a dog.  He’d clipped one of those tiny “back of the magazine” ads from a Field and Stream  years earlier and had kept it tucked away from me.  At that time, Mr. John Barth of Swan Lake Kennels was the best-known and oldest breeder of American Water Spaniels in Wisconsin.  Chief was my constant companion, physically, for over 14 years.  

I do regret that I have so few photos of him, and even fewer of the two of us.  This one was snapped on the 14th anniversary of the day I picked him up as a little puppy.  By this this time his quality of life was diminishing fairly rapidly.  My eyes had been leaking rapidly too, before snapping this picture. 

As many know, I’ve moved on to the southern cousin breed, but my heart will forever be attached to the American Water Spaniel.  Rarely does a day go by that I didn’t think of Chief and how much he is missed.

Treasure what you have, they are a unique and wonderful type of dog.