Tweed Water Spaniel

The Tweed Water Spaniel was a nineteenth-century water dog associated with the River Tweed region on the border of Scotland and England. It is now extinct as a separate breed, but descriptions point to a medium-sized, curly or wavy-coated spaniel-retriever type, usually liver or brown, used for retrieving from cold rivers and rough coastal water. The breed is best remembered because Belle, a Tweed Water Spaniel, was bred to the yellow retriever Nous in the early foundation history of the Golden Retriever. It also sits within the broader story of British water spaniels and retrievers before modern breed boundaries hardened.

There are no responsible modern sources for a pure Tweed Water Spaniel puppy; claims of revival should be evaluated as recreations or crossbred projects, not direct continuation. For breeders and historians, the value of the name lies in pedigree records, estate kennel notes, and understanding the working traits that fed into later retriever breeds. Anyone drawn to its likely temperament and job would be better served by living retriever or spaniel breeds selected for water work, health testing, and trainable field ability.

Colors: Albino, Apricot, Bicolor, Black, Black and Tan, Black and White, Black Mask, Blue, Blue and Tan, Blue Merle, Blue Roan, Blue Tick, Brindle, Brown, Brown and Tan, Brown and White, Chocolate, Cream, Dapple, Domino, Fawn, Fawn and White, Gold, Gray, Grey, Harlequin, Irish Marked, Leucistic, Liver, Liver Mask, Mantle, Mask, Melanistic, Merle, Mottled, Parti-Color, Piebald, Red, Red and White, Red Merle, Red Roan, Red Tick, Reverse Brindle, Roan, Sable, Saddle, Silver, Speckled, Spotted, Tan, Ticked, Tricolor, Tuxedo, White, Yellow