If you’re considering a poodle or a designer cross, why not break from modern tradition and choose something often mistaken for one anyway? With a tight, liver or ‘liver puce’ coat (a dark hue with a purple tint), a jaunty topknot (which Country Life once warned must not ‘take the form of a wig’ — June 15, 1935), and a distinctive hairless tail ideal for swimming, the Irish water spaniel certainly stands out. That tail, by the way, earned it the nickname ‘rat-tail spaniel’.

This is the tallest of the spaniel breeds, though there’s long been debate about its origins. Possible ancestors include the French barbet, the now-extinct English water spaniel, the poodle and even the mythical dobhar-chú — a legendary Irish water creature said to be part dog, part otter. What is known, however, i

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