Definition of "water-dog" [water-dog]

• A dog accustomed to or delighting in the water, or trained to go into the water in pursuit of game, as a water-spaniel. (noun)
• One of various kinds of large salamanders; a mud-puppy. See axolotl, Menopoma, and cut under hellbender. Also water-puppy. (noun)
• A small, irregular, floating cloud in a rainy season, supposed to indicate rain. (noun)
• A sailor, especially an old sailor; a salt; one thoroughly accustomed to life in and on the water. (noun)

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "Today, Xolotl's name is still linked to dogs in zoological nomenclature, though only very indirectly - sharing it with the axolotl, a form of aquatic Mexican salamander, whose larval form is reminiscent of a dog and hence is sometimes referred to as a water-dog."
• "According to the water-dog club, the dogs, considered sacred in pre-Christian times, require regular and extensive grooming, need a lot of exercise, think independently and, as puppies, can bite."
• "And so they would have succeeded perfectly, as they always do, only that (as they also always do) they failed in one little particular, viz. that the dog would not die, being a water-dog, but bit their fingers so abominably that they were forced to let him go, and Tom likewise, as British subjects."