The Brittany Spaniel: An Extraordinary Bird Dog

The Brittany Spaniel originally was found in Breton. Inis not uncommon for "dual championships"
a painting by Oudry in the early 1700s there is a(championships in conformation and hunting trials) to
portrait of a tail-less spaniel about the size and colorbe shown in the show ring.The Brittany is a smaller
of the Brittany that is pointing a partridge. The breeddog, standing 17 to 20 inches in height, with finer
became popular with local poachers in the 1800sbones than many of the larger pointers. The coat
because of its agility and small size and itsshould be somewhat sparse and lying flat with some
extraordinary ability to point and flush the birds,waviness, although the dogs shown in the ring have a
combined with a desire to retrieve and a willingnessfuller coat it is not necessarily part of the standard of
to work.In modern times, the Brittany has becomethe breed. The coat should not be so heavy as to
the most popular of the "pointing" breeds in thecatch the burdocks and weeds but rather thin
United States. It is extremely "birdy" and is tireless inenough and silky enough that the dog can travel
the field. It will retrieve the birds also, which is notthrough heavy underbrush with ease. Colors can be
common with most of the pointers. The "Britt" alsoeverything from orange and white to liver and white
fits well into a household, being affectionate andwith orange and white being the most popular. Black
friendly. He is a small dog with a love of theis not allowed. The Brittany should be an athletic dog
outdoors, being agile and compact he can fit into anwith the stride of the rear foot landing in the print of
urban household but needs to be well exercised. Thisthe front foot or beyond when moving. The tail is
is a dog whose first love is bird hunting and it is aneither short or bobbed.In matters of temperament
independent dog. It loves nothing better than tothe Brittany is not overly aggressive and its behavior
work with its human master on a "partnership" basisbefits its function. It has never been used as a
to bring in the birds. There are many hunters who"guarding dog" but only as a "bird dog" and this is its
swear by this dog as being one of the best birdfirst interest. It is friendly to humans but does not
hunting dogs they have ever had, once they have"crave" the human companionship as much as it
had a "Britt" they will never switch their loyalties. Thiscraves the joy of the hunt. It is a willing worker and
is a breed that has retained a strong huntinghas a "soft" nature, it is a dog that is easy to train
presence in both England and the United States and itand does not need harsh discipline.