Brittany Breed Info
General Appearance
A compact, closely knit dog of medium size, a leggy dog having the appearance, as well as the agility, of a great ground coverer. Strong, vigorous, energetic and quick of movement. Ruggedness, without clumsiness, is a characteristic of the breed. He can be tailless or has a tail docked to approximately four inches.
Size, Proportion, SubstanceHeight --
17½ inches to 20½ inches, measured from the ground
to the highest point of the shoulders.
Any Brittany measuring under 17½ inches or over 20½ inches
shall be disqualified from dog show competition.
Weight -- Should weigh between 30 and 40 pounds
Proportion -- So leggy is he that his height at the shoulders
is the same as the length of his body.
Body Length -- Approximately the same as the height
when measured at the shoulders.
Body length is measured from the point of the forechest
to the rear of the rump. A long body should be heavily penalized.
Substance -- Not too light in bone, yet never heavy-boned and cumbersome.
Head
Expression -- Alert and eager, but with the soft expression of a bird dog.
Eyes -- Well set in head. Well protected from briars by a heavy, expressive eyebrow. A prominent full or popeye should be penalized. It is a serious fault in a dog that must face briars. Skull well chiseled under the eyes, so that the lower lid is not pulled back to form a pocket or haw that would catch seeds, dirt and weed dust. Preference should be for the darker colored eyes,
though lighter shades of amber should not be penalized.
Light and mean-looking eyes should be heavily penalized.
Ears -- Set high, above the level of the eyes. Short and triangular, rather than pendulous, reaching about half the length of the muzzle. Should lie flat and close to the head, with dense, but relatively short hair, and with little fringe.
Skull -- Medium length, rounded, very slightly wedge-shaped, but evenly made. Width, not quite as wide as the length and never so broad as to appear coarse, or so narrow as to appear racy. Well defined, but gently sloping stop.
Median line rather indistinct. The occiput only apparent to the touch.
Lateral walls well rounded. The Brittany should never be "apple-headed"
and he should never have an indented stop.
Muzzle -- Medium length, about two thirds the length of the skull, measuring the muzzle from the tip to the stop, and the skull from the occiput to the stop. Muzzle should taper gradually in both horizontal and vertical dimensions as it approaches the nostrils. Neither a Roman nose nor a dish-face is desirable. Never broad, heavy or snippy.
Nose -- Nostrils well open to permit deep breathing of air and adequate scenting. Tight nostrils should be penalized. Never shiny. Color: fawn, tan, shades of brown or deep pink. A black nose is a disqualification. A two-tone or butterfly nose should be penalized.
Lips -- Tight, the upper lip overlapping the lower jaw just to cover the lower lip. Lips dry, so that feathers will not stick. Drooling to be heavily penalized.
Flews to be penalized.
Bite -- A true scissors bite. Overshot or undershot jaw to be heavily penalized.
Neck, Topline, Body, Neck --
Medium length. Free from throatiness, though not a serious fault unless accompanied by dewlaps, strong without giving the impression of being over muscled. Well set into sloping shoulders. Never concave or ewe-necked.
Topline -- Slight slope from the highest point of the shoulders
to the root of the tail.
Chest -- Deep, reaching the level of the elbow. Neither so wide nor so rounded as to disturb the placement of the shoulders and elbows.
Ribs well sprung. Adequate heart room provided by depth
as well as width. Narrow or slab-sided chests are a fault.
Back -- Short and straight. Never hollow, saddle, sway or roach backed. Slight drop from the hips to the root of the tail.
Flanks -- Rounded. Fairly full. Not extremely tucked up, or flabby and falling. Loins short and strong. Distance from last rib to upper thigh short, about three to four finger widths. Narrow and weak loins are a fault. In motion, the loin should not sway sideways, giving a zig-zag motion to the back, wasting energy.
Tail -- Tailless to approximately four inches, natural or docked. The tail not to be so long as to affect the overall balance of the dog. Set on high, actually an extension of the spine at about the same level. Any tail substantially more than four inches shall be severely penalized.
Forequarters
Shoulders -- Shoulder blades should not protrude too much, not too wide apart, with perhaps two thumbs' width between. Sloping and muscular. Blade and upper arm should form nearly a ninety degree angle. Straight shoulders are a fault. At the shoulders, the Brittany is slightly higher than at the rump.
Front Legs -- Viewed from the front, perpendicular, but not set too wide. Elbows and feet turning neither in nor out. Pasterns slightly sloped. Down in pasterns is a serious fault. Leg bones clean, graceful, but not too fine. Extremely heavy bone is as much a fault as spindly legs. One must look for substance and suppleness. Height at elbows should approximately equal distance from elbow to withers.
Feet -- Should be strong, proportionately smaller than the spaniels', with close fitting, well arched toes and thick pads. The Brittany is "not up on his toes."
Toes not heavily feathered. Flat feet, splayed feet, paper feet, etc., are to be heavily penalized. An ideal foot is halfway between the hare and the cat foot.
Dewclaws may be removed.
Hindquarter
Broad strong and muscular, with powerful thighs and well bent stifles,
giving the angulation necessary for powerful drive.Hind Legs -- Stifles well bent. The stifle should not be so angulated as to place the hock joint far out behind the dog. A Brittany should not be condemned for straight stifle until the judge has checked the dog in motion from the side. The stifle joint should not turn out making a cowhock. Thighs well feathered but not profusely, halfway to the hock. Hocks, that is, the back pasterns, should be moderately short, pointing neither in nor out, perpendicular when viewed from the side.
They should be firm when shaken by the judge.
Feet -- Same as front feet.
Coat
Dense, flat or wavy, never curly. Texture neither wiry nor silky. Ears should carry little fringe. The front and hind legs should have some feathering, but too little is definitely preferable to too much. Dogs with long or profuse feathering or furnishings shall be so severely penalized as to effectively
eliminate them from competition.
Skin -- Fine and fairly loose. A loose skin rolls with briars and sticks,
thus diminishing punctures or tearing.
A skin so loose as to form pouches is undesirable.
Color
Orange and white or liver and white in either clear or roan patterns. Some ticking is desirable. The orange or liver is found in the standard parti-color or piebald patterns. Washed out colors are not desirable.
Tri-colours are allowed but not preferred. A tri-color is a liver and white dog with classic orange markings on eyebrows, muzzle and cheeks, inside the ears and under the tail, freckles on the lower legs are orange. Anything exceeding the limits of these markings shall be severely penalized.
Black is a disqualification except in the Epagneul Breton, AKA the French Brittany.
Gait
When at a trot the Brittany's hind foot should step into or beyond
the print left by the front foot. Clean movement, coming and going,
is very important, but most important is side gait,
which is smooth, efficient and ground covering.
Temperament
A happy, alert dog, neither mean nor shy.
Disqualifications
Any Brittany measuring under 17½ inches or over 20½ inches
A black nose
Black in the coat
History and basic info
The Brittany originated in that region of France. Images of orange and white Brittany-like dogs hunting and retrieving game were first seen on tapestries and paintings from the 17th century.
The first written and verifiable record of Brittany's comes from a hunting description written by Reverend Davies in 1850. He described hunting with small "bob-tailed" dogs who pointed and were excellent retrievers. The Brittany was first shown at the Paris Dog Show in 1900.
In later years the Brittany became a well known versatile hunting companion and family pet.
In the 1980's here in the US, the Spaniel part of the Brittany's name was dropped due to the fact that they behaved more like pointers than flushers, like their fellow sporting dogs, the English Springer Spaniel or Clumber Spaniel.
The type of Brittany seen in the AKC show ring are loosely consiered "American" style Brittanys. Leaner and leggier, unlike their french counterparts, the Epagneul Breton. In the AKC all Brittany's are considered the same, but in UKC (United Kennel Club, the only reputable all breed kennel club besides the AKC), Brittanys and Epagneul Breton's are two different breeds.
They are a leggy dog that can cover ground with agility. They are strong, vigorous, energetic and quick of movement.
Their small size makes them easy to carry in a car. Their short tail, which can be either natural or docked, is an asset. They have enough coat to protect them from the briars but not enough to catch burrs to any great extent. They are not a heavily coated dog, but are lightly fringed.
They work in the same manner as a pointer, but without the great range.
They point and hold their game and retrieve both on land and in water.
They are used primarily on upland game in the United States, but are used on both fur and feather in France.
They are noted for an exceptionally keen nose and a very biddable disposition. Many of the country's top dogs have been house pets as well as field winners and fine hunting dogs.
The Brittany is a high energy dog who is bred to hunt. They tend to need lots of exercise or opportunities to hunt to keep them happy.
They have a typical friendly disposition and is very willing to please their master. They may be expected to absorb training more easily than some of the other pointing breeds.
The natural ability of the Brittany sells them as a breed to many neophytes in the field of hunting as they seem to know what to do than their master.
They gain their admirers from their excellent working ability. The Brittany, with his shorter range, is becoming more popular as hunting becomes limited to smaller fields with more fences. Their exceptional nose, which guarantees that they will pass up few birds, also helps to account for their popularity.
Training
Training on these guys should start young, but they're fairly quick learners, so gentle persistence and consistency is key when it comes to training for a long, happy life together.
Health
Brittany's are fairly healthy dogs as a whole, however, some Brittany's can have genetic issues such as Canine Hip Dysplasia (CHD), Epilepsy, skin issues and eye problems are known to show up in the breed. But careful breeding and evaluation of breeding stock has helped bring these issues down.
They still appear occasionally, but CHD has become less common in the well bred Brittany, and currently Epilepsy is our biggest concern, especially since there's no genetic test at this time for Epilepsy in Brittanys, though we are still trying to change this!
Brittanys and other pets
Because of their prey drive Brittany's are known to chase other animals. My own Brittanys will chase rabbits that wander through the yard and Spunky will chase our cat, but she always plays with the cat (gently) when she catches up to him, but in general she has never shown any sign of aggression towards him. Which is good, because our cat is fifteen years old and has been through quite enough!
As for other pets they have shown signs of wanting to chase the chickens when we had them, but have never tried to chase anything bigger than that. All of my Britts have sniffed curiously at horses and cattle but are smart enough to give the half ton animals their space!
So with proper training and supervision, most Britts do well in homes with other pets (both large and small!), but each dog, as with everything, needs to be treated individually.
Brittanys and children
As with all dogs, Brittanys and children should always be supervised, but generally Brittanys are very good with children, both young and old. Though like with everything else, every dog should be treated individually and even with littermates, while some may do excellent with kids, others may not.
For more information on the Brittany, please visit Brittany Breed Info!
A compact, closely knit dog of medium size, a leggy dog having the appearance, as well as the agility, of a great ground coverer. Strong, vigorous, energetic and quick of movement. Ruggedness, without clumsiness, is a characteristic of the breed. He can be tailless or has a tail docked to approximately four inches.
Size, Proportion, SubstanceHeight --
17½ inches to 20½ inches, measured from the ground
to the highest point of the shoulders.
Any Brittany measuring under 17½ inches or over 20½ inches
shall be disqualified from dog show competition.
Weight -- Should weigh between 30 and 40 pounds
Proportion -- So leggy is he that his height at the shoulders
is the same as the length of his body.
Body Length -- Approximately the same as the height
when measured at the shoulders.
Body length is measured from the point of the forechest
to the rear of the rump. A long body should be heavily penalized.
Substance -- Not too light in bone, yet never heavy-boned and cumbersome.
Head
Expression -- Alert and eager, but with the soft expression of a bird dog.
Eyes -- Well set in head. Well protected from briars by a heavy, expressive eyebrow. A prominent full or popeye should be penalized. It is a serious fault in a dog that must face briars. Skull well chiseled under the eyes, so that the lower lid is not pulled back to form a pocket or haw that would catch seeds, dirt and weed dust. Preference should be for the darker colored eyes,
though lighter shades of amber should not be penalized.
Light and mean-looking eyes should be heavily penalized.
Ears -- Set high, above the level of the eyes. Short and triangular, rather than pendulous, reaching about half the length of the muzzle. Should lie flat and close to the head, with dense, but relatively short hair, and with little fringe.
Skull -- Medium length, rounded, very slightly wedge-shaped, but evenly made. Width, not quite as wide as the length and never so broad as to appear coarse, or so narrow as to appear racy. Well defined, but gently sloping stop.
Median line rather indistinct. The occiput only apparent to the touch.
Lateral walls well rounded. The Brittany should never be "apple-headed"
and he should never have an indented stop.
Muzzle -- Medium length, about two thirds the length of the skull, measuring the muzzle from the tip to the stop, and the skull from the occiput to the stop. Muzzle should taper gradually in both horizontal and vertical dimensions as it approaches the nostrils. Neither a Roman nose nor a dish-face is desirable. Never broad, heavy or snippy.
Nose -- Nostrils well open to permit deep breathing of air and adequate scenting. Tight nostrils should be penalized. Never shiny. Color: fawn, tan, shades of brown or deep pink. A black nose is a disqualification. A two-tone or butterfly nose should be penalized.
Lips -- Tight, the upper lip overlapping the lower jaw just to cover the lower lip. Lips dry, so that feathers will not stick. Drooling to be heavily penalized.
Flews to be penalized.
Bite -- A true scissors bite. Overshot or undershot jaw to be heavily penalized.
Neck, Topline, Body, Neck --
Medium length. Free from throatiness, though not a serious fault unless accompanied by dewlaps, strong without giving the impression of being over muscled. Well set into sloping shoulders. Never concave or ewe-necked.
Topline -- Slight slope from the highest point of the shoulders
to the root of the tail.
Chest -- Deep, reaching the level of the elbow. Neither so wide nor so rounded as to disturb the placement of the shoulders and elbows.
Ribs well sprung. Adequate heart room provided by depth
as well as width. Narrow or slab-sided chests are a fault.
Back -- Short and straight. Never hollow, saddle, sway or roach backed. Slight drop from the hips to the root of the tail.
Flanks -- Rounded. Fairly full. Not extremely tucked up, or flabby and falling. Loins short and strong. Distance from last rib to upper thigh short, about three to four finger widths. Narrow and weak loins are a fault. In motion, the loin should not sway sideways, giving a zig-zag motion to the back, wasting energy.
Tail -- Tailless to approximately four inches, natural or docked. The tail not to be so long as to affect the overall balance of the dog. Set on high, actually an extension of the spine at about the same level. Any tail substantially more than four inches shall be severely penalized.
Forequarters
Shoulders -- Shoulder blades should not protrude too much, not too wide apart, with perhaps two thumbs' width between. Sloping and muscular. Blade and upper arm should form nearly a ninety degree angle. Straight shoulders are a fault. At the shoulders, the Brittany is slightly higher than at the rump.
Front Legs -- Viewed from the front, perpendicular, but not set too wide. Elbows and feet turning neither in nor out. Pasterns slightly sloped. Down in pasterns is a serious fault. Leg bones clean, graceful, but not too fine. Extremely heavy bone is as much a fault as spindly legs. One must look for substance and suppleness. Height at elbows should approximately equal distance from elbow to withers.
Feet -- Should be strong, proportionately smaller than the spaniels', with close fitting, well arched toes and thick pads. The Brittany is "not up on his toes."
Toes not heavily feathered. Flat feet, splayed feet, paper feet, etc., are to be heavily penalized. An ideal foot is halfway between the hare and the cat foot.
Dewclaws may be removed.
Hindquarter
Broad strong and muscular, with powerful thighs and well bent stifles,
giving the angulation necessary for powerful drive.Hind Legs -- Stifles well bent. The stifle should not be so angulated as to place the hock joint far out behind the dog. A Brittany should not be condemned for straight stifle until the judge has checked the dog in motion from the side. The stifle joint should not turn out making a cowhock. Thighs well feathered but not profusely, halfway to the hock. Hocks, that is, the back pasterns, should be moderately short, pointing neither in nor out, perpendicular when viewed from the side.
They should be firm when shaken by the judge.
Feet -- Same as front feet.
Coat
Dense, flat or wavy, never curly. Texture neither wiry nor silky. Ears should carry little fringe. The front and hind legs should have some feathering, but too little is definitely preferable to too much. Dogs with long or profuse feathering or furnishings shall be so severely penalized as to effectively
eliminate them from competition.
Skin -- Fine and fairly loose. A loose skin rolls with briars and sticks,
thus diminishing punctures or tearing.
A skin so loose as to form pouches is undesirable.
Color
Orange and white or liver and white in either clear or roan patterns. Some ticking is desirable. The orange or liver is found in the standard parti-color or piebald patterns. Washed out colors are not desirable.
Tri-colours are allowed but not preferred. A tri-color is a liver and white dog with classic orange markings on eyebrows, muzzle and cheeks, inside the ears and under the tail, freckles on the lower legs are orange. Anything exceeding the limits of these markings shall be severely penalized.
Black is a disqualification except in the Epagneul Breton, AKA the French Brittany.
Gait
When at a trot the Brittany's hind foot should step into or beyond
the print left by the front foot. Clean movement, coming and going,
is very important, but most important is side gait,
which is smooth, efficient and ground covering.
Temperament
A happy, alert dog, neither mean nor shy.
Disqualifications
Any Brittany measuring under 17½ inches or over 20½ inches
A black nose
Black in the coat
History and basic info
The Brittany originated in that region of France. Images of orange and white Brittany-like dogs hunting and retrieving game were first seen on tapestries and paintings from the 17th century.
The first written and verifiable record of Brittany's comes from a hunting description written by Reverend Davies in 1850. He described hunting with small "bob-tailed" dogs who pointed and were excellent retrievers. The Brittany was first shown at the Paris Dog Show in 1900.
In later years the Brittany became a well known versatile hunting companion and family pet.
In the 1980's here in the US, the Spaniel part of the Brittany's name was dropped due to the fact that they behaved more like pointers than flushers, like their fellow sporting dogs, the English Springer Spaniel or Clumber Spaniel.
The type of Brittany seen in the AKC show ring are loosely consiered "American" style Brittanys. Leaner and leggier, unlike their french counterparts, the Epagneul Breton. In the AKC all Brittany's are considered the same, but in UKC (United Kennel Club, the only reputable all breed kennel club besides the AKC), Brittanys and Epagneul Breton's are two different breeds.
They are a leggy dog that can cover ground with agility. They are strong, vigorous, energetic and quick of movement.
Their small size makes them easy to carry in a car. Their short tail, which can be either natural or docked, is an asset. They have enough coat to protect them from the briars but not enough to catch burrs to any great extent. They are not a heavily coated dog, but are lightly fringed.
They work in the same manner as a pointer, but without the great range.
They point and hold their game and retrieve both on land and in water.
They are used primarily on upland game in the United States, but are used on both fur and feather in France.
They are noted for an exceptionally keen nose and a very biddable disposition. Many of the country's top dogs have been house pets as well as field winners and fine hunting dogs.
The Brittany is a high energy dog who is bred to hunt. They tend to need lots of exercise or opportunities to hunt to keep them happy.
They have a typical friendly disposition and is very willing to please their master. They may be expected to absorb training more easily than some of the other pointing breeds.
The natural ability of the Brittany sells them as a breed to many neophytes in the field of hunting as they seem to know what to do than their master.
They gain their admirers from their excellent working ability. The Brittany, with his shorter range, is becoming more popular as hunting becomes limited to smaller fields with more fences. Their exceptional nose, which guarantees that they will pass up few birds, also helps to account for their popularity.
Training
Training on these guys should start young, but they're fairly quick learners, so gentle persistence and consistency is key when it comes to training for a long, happy life together.
Health
Brittany's are fairly healthy dogs as a whole, however, some Brittany's can have genetic issues such as Canine Hip Dysplasia (CHD), Epilepsy, skin issues and eye problems are known to show up in the breed. But careful breeding and evaluation of breeding stock has helped bring these issues down.
They still appear occasionally, but CHD has become less common in the well bred Brittany, and currently Epilepsy is our biggest concern, especially since there's no genetic test at this time for Epilepsy in Brittanys, though we are still trying to change this!
Brittanys and other pets
Because of their prey drive Brittany's are known to chase other animals. My own Brittanys will chase rabbits that wander through the yard and Spunky will chase our cat, but she always plays with the cat (gently) when she catches up to him, but in general she has never shown any sign of aggression towards him. Which is good, because our cat is fifteen years old and has been through quite enough!
As for other pets they have shown signs of wanting to chase the chickens when we had them, but have never tried to chase anything bigger than that. All of my Britts have sniffed curiously at horses and cattle but are smart enough to give the half ton animals their space!
So with proper training and supervision, most Britts do well in homes with other pets (both large and small!), but each dog, as with everything, needs to be treated individually.
Brittanys and children
As with all dogs, Brittanys and children should always be supervised, but generally Brittanys are very good with children, both young and old. Though like with everything else, every dog should be treated individually and even with littermates, while some may do excellent with kids, others may not.
For more information on the Brittany, please visit Brittany Breed Info!