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About the Brittany Spaniel

Home: The Brittany Spaniel: About the Brittany Spaniel
Page Updated December 28, 2002

Topics included in this section:
* A Breed Profile
* General Information
* L'Epagneul Breton
* The Breed Standard
* Do female Brittanys make better pets?
* Brittany Links

"Known since the mid-19th century in the French province of Brittany and thought to represent a cross between the English Setter and small French land spaniels. A quick, agile dog, square in outline, the Brittany is the smallest of the versatile gun dogs. The breed is able to point and retrieve game and works equally well in open country or dense cover. When not enjoying the sporting life, the Brittany can content himself at home as family pet and guardian. The breed was first imported to this continent by sportsmen in the 1920s, and by 1934 there was sufficient interest to warrant the breed's inclusion on the roster of officially recognized breeds both in Canada and the United States. The Brittany is a dog without extremes. His coat is dense, flat or wavy in orange and white or liver and white.

  Grooming presents no problem because, unlike the other spaniel breeds, the Brit is not heavily feathered. The breed is born tailless, or the tail is docked, to prevent injury from briars when in the field. Males average 19-1/2 inches at the shoulder; weight is between 30 and 40 pounds. Females are proportionately smaller. A fine dog for the weekend sportsman, he should have daily exercise." (excerpt from Dogs in Canada)

There are more dual champion Brittanys (i.e. field & show) than all other breeds of pointers combined. The Brittany is carefully bred to retain this dual purpose: he should be able to hunt one day, have a bath and compete in the show ring the next day. (Brittanys require minimum grooming: usually brushing once a week will do).

These are true athletes, well known for their stamina and enthusiasm in all outdoor conditions. They have a natural instinct to work a fence or tree line and point and retrieve birds. The weekend sportsman or sportswoman can use this ability  for hunting grouse, pheasants, quail, prairie chicken, chukar & ducks.

This breed is referred to as the "Spaniel, Brittany" by the Canadian Kennel Club. But the American Kennel Club classifies this dog simply as the "Brittany". We stick to the words "Brittanys" and "he" & "him", for the sake of convenience.

Brittany Spaniels bond and work closely with their human partner. So they tend to make their trainers look good. This breed does well in obedience trials, agility trials, flyball competitions (as well as in the more traditional field trials and hunting & tracking tests). The Brittany is easily handled, but sensitive if treated harshly. It is usually simple for a Brittany to pass the test for the (AKC) Canine Good Citizen award.

Brittany Spaniels are fun loving and energetic. They love to play and require daily exercise. Otherwise, they will adapt to any environment: from a rural farm, to the suburbs, to an apartment in the city.

Brittanys breed relatively true and rarely have temperament problems. They are friendly, gentle and affectionate. They are patient with children, and trustworthy. Brittanys are loyal to their masters and tend to guard people rather than territory. They are both intelligent and eager to please. These traits make them a very good family pet and companion.

Brittanys were originally developed for hunting, and imported from France. Especially during the Second World War, interaction between the two continents  was restricted.  Two isolated, separate gene pools were formed.  Over many generations North American Brittanys have been exclusively bred with other North American Brittanys.

  Today, the L’Epagneul Breton is very different compared to the Brittany Spaniels we generally see in Canada and the U.S.A.. For example, French Brittanys tend to have a stockier build & may have black in their coats (a disqualification under the CKC & AKC breed standards.)  The French Brittany is not currently recognized as a separate breed under the Canadian or American Kennel Clubs.  But now we have essentially  two very distinctive varieties of Brittanys: the French Brittany (or L’Epagneul Breton) & the North American. 

    Each kennel club makes up a description of the characteristics the Brittany should have: physical characteristics, gait and overall temperament. This Breed Standard is the standard of perfection that judges use to make their decisions when they compare dogs at Championship Shows. After all, dog shows were developed for the purpose of evaluating breeding stock. Reputable breeders know their breed's standard & it's one of the factors they consider when choosing which dogs they will breed.

There are 3 main versions of the Brittany's breed standard:

1. The CKC standard (Unfortunately, the Canadian Kennel Club's breed standard isn't on the their website, so you have to buy a print copy from them.)
   
   
2. The AKC standard (American Kennel Club)
   
   
3. The international standard by the FCI (Federation Cynologique Internationale)

The CKC standard is practically the same as the AKC's version. For example, the minimum & maximum heights are identical, but the wording & order used for other characteristics is slightly different.

The international standard is very different. It's a lot more detailed, and it allows for black coat color. In North American shows, any black results in disqualification i.e. that dog cannot be shown.

We personally prefer to choose our Brittanys based on personality (and conformation since we show ours). When choosing a puppy as a pet, I don't feel that gender is as important as the individual dog's personality in the quality of their companionship. I don't think there is a significant difference between males and females in this breed.

Click here to go to an excerpt from the book we use as our guideline for puppy temperament testing.

  Having said that, most enquiries we get are from families that prefer females. Usually they believe that females make better pets e.g. "they're more obedient", "more docile", "easier to deal with" or "they're smaller". I think this perception could be based on experience with more common, more aggressive breeds. In some of the breeds, the males are larger, more challenging, more dog and people aggressive and not eager workers. As owners of two intact male Brittanys, this simply has not been true in our experience with the Brittany breed.

  In some other breeds, there is a different breed standard (the written description of the standard of perfection in the breed used to judge shows) for males versus females in the same breed. But the breed standard for the Brittany makes no such distinction between males and females. We've had the "runt" of the litter (i.e. the smallest) be a male sometimes; other times it's a female.

To learn about the history of the Brittany, visit the Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) website at:
www.ckc.ca/scoop/breed/default.asp

Not sure if you should adopt a Brittany?  Read "So You Want a Brittany" by the National Brittany Rescue Adoption Network.

The American Kennel Club's Brittany page also has a short video of Brittanys in the field.

To see one example of how different the European Brittany looks compared to the North American Brittany, visit the Brittany breed standard page (in the Gundog Group) of the Kennel Club (in Great Britain). 

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