The French Spaniel Breeds
Brittany
Spaniel
 Originating
from Brittany in North West France, the Brittany spaniel was developed from at
least three different types of French gundogs including spaniel and setter
breeds. It is the only spaniel breed that is born without a tail which is a
distinct advantage for the dog that is required to hunt the dense cover
associated with that part of France in pursuit of the woodcock, a favourite of
the Breton sportsmen. Superb in cover, the Brittany spaniel does not, however,
favour water.
The colouring of the Brittany is mainly lemon with
white or orange and white. The colouring is an indication of the breed’s
origins with those colours still apparent today on setting breeds. Indeed the
colour and the shape of the Brittany are not unlike that of the Welsh springer
spaniel and the two have been confused. The Brittany has shorter ears than the
Welsh spaniel and longer legs.
Like all spaniel breeds it finds, flushes and
retrieve game. Its ability to point or set on game is another clue to its
ancestry. The first breed standards was established in 1907, but in 1942 the
Brittany Spaniel Club of North America joined with the American Kennel Club and
out of this came a revised set of breed standards. Used widely in its native
France, the Brittany spaniel is also a popular dog in the USA.
Picardy Blue
Spaniel
 The
origins of this breed lie in the countryside of Northern France although its
modern day popularity lies in Canada where it is used as a hunt, point and
retrieve dog.
The breed is a descendant of the old and quite
large family of French spaniels, which, over the years, separated into many
different types where hunting style, size and colouring dictated the final
outcome of the breeding. Around the mouth of the River Somme was, at the turn
of the 20th century, a wildfowlers’ paradise and many English
sportsmen crossed the channel to shoot there. Because of the quarantine
regulations, many English shooters boarded their setters with locals in the
Picardy area that is at the mouth of the Somme. Hence the infusion of English
setter blood with the local spaniel bloodlines and the development of the Blue
Picardy spaniel.
The Picardy has the characteristic greyish-black
freckled coat with its skin a blue shade rather than the brown pigmentation
found in other gundog breeds. The dog is excellent in water, possesses a good
nose and has a strong desire to retrieve game.
The French
Spaniel
The French spaniel gained fame in the
Middle Ages as a setting dog for the netsmen, rather like the English springer
spaniel. The French variety
had the style of creeping along and freezing on the scent of game. It is argued
in some quarters that this was the origin of the modern setter breeds of
gundogs.
By the 17th century the French spaniel
had established itself at the primary hunting dog in the country but, as tastes
changed, it was the influx of English bred dogs that deposed it as the country’s
favourite working dog.
This is a breed of spaniel that has an undocked
tail, is strongly built and possesses a medium-length coat. Classified as a
hunt, point and retrieve gundog, it is at ease retrieving from land and water.
Owners of the breed testify to its ease of training and its absolute loyalty.
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European
Gundogs