Brittany Spaniel...

[mattmann]

Please do, don’t mind traveling in order to get the right pup. Definitely worth the price of travel in my eyes. I’m kind of viewing this as a return on my investment. You’re going to have this dog for 10+ years. You may as well get one that you are going to really want that fits your style. Or at least that’s my perspective on it.

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[jml49]

I am in Indiana but all my dogs came from Pennsylvania out of field trial dogs.

 

[Dos XX]

You can look at the American Brittany Club website or magazine and see who the breeders are of the winning dogs, including nationals, if field trial stock is of interest to you.

One of my dogs is from field trial stock. He is an athlete and hunts hard with a lot of endurance. He hunts every waking moment that he is outside. This can be a pain in the ass. In the house he is fine. Put him in the back yard, he is hunting. When hunting, he will easily get out 400 yards and then some if you let him or want him to. He isn't hard to reign in, but he will get out there.

My other dog is from a breeder that isn't heavily into field trials. They do some, but it isn't their main focus. They do have some good hunting lines, though. This dog is mostly a 200 yd and in dog, and he checks in regularly. I can hunt him for 3 days and not use the collar, whistle and voice only. He has a great nose and hunts his ass off. He is chill in the house and in the back yard and when walking in the neighborhood. He isn't on every moment he is outdoors. He is on when he needs to be, though.

When quail hunting, the field trial stock dog is great for covering a lot of ground. When you are trying to round up singles, the other dog shines. They are a pretty good pair.

 

[brockel]

Had this same issue last year. Wanted a hunting dog but also wanted a smaller dog for in the house and for traveling in the vehicle. We ended up with an English cocker spaniel and I would 100% do it again. Easiest dog I’ve ever been around to train and a bird eating machine. High motor outside but as soon as you come inside he’d rather cuddle up on the couch.

 

[Dos XX]

Had this same issue last year. Wanted a hunting dog but also wanted a smaller dog for in the house and for traveling in the vehicle. We ended up with an English cocker spaniel and I would 100% do it again. Easiest dog I’ve ever been around to train and a bird eating machine. High motor outside but as soon as you come inside he’d rather cuddle up on the couch.
View attachment 879721View attachment 879722

Awesome dog.

 

[TSAMP]

I LOVE my Brittany. They are calmer than GSP’s but they definitely still have prey drive and shed pretty bad. Mine is a great family dog but I don’t hunt him. I take him to our farm and naturally he points well and I love watching him but he’s pretty wild if left pinned for a while. With 3 kids and 2 doodles he gets plenty of exercise. He’s also extremely sensitive with his emotions. He’s extremely smart but if you raise your voice he acts like he’s beat. I have a training collar on him and have only had to shock him one time for digging out. He’s inside all afternoon but outside during the day and hates being indoors. If I did it over I would maybe check into a Griffon but don’t regret him. He’s an amazing pup and my kids love him.

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Don't take this the wrong way, but why don't you hunt your dog? I get some people arent hunters and have sporting breeds, but I assume you hunt since your on here. So im curious as to the reasoning.

 

[mattmann]

Don't take this the wrong way, but why don't you hunt your dog? I get some people arent hunters and have sporting breeds, but I assume you hunt since your on here. So im curious as to the reasoning.

Don’t really have birds too close to me (4 hours plus) and when I called my breeder and told him I want a capable dog but no super athlete one because I needed a family pet, he had a “dud” that wouldn’t get on birds at an early stage so we grabbed him. No clue what one of his more athletic dogs can do but this one is crazy fast/agile and points naturally. He has one several awards with his kennel so I know they are phenomenal genetics but again, this one was a “dud”. When I take him to my farm (200 acres in the ozarks) he runs until he makes me nervous of over exerting himself and loves busting up birds in the brush but haven’t ever formally trained or hunted him!


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[Fxs]

Universal breed needed

 

[TSAMP]

Don’t really have birds too close to me (4 hours plus) and when I called my breeder and told him I want a capable dog but no super athlete one because I needed a family pet, he had a “dud” that wouldn’t get on birds at an early stage so we grabbed him. No clue what one of his more athletic dogs can do but this one is crazy fast/agile and points naturally. He has one several awards with his kennel so I know they are phenomenal genetics but again, this one was a “dud”. When I take him to my farm (200 acres in the ozarks) he runs until he makes me nervous of over exerting himself and loves busting up birds in the brush but haven’t ever formally trained or hunted him!


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You should give it a shot, when I first started out I hunted squrriels with my versatile because I felt bad about the lack of bird contacts we had. As we both got better we learned to find the few we had and still hunt squirrels on occasion.

I think its a time/effort thing from the breeder, I doubt you have a dud, you just have a dog that started slower than it's peers. Turn em loose!

 

[bdg848]

Not super on topic but in regards to breed exercise requirements, I'm just putting this here for anyone who hasn't seen it. If you don't have one, you're working way too hard.

 

[bdg848]

You should give it a shot, when I first started out I hunted squrriels with my versatile because I felt bad about the lack of bird contacts we had. As we both got better we learned to find the few we had and still hunt squirrels on occasion.

I think its a time/effort thing from the breeder, I doubt you have a dud, you just have a dog that started slower than it's peers. Turn em loose!

Does he tree them like they do with those feists in the ozarks? That looks super fun. My GSP loves chasing squirrels in the yard and i've considered training her to cut squirrel tracks.

 

[TSAMP]

View attachment 879982


Not super on topic but in regards to breed exercise requirements, I'm just putting this here for anyone who hasn't seen it. If you don't have one, you're working way too hard.

I'd be doing that off pavement. I'm dealing with an arthritic 8 yr old dog right now and I used to road him alot between my daily runs and bikes and can't help but feel like those miles may be partially to blame.

 

[medvedyt]

been raised in brittany with brittanys mostly for snipe and woodcoks and a little of wild pheasants but today we have a griffon. enjoy the good time with your brittany.

and yes the french ones have a strong head like any people from brittany i will say lol ...

 

[Ice_man]

Had this same issue last year. Wanted a hunting dog but also wanted a smaller dog for in the house and for traveling in the vehicle. We ended up with an English cocker spaniel and I would 100% do it again. Easiest dog I’ve ever been around to train and a bird eating machine. High motor outside but as soon as you come inside he’d rather cuddle up on the couch.
View attachment 879721View attachment 879722

That’s an awesome pup!

 

[Ice_man]

You can look at the American Brittany Club website or magazine and see who the breeders are of the winning dogs, including nationals, if field trial stock is of interest to you.

One of my dogs is from field trial stock. He is an athlete and hunts hard with a lot of endurance. He hunts every waking moment that he is outside. This can be a pain in the ass. In the house he is fine. Put him in the back yard, he is hunting. When hunting, he will easily get out 400 yards and then some if you let him or want him to. He isn't hard to reign in, but he will get out there.

My other dog is from a breeder that isn't heavily into field trials. They do some, but it isn't their main focus. They do have some good hunting lines, though. This dog is mostly a 200 yd and in dog, and he checks in regularly. I can hunt him for 3 days and not use the collar, whistle and voice only. He has a great nose and hunts his ass off. He is chill in the house and in the back yard and when walking in the neighborhood. He isn't on every moment he is outdoors. He is on when he needs to be, though.

When quail hunting, the field trial stock dog is great for covering a lot of ground. When you are trying to round up singles, the other dog shines. They are a pretty good pair.

Definitely more into a closer working pup. Grew up along the field trial scenes with short hairs, and there was nothing worse than watching a dog take off and scaring off birds forever away. I’m sure more than anything it’s jumpy birds and a lack of discipline, but may have scarred me from my youth.

 

[Mtaylor]

Definitely more into a closer working pup. Grew up along the field trial scenes with short hairs, and there was nothing worse than watching a dog take off and scaring off birds forever away. I’m sure more than anything it’s jumpy birds and a lack of discipline, but may have scarred me from my youth.

Hey Ice_man I second the sunburst Brittany’s in Ontario Or! They have some great dogs, they cross french Brittany’s and American Brittany’s to get their own hybred. They are great dogs and Gabe uses them alot! Very proven genetics.
I just got a Brittany pup last December. Previously I had a GWP and a Brittany when I was in high school. This Brittany was very mouthy as a pup we have corrected him hundreds of times but he still likes to put his mouth on things, especially your hand. He’s not aggressive in biting just likes to taste everything, I would say it has gotten better since he has been getting his permenant teeth. He’s almost 8 months now and has calmed down quite a bit. But the 3-5 months stage he was crazy, similar to what you think of with a GSP. He has calmed down a lot though and is getting to where he enjoyable to be with and can be trusted with smaller kids (he liked to jump on the small ones and little kids just can’t correct that like older kids and adults).
Also I forgot how much Brittany’s like to roll and eat poop!! we live on 5 acres with chickens goats, 4h sheep and horses. He is always eating or rolling in poop. That can be managed though, I just haven’t got a perimeter collar up to separate him from the rest of the property.

With all this being said I like him very much!! There was a month or 2 that I thought I was going to go crazy or that my wife was going to give me an ultimatum, but he is definitely maturing and is going to be a great companion! He is always carrying something in his mouth, which I take as a good sign of retrieving. Some American Brittany’s aren’t great retrievers. Plus he jumped in the canal yesterday my last Brittany did not like water. My recommendation is do your research. There should be a lot of Brittany’s close to you, find someone who does the hunting you do and go with them. I got mine from a guy who sold my friend a pup. They are field trial dogs, but mine isn’t running crazy far. Maybe he will but I go to the breeders to help me with bird introduction, gun introduction ect. It has been a great relationship cause he wants his pups to succeed. I will never trial my dog, but I plan on getting out a lot this fall/winter on chuckar! Good luck on your Brittany journey!!

 

[Speaks]

I have had britts and setters all my life and really have no interest in getting a bird dog outside of those two. I am much more of an upland hunter than big game. I live full time at my cabin in NW WI from late Sept through thanksgiving and hunt grouse at least a couple hours almost every day.

I generally prefer the personality of britts and setters to any other dog. Between the two I see more variation between individual breedings than from breed to breed. My wife has a preference from britts but that is really just that my last britt Bandit was just about the best house dog ever and my current setter Birch can be a bit of a demon. Historically though over a much larger sample size I call it a toss up.

I think field bred britts are more consistently what I am looking for while setters can be all kinds of things (though I know breeders that turn out the kind of dogs I like). I think my next pup will be a french britt though. If you asked me to lock in a plan for life I would probably rotate britts and setters every other dog so most of the time have 1 of each with staggered ages.

 

[Mtaylor]

One thing I forgot to mention. Crate train your pup from day 1, when he’s a few months older let him get used to being staked out, and get him used to an outdoor kennel too if you can. When I travel my pups home is the crate. We went on a road trip from Washington to eastern Idaho with him, and it worked great. Got him out a few times and let him run when we got to our destination.

 

[Ice_man]

Anybody have a preference on male or female? Any reason why? I can imagine it’s a pretty personal choice. I also think sometimes you can have a personality and/or hunting drive difference. I go back and forth quite a bit.

 

[KurtR]

I always have males i dont want to deal with heat cycles