Epagneul Breton

[AlwaysChasinTailNHorns]

Just put my deposit down for 2nd pick male of a French Brittany pup. I’m an avid woodcock hunter in the southeast and we also get out and chase wild quail a good bit, although the woodcock numbers during the winter months in the southeast prove for a lot more action and dog work than the wild quail do. The pup will be ready for pickup in August 2026 if everything goes right and we’re really excited to add him to the family. Were not new to bird dogs but this will be my first ever Epagneul Breton and I wanted to see if anyone has had any experience with them? My research and experience has concluded that they’re great for wild birds in cover, great energy, natural drive/point, and amazing family dogs. Looking to connect with some likeminded owners! Ps the Sire and Dam both are tri colored which is something I’m very fond of! Also if you’re a member of the Mid-South NAVDHA chapter or the Palmetto chapter let me know!

 

[loganwayne]

Who you getting a pup from? Ive had 4, down to two that hunt. This is from today. Im in wnc but hunt the upstate a good bit.

 

[AlwaysChasinTailNHorns]

Who you getting a pup from? Ive had 4, down to two that hunt. This is from today. Im in wnc but hunt the upstate a good bit.

Heck yeah! Nice mixed bag! I’m getting my pup from a breeder in Illinois, Dawson Lake Bretons.

 

[loganwayne]

Yep I know him. Hes judged my dogs at a couple field trials. And one of his mentor or Who he has worked for learning training now has the father of one of my females again.

Hard to go wrong with the Bretons most of the breeders in the US all work together and will call you out if your doing shady stuff.

 

[Speaks]

EBs are great dogs, running a setter at the moment but EBs are among my favorite.

 

[Skyhigh]

I have three here in eastern MT. Great dogs! 12 yr (Phantom tricolor), 5 yr, and 4 yr old orange and white brothers from separate litters. The only spot mine struggle is in tall, thick cover like cattail sloughs.

Had a unique situation about two weeks ago with the five year old (Vision). We were in quite a few pheasants (20-30 early flushers for the past 100 yards) and finally got to a slough edge where they would hold to cover. Vision got birdy, stalked up 30 yards, went on point. I got ahead of him about two yards, bird flushed another ten yards ahead of us. Shot, bird went down in the middle of some layed over cattails, looked like a wing butt hit, but figured it would try and run on us. Vision immediately jumps out to retrieve it, belly flops into the cattails and gets stuck for a few seconds. After he fights through the vegetation we both get to the relative area the bird went down. He doesn't seem to smell it at first. We stay still and quiet for a few seconds and are able to hear the bird moving. Vision then darts that direction, tunneling under the cattails. I lose sight of him for a minute or so, but can hear both him and the bird. Eventually, he stops moving, then busts his head out of the cattails with the bird. Ended up having no tailfeathers when he brought the rooster to me, so I imagine he was on it for a while and just couldn't quite grab it. While he was under the cattails with the bird he ended up traveling about ten yards. I was pretty surprised he ended up catching up with it. Proud of him in to see it come together like that after a few years of working with him.

 

[cubdriver84d]

Welcome to the club!

 

[Schmitty]

We've had a bunch of different breeds over the years and have settled on EB's as the best balance of effective bird finders and pets.
We currently have two young dogs that were loaded with natural talent and have done a pretty good job of figuring out the game. Here's a few pics from last season when they were just 8 months old.

 

[AlwaysChasinTailNHorns]

Yep I know him. Hes judged my dogs at a couple field trials. And one of his mentor or Who he has worked for learning training now has the father of one of my females again.

Hard to go wrong with the Bretons most of the breeders in the US all work together and will call you out if your doing shady stuff.

Small world! And that’s super great to hear that group of people who own EBs will stand up for what the breed standard should be held at. What trial system do you like running yours in?

 

[AlwaysChasinTailNHorns]

Welcome to the club!

Thank you! Beautiful pups! I’m very excited. Feel free to shoot me a PM if I’m ever in your neck of the woods come next season we can run the dogs together.

 

[AlwaysChasinTailNHorns]

We've had a bunch of different breeds over the years and have settled on EB's as the best balance of effective bird finders and pets.
We currently have two young dogs that were loaded with natural talent and have done a pretty good job of figuring out the game. Here's a few pics from last season when they were just 8 months old.

Looks like they know how to find a few birds! Gorgeous looking pups!

 

[AlwaysChasinTailNHorns]

Looks like they know how to find a few birds! Gorgeous looking pups!

That’s what drew me to the breed as well is the owners I spoke to, who obviously got their dog from reputable breeders putting out good genetics, all said the EBs are just such a natural at finding birds and when you add some good training and experience to those natural skills they make for a phenomenal bird dog. Not to mention their temperament and off switch after working birds is also very attractive

 

[AlwaysChasinTailNHorns]

I have three here in eastern MT. Great dogs! 12 yr (Phantom tricolor), 5 yr, and 4 yr old orange and white brothers from separate litters. The only spot mine struggle is in tall, thick cover like cattail sloughs.

Had a unique situation about two weeks ago with the five year old (Vision). We were in quite a few pheasants (20-30 early flushers for the past 100 yards) and finally got to a slough edge where they would hold to cover. Vision got birdy, stalked up 30 yards, went on point. I got ahead of him about two yards, bird flushed another ten yards ahead of us. Shot, bird went down in the middle of some layed over cattails, looked like a wing butt hit, but figured it would try and run on us. Vision immediately jumps out to retrieve it, belly flops into the cattails and gets stuck for a few seconds. After he fights through the vegetation we both get to the relative area the bird went down. He doesn't seem to smell it at first. We stay still and quiet for a few seconds and are able to hear the bird moving. Vision then darts that direction, tunneling under the cattails. I lose sight of him for a minute or so, but can hear both him and the bird. Eventually, he stops moving, then busts his head out of the cattails with the bird. Ended up having no tailfeathers when he brought the rooster to me, so I imagine he was on it for a while and just couldn't quite grab it. While he was under the cattails with the bird he ended up traveling about ten yards. I was pretty surprised he ended up catching up with it. Proud of him in to see it come together like that after a few years of working with him.

That’s amazing!! Thanks for telling that story, that’s a testament to their natural prey drive and no quit attitude. Curious, how big running is your EB? Heard mixed reviews I’m sure it comes down to the dog in front of you and the terrain and how you train but just wanted to see what some EB owners have to say! I’ve hunted over foot dogs and I’ve hunted over some pointers that would go 500-600 out and be at the county line looking for birds I personally like a somewhat closer working dog (sub 250 yards, ideally 100)

 

[AlwaysChasinTailNHorns]

EBs are great dogs, running a setter at the moment but EBs are among my favorite.

Llewellin?

 

[Speaks]

Llewellin?

No just straight setter out of Berg Brothers, small like the Lews but better overall gene pool to select from.

 

[AlwaysChasinTailNHorns]

No just straight setter out of Berg Brothers, small like the Lews but better overall gene pool to select from.

Nice! I love a good setter they’re a stylish hunter.

 

[Speaks]

Nice! I love a good setter they’re a stylish hunter.

https://flic.kr/p/2qmvXfG

 

[loganwayne]

Small world! And that’s super great to hear that group of people who own EBs will stand up for what the breed standard should be held at. What trial system do you like running yours in?

I only run them in the ukc stuff. I dont have time but for 1-2 trials a year. Id rather be hunting them. I did it to make some friends and hunting connections.

But I saw you might do navhda, Jake the new president is an EB guy. My first trial i got to walk with the judge and see alot of dogs. Jake's daughter was 8 or 9 and had trainer her dog herself. She dropped her dog that was under a year old and won that days trial. Im sure Jake helped alot with training but he was judging another class of dogs when she ran and she handled the dog all my herself.

 

[Skyhigh]

That’s amazing!! Thanks for telling that story, that’s a testament to their natural prey drive and no quit attitude. Curious, how big running is your EB? Heard mixed reviews I’m sure it comes down to the dog in front of you and the terrain and how you train but just wanted to see what some EB owners have to say! I’ve hunted over foot dogs and I’ve hunted over some pointers that would go 500-600 out and be at the county line looking for birds I personally like a somewhat closer working dog (sub 250 yards, ideally 100)

It definitely seems to very based on cover. They usually try to stay in visual contact of me I think. I’d say on average probably 20-150 yards. We tend to hunt a lot of terrain that has tight, closely spaced hills with a lot of sage brush, or cattails so it’s easy to lose visual at times.

 

[Schmitty]

That’s amazing!! Thanks for telling that story, that’s a testament to their natural prey drive and no quit attitude. Curious, how big running is your EB? Heard mixed reviews I’m sure it comes down to the dog in front of you and the terrain and how you train but just wanted to see what some EB owners have to say! I’ve hunted over foot dogs and I’ve hunted over some pointers that would go 500-600 out and be at the county line looking for birds I personally like a somewhat closer working dog (sub 250 yards, ideally 100)

My first EB was a bit of a bootlicker and always wanted to be near me but had a wonderful temperament and would hunt down cripples like nobody's business. I had an American Britt at the time that liked to range so they made a pretty good pair.

My current pair will push out to 150-200 yards in really open cover and easily hit 1/2 mile+ if chasing jackrabbits/deer. Most of the time they are inside of 100 yards but always actively searching. Hunting Gambel's quail with a pointing dog is really all about scattering a covey and working singles. A big/fast running will typically run right over the top of them due to our lack of humidity and small birds putting out very little scent.

It takes a few seasons for a dog to learn that they need to slow down when we are chasing singles. I'm starting to see the light come on this year and they are starting to figure it out. (Dogs are now 1.5) but our bird numbers are terrible this year and we have cover a few miles+ between coveys so they may just be getting tired!

Mine have all been natural retrievers and swimmers. Backing has NOT come naturally in my limited experience though having two young dogs hunting together is probably a large part of that. As has been previously mentioned, they want to be with/on you all of the time. Here's my old girl hanging with my severely autistic son.

Good luck with your pup!