The Brittany
 The breed started life in an area of France
called Callac. In the village of Callac itself, there stands a
statue of a French Cob horse, on which the Brittany is reputed to be
based. In the 1800s it was usual for the landed gentry in England to
shoot partridge and snipe in France, and of course, they took with
them their best gundogs, mostly setters and pointers. These were
often left with the French landowners from one season to the next,
and resulted in a number of matings between the popular Fougeres, a
very high spirited spaniel from the area, and these English Pointers
and English and Gordon Setters - A hot gundog was born - The
Brittany!
Due to the variety of colours in the English Pointers and Setters,
and the black and tan Gordon Setter, the Brittany also appeared in
many coats. (Contrary to some opinions, the Welsh Springer Spaniel
is not generally regarded as being related, even though the
colouring is similar to the orange and white version of the
Brittany, their basic origins being substantially different!). It
was such a popular combination of dog that by 1900, the animals
produced from planned matings had become more or less typified. The
Brittany has a very strong nose, is an excellent hunter, and can
sometimes be spectacular in pointing game, since it works the ground
at great speed, and may suddenly stop or leap on to point.
The first French Champion in the breed was a liver and white dog
named MAX DE CALLAC. Another outstanding dog in France was SKA DE
SAINT TUGEN ( a black based tri-colour ), himself a Grand Champion
and Grand Trialler, and also sire, grand-sire and great-grand-sire
of many champions and triallers. SKA was the epitome of the Callac
horse, being well ribbed, short coupled, well muscled and having
great presence. Many British dogs are related to him.
The breed is becoming increasingly popular in this country,
particularly with the sportsmen interested in rough shooting and
falconry in its various forms. It is a very stylish dog in field
trials, and two Field Trial Champions have been made up since 1982.
It is also popular in the show ring and the Kennel Club granted
Challenge Certificate Status in 1997. There are now also a number of
Show Champions and two Full Champions.
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