Not in the market for a dog yet but tossing around the idea of raising one more companion from a pup between retirement and the end of my journey here. Have raised three Labs from pups and love them but as I get older was thinking of something a little bit smaller without getting into ankle biters.
Brittany looks like it might be a good choice from what I've read - intelligent, medium sized, generally healthy, moderate to light shedder and not a drooler AFAIK - my lab Ranger the First would leave puddles in the summer. They are energetic and need exercise but that is one reason for getting one, it would prompt me to get off my butt and take long walks and throw a ball around or something. A Border Collie is a close second but not sure I want a dog who's smarter than me.
So, open to any comments you want to make about them - am I on the right track, are there any gotchas with the breed, whatever.
Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery. Hit the target, all else is twaddle!
I love Brittanys. I have had two of my own, and have hunted with them since 1974. They are good family dogs and not too big. They do need exercise, though. No gotchas that I know of. I got my last Britt (now deceased) from a retired urologist dog breeder, also now deceased. He was a brilliant man, so if he thought the breed was good, I'm not going to say different. My last dog came from him, and she was a wonderful dog. She was a good watchdog and companion and a terrific hunter.
It is hard not to like a Brittany IMHO. A buddy of mine has one and she is a great dog. High energy and loves everyone. She is mainly a pet, but she does retrieve a few doves every year.
I have had 4 brittanies. Great dogs. I will have more. Very easy to train. They are very much people pleasers so don’t be heavy handed. Good with kids too, not so much with cats.
I've been thinking about getting a Brittany too. I've only had pointers which were all excellent hunters but my last one was a horse back trial reject and almost broke me because she was just too much of a runner. My roommate in college had two Britts that were really nice to hunt with.
I've noticed Brittany pups cost a lot more than pointers and I see a lot of them look like "show dogs" so it makes concerned how well they will hunt. Do you guys have a recommendation on where to get one for hunting? I've been looking for one that has NSTRA wins in its pedigree.
What everyone else said. Britts are great dogs, they will hunt and they will be the family pet for the rest of the year. Very affable personalities, easy to live with. Not overly intelligent, so they won't challenge a casual dog owner. Best bet by far for a hunter/family dog.
"...the left considers you vermin, and they'll kill you given the chance..." Bristoe
Don't cheat yourself. Forget the Brittany and get yourself a real one, French Brittany! As for breeder Plum Creek would be my first choice. Might want to get a deposit in now.
The best grouse and all around dog I've ever had was a mostly liver colored brit. We could hunt duck in the AM, then grouse all day, then duck in the PM. If there was a bird in the woods, he would find it and he would actually point and hold grouse. If they wild flushed, he would stand there and face the way they flushed. If they flushed into a tree, he would sit and look up at them. Never trained him to do that, but he did it. He was tall enough to get around in the snow and small enough(45 lbs) to carry around, unlike my lab. Like any dog, you need to get one from hunting stock and put your time into them. As was mentioned, they are gentle and don't take kindly to a firm hand. They are great family and house dogs too. I had a friend that loved my brits attitude, so he bought one from the next litter for a house dog. Never hunted a day in it's life, but it would point robins and small birds by his bird feeder all the time. Go for it.
If Nobody Cares about Winning, Why Do They Keep Score ? VL
I have a 14 y/o lab and he will be my last Lab.... I got my selection prosses down to two breeds... Pudelpointer or Springer.
As I search for a dog I see an awful lot of really good Brittany litters.... and I want to know if a Brittany would work better or not.... I am mostly a grouse hunter but will not pass up a good wood duck hole if I find one.
I mostly train my dogs by hunting the living crap out of them.... Other than that, I let them be dogs. So I need a natural born bird dog..... Like a beagle comes out of the box knowing to chase bunnies... I need a bird dog to come out of the box knowing how to hunt grouse..... I don't know if a springer will check that box.... and I hunt in wolf country, and a long ranging pudlepointer will for sure get picked off before too long. I know this because I have seen my Lab come close twice that I know of...
I don't care the cost... I don't care the color... I don't care the breed... If my next dog lives to be 14... I'll be 70 y/o when he goes... just enough time left for one more after that.
Oh, and Jim.... that thing you say about Border collies.... no kidding.... I always said.... If Border collies had opposing thumbs... we would be hearding sheep for them....
Well... we have come to the point.... where... the parasites are killing the host. It's only a matter of time now.
A Brittany has great ability to follow ground scent. I never lost a cripple quail while running a Brit. They do not follow air borne scent trails as well as an English Pointer. While not quite the quail hunting machine that a pointer is, they are versatile. Mine would point quail, as well as retrieve doves and ducks. They are great family dogs and do well inside the house. They are much "softer" than a pointer. You can't treat them "harshly" during training.
Many look like "show dogs" because the breed is known for producing dual champions in both AKC and field trials. If you want one for hunting get it from hunting stock. If both parents are good hunters the pups will be too. I ran a Brit and a pointer in the quail fields, they were a great combination. Strengths and weaknesses of each breed complimented the other.
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke 1795
"Give me liberty or give me death" Patrick Henry 1775
I've noticed Brittany pups cost a lot more than pointers and I see a lot of them look like "show dogs" so it makes concerned how well they will hunt. Do you guys have a recommendation on where to get one for hunting? I've been looking for one that has NSTRA wins in its pedigree.
Brittany‘s have won more combined field trial and show dog awards than any other breed.
They’re a great dog. High energy, yes, but able to dial it down in the house. Will hunt till you quit. Mine was friendly with everyone but thought the sun rose and set on me.
If you have a local chapter of NAVHDA, ask them about a Brittany breeder.
Hunted over (virtually) every breed out there. Brits have a terrific work ethic in the field! They are also wonderful people dogs.
If my wife hadn't agreed to slightly larger breeds for my upland hunting (wirehairs, both german and griffon), brit was on my short list. Given their smaller size is overshadowed by their upland hunting prowess, they're tough to beat pound for pound in the field or in the house.
All of the above true, I've only owned 2 so not that much experience, but, this is opinion only, and I'm not a real dog man: they got got popular a few years back for field competition, and breeders did what breeders do, they bred the dogs to win. And as a result, there are some bloodlines out there that show some physical traits that are dead easy to spot. Very long legged and a tendency toward hyperactivity. Fortunately I stumbled on to some folks who bred them for 50 years, they were pure hunting stock, and resembled the old vintage pictures of Britts before WWII. Shorter legged, broad back and chests, thicker coats, alert but not excitable, extremely eager to receive commands in body language, hand signals or voice. Some hunting partners, impressed with my dogs, charged out and bought high dollar dogs from good breeders, with mixed results, mostly disappointment from blown birds flushed well beyond gun range. Just one mans's experience.
Well this is a fine pickle we're in, should'a listened to Joe McCarthy and George Orwell I guess.
I can't say enough great things about them. Great family dog and great in the field. This is Tessa who went to the game fields in the sky in 2017....miss her everyday. She was fantastic around the house, great with children, extremely loyal and eager to please. And an absolute machine in the field when it came to finding birds. When hunting with other breeds she would honor their point. But what was great is she would routinely find and point birds that those other dogs ran right by. Always made me proud.
I've had 3, 1st was a male, grouse, dove and turkey's; when he winded turkeys he was so "birdy" he was hard to hold back, when i would let him go he would bust them up and we would sit an call em back in.. the 2nd was a female a friend who was moving into town had to get rid of, she was a house pet, several years old when i got her. best house alarm i have had. 3rd was a female, got her young, she was coming along good, pointing, holding and some basic hand and whistle commands, still young she got the "cat disease" can't think of the name, she had the shot for it, Parvo its called i think, anyway, she died on my lap on the way to the vets. they are great dogs, do need to exercise, smart, would let the kids do anything to / with them (they were young kids),
had a border collie after the brit's; really got her to keep an eye out around the house, possum, skunk, coon, stray cars, loved to chase tennis balls, she kept alot of people entertained fetching that ball so they would throw it again.. But, she was also possessive, when she was in the back of the truck, i think she would bite someone if they were not family.. they are smart, in the evenings we would go to the barn, call the horses and give them some oats, she picked up on that and had them in the barn before we got there. the longer hair was more brushing to keep it from matting up.
we are in town now and don't have the space i think to let them burn some energy, hell don't have any space, back yard is about 50x100; but when i retire i PLAN on getting another brit pup, its not that far to camp and friends farms, and would like to see how they do with squirrels, even fetching them would help, our grouse are all but gone (where i hunt); but still have turkeys.
i vote for the Brit.. for house pet and/or hunter, oh yea the male hated cats, he might have picked up on that from me; he also collected turtles and buried them in the yard.