Brittany
A pointing dog of 30 to 40 pounds from northwestern France, bred to work within gun range.
The Brittany is the smallest pointing breed we cover and, by its own club's description, built to stay close: it "works in the same manner as a pointer, but without the great range." That close range is the breed's whole argument in brushy country. It was fourth in Project Upland's 2026 survey of North American bird hunters, at 13 percent. Matt has committed to a working-line Brittany, with a pup planned for spring 2027, and Picking a Puppy from a California Litter: Questions to Ask Before You Pay is his homework in public. Until that dog has seasons behind it, this page leans on the breed club and the writers we trust.
A Brittany from American dual (field and show) lines in dry fall grass. Photo: Pharaoh Hound / CC BY-SA 3.0 — source
The Brittany at a Glance
Type: pointing dog. NAVHDA also recognizes it as a versatile breed, and its parent club says it "retrieves both on land and in water."
Size: 17½ to 20½ inches at the shoulder and 30 to 40 pounds. The AKC standard gives one range for both sexes.
Coat: dense, flat or wavy. The American Brittany Club's primer calls it "enough coat to protect him from the briars but not enough to catch burrs to any great extent."
Range: close to moderate. "Without the great range," says the parent club; "small enough to stay within the hunter's range," says the AKC.
Where they're tested: AKC field trials and hunt tests, NAVHDA, and the parent club's own national gun dog and all-age championships.
Health clearances the parent club lists: hips (OFA or PennHIP), an eye exam by a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist every year from age 2 to 8, and one more of cardiac, elbows, patellas, or thyroid.
Parent club: American Brittany Club
Checked against the AKC breed standard, the American Brittany Club, and the club's AKC-hosted health statement on Oct. 15, 2026.
How They Hunt
The Brittany hunts like a pointer on a shorter string. It quarters ahead, points, and holds. The breed has earned more AKC dual championships, field and show, than any other sporting breed, and its club says it is committed to keeping the Brittany "a dual dog." That cuts both ways for a hunter. Project Upland's breed profile notes that some American lines, especially those developed for field trials, "can work much farther out," and Outdoor Life's advice is to "get a little spitfire from field lines" if you plan to hunt.
The French Brittany, or Epagneul Breton, comes from the same root stock but is bred to its own standard. The United Kennel Club registers it, and its standard allows black-and-white coats, which the AKC Brittany standard disqualifies. Project Upland's writers describe French Brittanys as a little smaller, "topping out at about 40 lbs," and say the American dog "adapts more readily to a wider range."
In California Country
Brush. In California's chaparral quail country, a dog working 200 yards out is a dog you can't see, and the Brittany's range fits the cover. The standard even credits its loose skin, which "rolls with briars and sticks, thus diminishing punctures or tearing."
Coat and heat. The feathering is light, but it is longer than a shorthair's or a pointer's. In hot country some handlers clip it, by Outdoor Life's account. In foxtail season that coat is one more place to check, and Foxtail Season for California Bird Dogs: A Handler's Prevention and First-Aid Plan covers what handlers and vets watch for. For September, our heat, shade, and water piece is the plan.
Mixed country. Gun Dog's breed profile follows a "moderately close ranging" Brittany that hunted chukar in several states and Mearns quail in southern Arizona. A dog that can do both is the kind a California hunter splitting the season between Coast Range quail and chukar country is looking for.
Choosing One in California
Field lines. The breed is held to a dual standard, so the useful question is which side of it a litter comes from. Hunt-test and field-trial titles on the sire and dam are the paper trail.
Clearances. The club's list asks for an eye exam every year from 2 to 8, so an older sire's file should show several of them. Results are public in the OFA database.
Where to see them work. The Northern California Brittany Club, founded in 1954, lists field trials and hunt tests on its 2026 calendar. NAVHDA's California chapters, on its chapter map, test Brittanys alongside the other versatile breeds.
What We've Written on Dogs
Choosing a dog
Keeping one going in California
Foxtail Season for California Bird Dogs: A Handler's Prevention and First-Aid Plan
Heat Safety for Bird Dogs: California Off-Season Conditioning as Temps Rise
Heat, Shade, and Water Strategy: Don't Cook Your Dog on Sept 1
The Four Weeks That Decide October: Quail Prep While Dove Is Still Open
In the field with Alan
What I Carry for Alan: A California Bird-Dog Kit That Actually Works
Hunting the Overlap: Sooty Grouse, Band-Tails, and Quail in the High Sierra in September
From a Dove Field Back to Quail: Peter Burnham on The Upland Social
More in our Dogs archive and the dog section of Hunting Resources.
Other Breeds
German shorthaired pointer · English setter · Pointer · German wirehaired pointer · Labrador retriever · English springer spaniel · English cocker spaniel · All breeds
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Photo credit: Brittany — Pharaoh Hound / CC BY-SA 3.0 — source