One Breed, Two Stories: The French Brittany and the American Brittany

If you've been around Brittanys long enough, you've heard the debate. Walk into a bird-dog conversation, mention that you run French Brittanys, and someone will ask: "Is that the same as an American Brittany?" The honest answer is yes — and also, not quite anymore.

The Epagneul Breton and the American Brittany share a name, a homeland, and the same DNA. But nearly a century of breeding on two different continents has produced two dogs that an experienced eye can tell apart at a glance. This is the story of how one small French pointing dog became two — and what the differences actually mean for the hunter choosing a dog.

It Started in Brittany

The breed's roots run deep in the Brittany region of northwestern France. Small, cobby, bobtailed spaniel-type dogs that pointed and retrieved appear in French tapestries and paintings as far back as the seventeenth century. The earliest written description came in 1850, when a Reverend Davies described hunting over small "bobtailed" dogs that pointed and retrieved beautifully — dogs that sound remarkably like the Epagneul Breton we know today.

Around the turn of the twentieth century, as the modern sport of pointing-dog trials took shape, French breeders refined these local dogs through selection and outcrosses, including to English setters. In 1907 a draft standard was drawn up in Nantes, and on June 7, 1908 it was formally adopted at a general assembly in Loudéac — the first standard of the "Naturally Short-Tailed Brittany Spaniel Club." The FCI still recognizes the breed as the Epagneul Breton (standard no. 95), the smallest of the pointing breeds, built square, compact, and cobby — a dog meant to be both fast and tireless.

The first of these dogs arrived in the United States around 1931. American hunters took to them immediately: here was a pointing dog the size of a spaniel, with a big nose and an even bigger hunting heart. The AKC recognized the breed in 1934 as the "Brittany Spaniel."

Why the Name Changed

The AKC name change tells you a lot about how Americans saw the dog. In 1982, at the request of the American Brittany Club, the AKC dropped "Spaniel" from the name, making it simply the "Brittany." The reasoning was straightforward: this breed points its game rather than flushing it, which puts it closer to setters and pointers in function than to true spaniels.

Meanwhile, in France and every FCI country, the breed kept its original name — Epagneul Breton — with the "spaniel" designation intact, regardless of how the dog actually hunts. The French, after all, were not confused about what their dog was. They'd been hunting over it for centuries.

Two Standards, Two Directions

The real divergence is on paper — in the written standards that guide breeders.

The FCI/UKC standard for the Epagneul Breton describes a small, square, cobby dog: males ideally 49–50 cm (about 19½ inches) at the withers and not over 51 cm; females slightly smaller. The tail may be naturally absent or very short; where docked, the ideal length is only 3–6 cm. White and orange, white and black, white and liver, piebald or roan — and yes, black-and-white is a fully accepted color in the French standard.

The AKC standard for the American Brittany describes a somewhat larger dog: 17½ to 20½ inches at the withers and 30 to 40 pounds, with a leggier frame and often a blockier head than the original French type. And one color rule tells the whole story of divergence: black is a disqualification in the AKC ring, while in France it has always been an ordinary, accepted color.

In 2002 the United Kennel Club formalized what hunters had been seeing for decades by recognizing the Epagneul Breton as a separate breed from the American Brittany. The Canadian Kennel Club and The Kennel Club in the UK, for their part, still treat them as one breed. Registries aside, the dogs themselves tell you: the French type tends to be smaller, more compact, and closer-working in the field, while the American type tends to range wider and run bigger.

Why Did They Split?

The split wasn't about politics — it was about hunting. France and the American West are different bird fields. The French style of hunting, shaped by smaller terrain and a foot-hunter's pace, favored a compact dog that hunts close, handles easily, and works within gun range without being asked. The American bird fields — open prairie, big country — rewarded dogs with bigger legs and a bigger range, and American field-trial culture selected hard for that.

Neither direction is wrong. They're answers to different questions. But if you're choosing a dog, it matters which question you're asking.

Which One Is Right for You?

Here's the honest version, the way I'd say it if you were standing in my kennel yard:

Choose the French type — the Epagneul Breton — if you hunt on foot, walk rather than ride, hunt tight cover or smaller parcels, and want a dog that naturally stays within gun range and checks back with you. The EB's close-working style and moderate size make it a natural fit for a walking hunter, and its compact frame means it can hunt hard all day without burning itself out.

Choose the American type if you hunt big, open country where a dog covering more ground finds more birds, or if you plan to compete in American field trials and shows, where the larger, wider-ranging dog is what's being rewarded.

Both are intelligent, biddable, people-oriented bird dogs. Both will hunt for you and sleep at your feet afterward. The difference is style, not quality.

Why We Breed the French Type

At Calibreton Kennels, we breed to the French standard — the Epagneul Breton as described in FCI standard no. 95 — because that compact, close-working, naturally bobtailed dog is the one that fits how we hunt and how most of our puppy families live. We like a dog we can watch all day without binoculars, one that hunts for the gun rather than for the horizon.

That said, we respect the American Brittany deeply. It's a fine bird dog from the same French roots, shaped by a different landscape. The story of these two dogs is really the story of hunters everywhere: you breed the dog the country asks for.

The Bottom Line

One breed became two stories because two hunting cultures needed slightly different dogs. The French Brittany and the American Brittany aren't rivals — they're cousins who grew up on different continents. Know the difference, be honest about how you hunt, and pick the dog that fits your country. That's what the breeders who shaped both versions were doing all along.

If you have questions about the Epagneul Breton — the French type, the original — or about whether one might fit your hunting and your home, reach out to us at California Gun Dogs. We love talking about this breed, in either of its stories.

Sources: FCI standard no. 95 (Epagneul Breton), as translated by John Miller and Raymond Triquet; United Kennel Club breed standard for the Epagneul Breton; American Kennel Club standard for the Brittany.