BREED STANDARD
General Appearance
A compact, closely knit dog of medium size, a leggy dog having the appearance,
as well as the agility, of a great ground coverer. Strong, vigorous, energetic
and quick of movement. Ruggedness, without clumsiness, is a characteristic
of the breed. He can be tailess or has a tail docked to approximately four
inches.
Size, Proportion, Substance
Height: 17 1/2 to 20 1/2 inches, measured from the ground to the
highest point of the shoulders. Any Brittany measuring under 17 1/2 inches
or over 20 1/2 inches shall be disqualified from dog show competition.
Weight: Should weigh between 30 and 40 pounds.
Proportion: So leggy is he that his height at the shoulders is
the same as the length of his body.
Body Length: Approximately the same as the height when measured
at the shoulders. Body length is measured from the point of the forechest
to the rear of the rump. A long body should be heavily penalized.
Substance: Not too light in bone, yet never heavy-boned and cumbersome.
Head
Expression: Alert and eager, but with the soft expression of a
bird dog.
Eyes: Well set in head. Well protected from briars by a heavy,
expressive eyebrow. A prominent, full or pop eye should be heavily penalized.
It is a serious fault in a dog that must face briars. Skull well chiseled
under the eyes, so that the lower lid is not pulled back to form a pocket
or haw that would catch seeds, dirt and weed dust. Preference should be for
the darker colored eyes, though lighter shades of amber should not be penalized.
Light and mean-looking eyes should be heavily penalized.
Ears: Set high, above the level of the eyes. Short and triangular,
rather than pendulous, reaching about half the length of the muzzle. Should
lie flat and close to the head, with the tip rounded very slightly. Ears
well covered with dense, but relatively short hair, and with little fringe.
Skull: Medium length, rounded, very slightly wedge-shaped, but
evenly made. Width, not quite as wide as the length and never so broad as
to appear coarse, or so narrow as to appear racy. Well defined but gently
sloping stop. Median line rather indistinct. The occiput only apparent to
the touch. Lateral walls well rounded. The Brittany should never be "apple-headed"
and he should never have an indented stop.
Muzzle: Medium length, about two-thirds the length of the skull,
measuring the muzzle from the tip to the stop, and the skull from the occiput
to the stop. Muzzle should taper gradually in both horizontal and vertical
dimensions as it approaches the nostrils. Neither a Roman nose nor a dish-face
is desirable. Never broad, heavy or snipy.
Nose: Nostrils well open to permit deep breathing of air and adequate
scenting. Tight nostrils should be penalized. Never shiny. Color: fawn, tan,
shades of brown or deep pink. A black nose is a disqualification. A two-tone
or butterfly nose should be penalized.
Lips: Tight, the upper lip overlapping the lower jaw just to cover
the lower lip. Lips dry, so that feathers will not stick. Drooling to be
heavily penalized. Flews to be penalized.
Bite: A true scissors bite. Overshot or undershot jaw to be heavily
penalized.
Neck, Topline, Body
Neck: Medium length. Free from throatiness, though not a serious
fault unless accompanied by dewlaps, strong without giving the impression
of being over-muscled. Well set into sloping shoulders. Never concave or
ewe-necked.
Topline: Slight slope from the highest point of the shoulders to
the root of the tail.
Chest: Deep, reaching the level of the elbow. Neither so wide nor
so rounded as to disturb the placement of the shoulders and elbows. Ribs
well sprung. Adequate heart room provided by depth as well as width. Narrow
or slab-sided chests area fault.
Back: Short and straight. Never hollow, saddle, sway or roach backed.
Slight drop from the hips to the root of the tail.
Flanks: Rounded. Fairly full. Not extremely tucked up, or flabby
and falling. Loins short and strong. Distance from last rib to upper thigh
short, about three to four fingers widths. Narrow and weak loins are a fault.
In motion, the loin should not sway sideways, giving a zig-zag motion to
the back, wasting energy.
Tail: Tailless to approximately four inches, natural or docked.
The tail not to be so long as to affect the over-all balance of the dog.
Set on high, actually an extension of the spine at about the same level. Any
tail substantially more than four inches shall be severely penalized.
Forequarters
Shoulders: Shoulder blades should not protrude too much, not too
wide apart, with perhaps two thumbs' width between. Sloping and muscular.
Blade and upper arm should form nearly a ninety degree angle. Straight shoulders
are a fault. At the shoulders the Brittany is slightly higher than at the
rump.
Front Legs: Viewed from the front, perpendicular, but not
set too wide. Elbows and feet turning neither in nor out. Pasterns slightly
sloped. Down in pasterns is a serious fault. Leg bones clean, graceful, but
not too fine. Extremely heavy bone is as much a fault as spindly legs. One
must look for substance and suppleness. Height at elbows should approximately
equal distance from elbow to withers.
Feet: Should be strong, proportionately smaller than the spaniels',
with close fitting, well arched toes and thick pads. The Brittany is "not
up on his toes." Toes not heavily feathered. Flat feet, splayed feet, paper
feet, etc., are to be heavily penalized. An ideal foot is halfway between
the hare and the cat foot. Dewclaws may be removed.
Hindquarters: Broad strong and muscular, with powerful thighs and
well bent stifles, giving the angulation necessary for powerful drive.
Hind Legs: Stifles well bent. The stifle should not be so angulated
as to place the hock joint far out
Feet: Same as front feet.
Coat: Dense, flat or wavy, never curly. Texture neither wiry nor
silky. Ears should carry little fringe. The front and hind legs should have
some feathering, but too little is definitely preferable to too much. Dogs
with long or profuse feathering or furnishings shall be so severely penalized
as to effectively eliminate them from competition.
Skin: Fine and fairly loose. A loose skin rolls with briars and
sticks, thus diminishing punctures or tearing. A skin so loose as to form
pouches is undesirable.
Color: Orange and white or liver and white in either clear or roan
patterns. Some ticking is desirable. The orange or liver is found in the
standard parti-color or piebald patterns. Washed out colors are not desirable.
Tri-colors are allowed but not preferred. A tri-color is a liver and white
dog with classic orange markings on eyebrows, muzzle and cheeks, inside the
ears and under the tail, freckles on the lower legs are orange. Anything exceeding
the limits of these marking shall be severely penalized. Black is a disqualification.
Gait: When at a trot the Brittany's hind foot should step into
or beyond the print left by the front foot. Clean movement, coming and going,
is very important, but most important is side gait, which is smooth, efficient
and ground covering.
Temperament: A happy, alert dog, neither mean nor shy.
Disqualifications
Any Brittany measuring under 17 1/2 inches or over 20 1/2 inches. Black
in the coat. A black nose.
The above Standard was approved by the AKC on April 9, 1990 and
went into effect May 29, 1990.