DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRITTANY BREED STANDARD
responsibility to write the Brittany stan- dard so that no such split would be pos- sible. They believed the Brittany could compete on equal terms with other Sport- ing breeds at dog shows if judges could be properly trained to appreciate a hard, lean, field-conditioned Brittany without heavy leg feathering or a fine, silky, and long coat. The American Brittany Club and several of its member clubs also adopted a policy of holding bench shows along with field trials so that field dogs could come out of the field and compete, as they were, for bench championships. The American Brittany Club National Specialty Show and National field trials have quite intentionally been held together in the same place, one following the oth- er, since the first AKC recognized events in 1943. It’s therefore no accident that many Brittanys have earned wins in both National Specialty Shows and National Field Trials, dating back as far as 1944. Most remarkably, NFC/DC Pacolet Chey- enne Sam is the only dog to have topped both events, winning Best of Breed in the 1970 National Specialty Show, followed by the National Field Championship title in 1971. To date, ten Dual Champion Brittanys (having the DC title at the time or later) have won Best of Breed at the National Specialty Show, and so many Duals have won and placed in the National All Age and Gun Dog Championships that we don’t even count them. Brittanys still claim more Dual Champions than all other Sporting breeds combined, having recently surpassed a total of 700 Dual Champions! While much of the credit is due to the breeders, owners, trainers, and handlers who make all of those claims possible, some must surely also be due to the American Brittany Club found- ers and authors of our standard who were determined that our breed be “forever a dual dog.” “They believed the Brittany could compete on equal terms with other Sporting breeds at dog shows if judges could be properly trained to appreciate a hard, lean, field- conditioned Brittany...”
NAGDC/DC/AFC/GCH Triumphants Too Hot To Handle, Multiple Sporting Group & Best in Specialty Winner, 2008 ABC National Amateur Gun Dog Champion
DC Every Sailors Dream, 300th Brittany Dual Champion, Finished in 1988
DC/AFC/GCH Havapal’s Rev Me Up Repeat VCD1 BN RE TDX SH OA OAJ OAP OJP NF NFP CGC TKA—One Tracking score away from being the breed’s first Triple Champion.
ABC National Specialty Best of Breed Winner, NFC/DC Pacolet Cheyenne Sam with Field Trainer, Delmar Smith, in 1971
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jessica Carlson started in dog shows at the age of 12, and got her first Brittany in 1988. She is an active member of the American Brittany Club and her regional Brittany Club, serving in many capacities including on the American Brittany Club Judges Education Committee, of which she became Chair in 2022. Jessica has owned two American Brittany Club National Specialty Best of Breed Winners, bred and/or owned seven Dual Champion Brittanys, and handled 39 Brittanys, to date, to the show title of their Dual Championship. Along with her husband, professional Brittany field trial handler Ed Tillson, Jessica competes on the midwestern Brittany field trial circuit most of the year. She is licensed to judge Junior Showmanship and Pointing Breed Field Trials.
DC Country Roads Rough Rider, 2007 ABC National Gun Dog Championship Runner-Up, 2010 ABC National Specialty Best of Breed
82 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, JULY 2022
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