Official Brittany AKC 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 tailless or have 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 - 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 fore-chest 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 briar's 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 briar's. 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 top 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 spiny.
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 tow-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, Top line, 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.
Top line
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 are a 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 overall 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 behind the dog. A Brittany
should not be condemned for straight stifle until the
judge has checked the dog in motion from the side. The
stifle joint should not turn out making a cow-hock. Thighs
well feathered but not profusely, halfway to the hock.
Hocks, that is, the back pasterns, should be moderately
short, pointing neither in nor out, perpendicular when
viewed from the side. They should be firm when shaken
by the judge. 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
briar's 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. A black nose. Black in the coat.
Approved April 10, 1990
Effective May 31, 1990