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Anyone arouound here have experience with the breed? After three years of mourning our lab and negotiations over the breed that rivaled Cold War era detante, it looks like we've tentatively agreed on a Brittany. Now, I just need to do the final due diligence.
If you are looking for a good upland dog, I would say go for it. If you are looking for a waterfowl dog, a Britt would not be a good fit.
I've hunted over Britts, English pointers, and English setters and any of those breeds will do the job and do it damn well, but if I ever get another upland dog it will be a Britt. Much more of a family type dog than are the other breeds.
TeeDub is our resident expert on Brittany's so if he checks in, maybe he'll give you some pointers on the breed.
If you're looking for a family sporting dog, I would (in a very predjudiced way) recommend a springer. Brits are awesome dogs, but they are also very high strung. If its gonna be a house pet too, I wouldn't recommend a Brit. If you're gonna hunt it, I'd recommend a brit over a springer.
BKB
The Brits I've been around (four different, four different owners) have been WAY high strung, high energy, spazzy dogs. They seem smart and real trainable but the energy level was a bit much for me.
Brittanies are my favorite hunting dog. I owned and trained a Britt when I was heavy into bird hunting. Smart as a whip and easily trainable. However I was much younger then (mid 20's early 30's). I had a lot of energy and so did my dog. It was a good fit for both of us. I'm not sure I could keep up with a Brittany these days. He was and still is my most'est favorite dog ever. I mourned his death for over 12 years before I could talk myself into getting another dog. Oh and by the way he loved water and made a fantastic duck dog. He had enough heart that he would have tried geese, but I loved him too much to do that to him. The only bird he would not retrieve were doves. I don't like'm either so it wasn't a problem.
The Britts I've hunted with have been awesome dogs. Super trainable - the ones I worked with were more high energy than high strung. Great dogs. Never seen a dog get so excited to go get some birds. Fun to watch.
Thanks for the 411. A Britt had been my choice back when we got our Lab. I never regretted the decision as Jack was just about the best dog I've ever been around. However, I want something more medium sized this time around. The dog will be a family dog first and a hunting dog second. So, I'm going to have to think about the whole energy level thing some more.
Mine was a super good family dog. Never had issues with kids or anything like that. Heck kids and energy sort'a go hand in hand. If you plan on hunting ducks with him now and then though I would suggest checking his geneology to see if they liked water or not. Some Brittanies aren't that crazy about water. Mine, I couldn't keep him out of it. He's still to this day the best "all-round" hunting dog I've ever owned.