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Brittany Puppy Answers Do you have a Vision statement and an 'about us' information page so we can learn more about you? Yes. Click here. Are your dogs bred for families who will also hunt? Yes, exclusively. We want our dogs to be great family companions as well as great hunting dogs. We are members of the American Brittany Club and breed our Brittanys to meet official American Brittany Standards as set forth by the American Brittany Club (ABC) and the American Kennel Club (AKC). We only sell our puppies to families who will hunt with them as well. If you want a companion only Brittany skip to here for info on who to contact: (click) We only breed mature dogs that are awesome in the field and great companions. WE ONLY BREED 0 to 4 litters per year. We are not a puppy mill. Because of this, the wait can be quite long for one of our puppies. A deposit is required to get on our waiting list after being approved via our interview. Are your dogs Guaranteed? YES - FULLY and in writing and for life! We have one of the most comprehensive written contracts that protects both the buyers’ and the dogs’ rights available. Also, effective 06-29-04, all of our puppies are MICROCHIPPED for safety! We guarantee your dog against genetic defects for the life of the dog! We also guarantee you'll have a 100 percent healthy pup delivered to you!
ALL Test and X-ray results on ANY of our dogs is available upon request.
What breeds of dogs do your offer? We only offer orange/white and white/orange American Brittanys (the first color is the dominant color). We do not offer liver or roan colored Brittany puppies. We occasionally will know of someone offering them if another breeder has contacted us and let us know that they have them. We do not offer any other colors of American Brittanys nor do we offer French Brittanys (black nose, black coat, tri-color, etc.). There is absolutely nothing wrong with the other colors, we prefer orange/white - white/orange. Do you offer Brittany Spaniels? The American Brittany hasn’t been known as a Brittany Spaniel for a very long time though the name seems to be sticking anyway. American Brittanys are simply known as 'Brittany'. French Brittanys are still known as French Brittany Spaniels by some groups though AKC does not distinguish between the two very different dogs. What are the primary differences between the American and French Brittanys? The standard for American Brittanys as found at AKC's website is: 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 has a tail docked to approximately four inches. 30-40 pounds, 17 1/2 to 20 1/2 inches at the highest point of the shoulder. So leggy that the body length is approximately the same as the height of the shoulders. The French Brittany is slightly smaller, has a square cobby build, and is genetically bred to hunt very close. They hunt open terrain at about "50-60" yards and tight cover closer than that (paraphrasing from the official French Brittany Gun Dog Club [FBGDC] of America). Physical standards from the French Brittany website: "It is shorter than the American Brittany and not as heavy as many, weighing between 28-40 pounds, standing around 18-20 inches tall. The French Brittanys muzzle is shorter, they have dark noses and amber or brown eyes compared to the light nose and eyes on American Brittanys, and can be black/white, liver/white, orange/white, tri-color and roan of any of those colors. Overall, the "type" or the "look" of a [PURE BRED] French Brittany differs significantly from that of an American Brittany." The American Brittany does not allow black in the coat or on the nose/mouth. Americans are bred to hunt to the gun and terrain, close in tight cover yet run bigger than the French Brittany in wide open country. The French Brittany does not offer this genetic difference as it is genetically bred to hunt close. You will not see French Brittanys winning American Brittany national field trials because of this genetic difference. The FBGDC just hosted their first national field trial competition here in American that follows French field trial rules. Pure French Brittanys belonging to the French Brittany Gun Dog Club are registered with the United Kennel Club (UKC) though many are dually registered with the American Kennel Club, however, the American Kennel Club does not recognize the breed as being different. This creates some confusion within the two breeds. It is up to the American Brittany Club and the American Kennel Club to sort this situation out. IF a pure bred dual registered UKC/AKC French Brittany is bred to an AKC registered (only) Brittany of unproven Epagneul Breton (French Brittany) ancestry, it is unlikely that the UKC will recognize the pups. Buyer beware of this situation. If you truly want a registerable French Brittany, you should seek breeders who comply with the UKC/FBGCoA regulations. According to the French Club, French Brittanys registered via the UKC must have verifiable parentage that links the dogs directly to French ancestry. Here's a quote from their website "The United Kennel Club is the official registry of this association [French Brittany Gun Dog Club of America] and the Epagneul Breton breed [French Brittany] and therefore a UKC registration/pedigree as an Epagneul Breton (French Brittany) is the stamp of assurance that its bloodlines are of registerable European descent" What colors of American Brittanys do you offer? Our Brittanys are primarily orange/white and white/orange (the first color is the dominant color). We do not offer liver or roan colored Brittany puppies. We occasionally will know of someone offering them if another breeder has contacted us and let us know that they have them. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the other colors, we prefer orange/white - white/orange. What are your dogs Guaranteed for and is it in writing? In our Written contract, We fully Guarantee them to be completely free of genetic defects for life (this includes hips - read about dysplasia in Brittanys*), that they will be delivered to you healthy and free of diseases, and that they will be good companion hunting dogs. We guarantee each and every litter to be AKC registered. Multiple References available for serious inquiries. ALL Test and X-ray results on ANY of our dogs is available upon request. We also guarantee their ability to hunt, that a discount for training is included, their registration papers and more. All contracts include a clause that permits us first option to get the Brittany back if for any reason you should want to sell or give your pup away later on – we have this clause to protect our Brittanys from ever ending up in a dog pound and/or being destroyed and to protect you should your situation change. Also, our Brittanys must be kept as companion gun dogs ONLY. This means they are a family member and will be taken bird hunting - sorry no exceptions. *What you should know about testing for Dysplasia in Brittanys Hip Dysplasia is genetic in the Brittany breed much the same way some diseases are specific to certain human races. It will never be gotten rid of completely even among the most conscientious of breeders because there is currently NO DNA test for dogs indicating bloodlines that carry the dysplasia gene. A breeder that x-rays their breeding stock to check for sound hips will help lower the incidence of hip dysplasia but it is still possible to have a puppy with defective hips even though the parents hips are sound. Our Vets are in a practice of 4 and all 4 Veterinarians review our x-rays for soundness. We only breed dogs that have at least 3 generations of solid hips per our 4 Vets review and verification through certifying organizations and qualified Vets. If, in the opinion of our 4 Vets, a dog has poor or fair or marginal hips, we do not breed that dog. We only breed dogs that have good hips, without question! Also, we only breed mature dogs that are awesome in the field and great companions. What About OFA and PennHip? They are 2 organizations that review x-rays voluntarily taken and submitted by breeders via their personal Vet. They (the organizations) then certify canine hips, based on the x-ray, to have or not have dysplasia. OFA / Penn hip certification is NOT a guarantee that your puppy will be free of dysplasia even though the puppies parents may have excellent hips. Dysplasia is a recessive gene that can not yet be identified which is how two OFA excellent parents can produce dysplastic puppies. You may find it interesting to note that canine DNA studies have not progressed as far as human studies and that the breed cannot yet be identified via DNA, only parentage. Some breeders / web sites will lead you to believe that an OFA certified dysplasia free sire / dam guarantees that their pups will be free of hip dysplasia; This is NOT true! Every reputable Brittany breeder produces an occasional dysplastic pup as it is INHERENT to the breed and there are currently NO DNA markers / genes that can be identified to cause dysplasia. The only useful information you get from OFA / Penn Hip and other similar registries is that a canine radiologist looked at the x-rays and rendered an opinion about that particular animal which is NOT to say that well experienced general practice canine Vets cannot render similar opinions. OFA / PennHip results are NOT a predictor of what your puppy's hips will look like however it has been proven that if you have several generations of hips free of dysplasia you DO reduce the number of dysplastic pups. Until the dysplasia DNA gene can be identified, EVERY breeder runs the risk of a dysplasia and WILL produce an occasional dysplastic dog. Beware a breeder who says differently. Finally, OFA / Penn Hip organizations do NOT have any governing powers over breeders. OFA / Penn Hip are voluntary. Since the statistics
produced are only voluntary statistics and since there are more back yard
breeders than reputable breeders in every breed, it is likely that the OFA
statistics are severely skewed. Additional skewing is made worse by
participating breeders who elect to not have their Vet send in
Confused? Don't be because... It all boils down to the solid reputation of the breeder, their guarantees, references and track record. No certificate guarantees you your money back should a genetic flaw be discovered, we do - for life. We are a well respected and reputable breeder. We guarantee your dog against ALL genetic defects for the life of the dog. We put it in writing on all our Brittanys. Every one of our dog's health & hips are screened by 4 qualified Veterinarians. We RARELY have to refund money because genetic health issues are RARE in our breeding program... But if they do occur, you can bet you'll be taken care of promptly. ALL Test and X-ray results on ANY of our dogs is available upon request. We only breed mature dogs that are awesome in the field and great companions. WE ONLY BREED 0 to 4 litters per year. We are not a puppy mill. Because of this, the wait can be quite long for one of our puppies. What about the health of the Sire/Dam? Our sires/dams visit the Veterinarian at least once per year for an annual health exam, testing, shots, etc. All sires/dams have their hips x-rayed and must be approved by all 3 Vets. They must also be given a clean bill of health before they are allowed to breed. We confer regularly with our 4 Veterinarians to maintain state-of-the-art health checks and practices. Our dog’s health checks are open and available for public inquiry. Feel free to call our Veterinarians. We feel this is unprecedented among breeders and we are proud to offer you the opportunity to contact our Veterinarians. We spare no expense when it comes to the health and welfare of Chief's Brittanys. We only breed mature dogs that are awesome in the field and great companions. WE ONLY BREED 0 to 4 litters per year. We are not a puppy mill. Because of this, the wait can be quite long for one of our puppies. Who are your Veterinarians? - Tell me a little about your Vet care. We feel that our Veterinarian services are superb and go to great lengths to offer the best bred dogs and to see that our dogs receive the very best care. Since retiring and coming back home to Texas in 1996, we have used the same Vet Practice for all of our animal health needs. Our Veterinarian's practice (Coleman Veterinary Services) is comprised of 4 fully licensed D.V.M.'s. They are R. M. Edington D.V.M. (Mike), Mark Swening D.V.M., Sharilyn Nall, D.V.M., and Dr. Johnny Needham. Because our Veterinarians are in a practice of 4, We are fortunate to enjoy 2nd, 3rd and 4th opinions on everything! If we have a situation regarding any dogs’ health, we get an opinion from ALL 4 vets and pick what is best for the dog. The success of the American Brittany Breed is paramount to us. Dr. Nall is in charge of our kennel health program here at Chiefs Brittanys and is a superb canine health expert. Feel free to contact Dr. Nall or her colleagues regarding the health and welfare of Chief's Brittanys. We have NOTHING to hide and don't hide behind certificates. We encourage you to call or visit our Vets so that you feel comfortable with us. ALL Test and X-ray results on ANY of our dogs is available upon request. They are located at the Coleman Veterinary Clinic in Coleman, Texas. Do you allow visits to meet the sire/dams? YES! We encourage it. We want you to see how our dogs react to total strangers and how well they will socialize with you, which is a good indication of a dogs’ temperament. We’ll even give you a free hunting demonstration. I am familiar with American Brittany bloodlines; will you send me a copy of the pedigree? YES! Do you display your pedigrees on the internet? No. We do not want inquiries about our pups based solely on pedigrees and price. We want families who desire a quality companion gun dog and are considering us because their research has led them to us as being a reputable breeder, Not because we have a great pedigree. What is your foundation bloodline? ‘Ban-Dee’'. Ban-Dee was a 2 times National Field Champion, Dual Champion Hall of Fame (HOF) and is probably the most popular field dog foundation bloodline in the United States among reputable American Brittany breeders. Ban-Dee lived in the 60's/70's thus many of the dogs in the following paragraph are related to him.
What
other notable dogs do you have closer up front in your pedigrees?
NAFC FC AFC HOF Jim De Bob's Sparks a Dan D, NFC FC AFC HOF
Microdot, NAFC DC AFC Renegade Kansas Kid, DC Brewster D'Rooster Booster (full brother
of NFC FC HOF Beans Blaze), NFC FC HOF Beans Blaze, NAFC DC AFC Bandee-Britts Red Jinx, DC
AFC HOF Jacque of Connie,
FC AFC
We also have introduced (recently) blood lines from 3 times Grand National Invitational Champion, 32 x NSTRA Champion, 6 x American Field Champion Nolan’s Last Bullet (Buddy). Buddy holds the record for the most points ever scored (lifetime and single season) and most Field Championships ever accumulated by one dog in the National Shoot to Retrieve Assoc. (NSTRA) field trial venue. NSTRA is open to all pointing breeds and is dominated by pointers/setters, however, it is different in that it is a walking stake in a bird field vs. horseback National Champions mentioned above at the beginning of this paragraph. We now co-own NSTRA Ch, R/u Q.U. National Champion 'Bear', grandson of Buddy. What about the quality of the sire/dam, are your dogs proven? We only breed high quality companion gun dogs that meet/exceed American Brittany Club Standards and are proven in the field, year in and year out. We guide hunts and enjoy personal hunts afoot in close cover and from Utility ATVs in open cover for wild quail, pheasant, Hungarian partridge, chukar partridge, Sharptail grouse, Sage grouse and other species all over the United States. We encourage you to come see our dogs work and hunt over them. We wouldn’t have repeat guided hunt clients if our Brittanys couldn’t hunt hard, find birds and do a great job! Click here to read what clients say about our hunts and dogs. Our dogs are excellent house companions too. I want a field competition dog. Are your dogs competitive? YES! Some of our clients have entered our Brittanys into competition and have done very well in AKC, FDSB and NSTRA trials/hunt tests. Our dogs come from strongly competitive field and dual lines. Our emphasis, however, is breeding Brittanys that meet ABC standards and will be great companion gun dogs (see our ‘about us’ page for our vision statement). Because most of our dogs go to companion gun dog families, most of our dogs are not sold for the purposes of competition even though they are very competitive. Most recently, Chief's Winding Creek Bullet won the INBC Juvenile Dog of the Year and is a top notch All-age prospect. Do your dogs run big? That's a subjective statement. We hunt wide-open terrain here in Texas. We like a dog that will hunt to the terrain on foot but range far out from a truck/ATV/horse. From a truck in open terrain, 1/2 to 1 mile is great. On foot in brushy country, maybe 30 to 100 yards is best. A well bred and trained dog will hunt tight cover close and open terrain big. NONE of our dogs are bred to be genetically predisposed to hunt close such as French Brittanys. Any trainer will tell you that you can always reel a big running dog in but you can never send a genetically close working dog out. If you want a genetically close working Brittany, we suggest the French Brittany. Are we allowed to visit the pups as soon as they are whelped? YES! We do have restrictive contact rules for the sake of the pups. How do we pick a pup long distance? We post digital pictures of the new pups and tell the family what kind of personalities we are observing (alpha male, alpha female, etc.). Do you offer very many pups per year? No! We offer anywhere from zero to 4 litters per year, the average being 3. We are not a puppy mill and consider ourselves to be professional hobby breeders. Due to the limited number of pups that we offer, reservations are required, sometimes as far as 6 to 12 months in advance. Adoptive families must interview and place a surety of action deposit to reserve a pup. We do offer stud services and sometimes there are other breeders out there with pups from one of our studs: Click here for Puppies studded by us but out of someone else's female. What do your puppies cost? Price varies depending on the stud/dam. Generally prices range from 500 to 750 dollars (plus/minus) for a fully guaranteed puppy that comes with free support and a training discount. Price is affected by the who the sire may be (A national champion, etc), whether the puppy will be on a limited or full AKC registration, if a spay/neuter agreement is required, etc. E-mail us or call (254) 725-6217 for pricing on a current litter. Purchasing a puppy is a life time relationship with your breeder / trainer. If we are long distance and need to ship via airlines, is that extra? Yes. Because of the high cost of maintaining quality Brittany hunting companions, there is no room for us to pay shipping, which averages 120 to 275 dollars in the continental United States and 400 plus dollars internationally. Will you sell your pups internationally? Yes, sometimes. We have sold pups internationally and have international family gun dog owners that were so pleased that they have come back to us for another pup. We will only fly the pup on a non-stop flight to an international airport located within your country. We use DFW or Houston to ship internationally. We do have rules regarding countries/states with unusually long entry point quarantines. Who do you offer your puppies to? We want all of our pups to go to companion gun dog families only. Kennels and situations where the pups would not be part of a family and/or not allowed to hunt are not acceptable. Situations where the pup would never hunt is unacceptable due to the strong inherent desire to hunt that is bred into each and every pup. Providing a safe environment for the welfare of the pup is part of the contract agreement the buyer must agree to. We want to know a little about your family, how safe the Brittany will be where you live, and how the dog would fit in to your family when applying for one of our pups. We welcome your phone calls at (254) 725-6217. We only breed mature dogs that are awesome in the field and great companions. WE ONLY BREED 0 to 4 litters per year. We are not a puppy mill. Because of this, the wait can be quite long for one of our puppies. Click here for some interview questions. We ONLY recommend the American Brittany Club as a source for reputable breeders! How do we get on your waiting list? A surety of action deposit is required to make a reservation. Due to the limited number of pups that we offer, reservations are required sometimes as far as 12 months in advance. Adoptive families must interview (Click here for some interview questions.), be accepted, then place a deposit to reserve a pup. Please be sure you have researched multiple breeders and feel comfortable with our contract, wait time and surety deposit requirements before completing our interview. We will announce additional pups via our private mailing list and our puppy page on our web site. You can join our private list by clicking here. If you have an extra pup or two, will you discount the price to sell it? Never. If we have any extra pups that do not sell as newborn pups, we keep/start them and sell them as started/finished dogs. Do you ever keep any pups for yourself then decide to sell them later? We do keep an occasional pup if one of our companions has passed away - those pups are never for sale. Sometimes we keep pups for quality assurance reasons so that we can monitor our pups to see that we are continuing to produce superb companion gun dogs. If we decide to sell any dogs we keep, they will be sold as “started”. Some are sold on 'limited registrations'. Will you help us train our pup? Yes! We offer a discount for training with each and every pup that we sell. Also, we provide unlimited e-mail / telephone support for your Brittany. We want your questions! People send us Brittanys for training that are from different Breeders across the country. We have trained many Brittanys from very well (nationally) known Brittany breeders. Some of the pups/dogs brought to us that were bred by someone else have serious training concerns. We find that it is commonly the new owner that needs training guidance, which is why we offer free support and training for our new families. Now that I have my pup, what should I do? First and foremost, take your pup to the vet for a full exam. Click here for veterinary recommended guidelines for puppies. Where can we find other breeders? Contact the American Brittany Club. They have a website hosted by akc.org. Another option, if you don't care about a registered Brittany is to consider one of the Brittany Rescue organizations. Some discussion on rescues and links can be found here: http://www.brittanys.com/Brittany_FAQs.h®#breeder (scroll down to the question about rescues once there). Why would you send us to another breeder? We want you to feel comfortable with your breeder. In fact, we want you to speak with other breeders so that if you do choose us, you are choosing us with confidence. WE ONLY BREED 0 to 4 litters per year. We are not a puppy mill. Because of this, the wait for one of our high quality Brittanys can be up to 12 months. We suggest (only) you find another reputable breeder through the American Brittany Club. If we shop around, what is the general price range for Brittanys? You can find a BYB (backyard breeder) in your local newspaper that will sell Brittanys for as little as 250 while a few breeders sell their Brittany pups for as much as 1000 dollars. The industry standard is for the pups to sell for the equivalent of the stud fee (example: stud fee 600, pups 600 each), however, many breeders sell females for more than the males. What is a BYB? BYB is short for 'backyard breeders'. A person who breeds purely for profit and / or without regard for the betterment of the breed. A BYB can be anyone. It is not necessarily confined to folks selling dogs for 200 dollars from the newspaper. A BYB could be someone who spends a lot of money on top quality Brittanys, breeds them, then starts selling pups for a lot of money - they are playing the same BYB game, just at a higher level. A breeders knowledge of bloodlines which includes breeding for performance/standards, understanding flaws inherent to certain bloodlines and other critical info is not understood by BYB's and there are usually no written guarantees. We commonly hear of folks who bought the 'cheap' pup or the one without a restrictive contract from a BYB only to find out that the guarantees were not binding. A cheap pup with serious health/mental/physical problems that ends up not being guaranteed costs much more than what a pup from reputable breeder would have cost to begin with. Also, A BYB will not offer the support and training that a reputable breeder will offer. Anyone can SAY they offer what reputable breeders offer - you be the judge. What should another breeder offer at a minimum? Your breeder should offer: 1. A written contract that offers life time guarantees against genetic defects and diseases that could have originated from their kennel. 2. A bona fide letter from their Veterinarian/s and/or Veterinarian name/phone number so that you, the buyer, can obtain info about the soundness of the breeding stock. Their Vet should offer info indicating the breeding stock is CURRENT on annual health examinations / immunizations / x-rays. (You will notice the omission of requiring OFA / CERF / PENNHIP etc. This is because we feel that there are many qualified Veterinarians representing a multitude of specialties in this world capable of rendering an official, Veterinarian credentialed opinion) If their Veterinarians official exam is on their Vets official letterhead and you trust the credentials of their Veterinarian/s, then that's great. No REPUTABLE Breeder who wants to stay in business would purposely offer substandard dogs. Reputation goes a long ways in the dog world. 3. The breeder is a member of it's breed club and competes directly or indirectly to ensure their dogs meet field and conformation standards. 4. References of other owners of their dogs, old and new. If you can't get multiple references from folks who own dogs bred by that breeder - beware. 5. A visit to their kennel (Is it clean, crowded, etc.). 6. Offer you the chance to meet the sire/dam (Are they friendly to new people? Do they meet Brittany standards). 7. Does the breeder have other breeds of dogs on site and if so, are they spay/neuter? If not, are they kept separate by more than one fence to prevent accidental cross breeding? 8. Are ALL DOGS on premises individually and properly identified with tattoos and/or microchips as required by AKC? Can they produce records for each dog and prove to you through microchipping / tattoos / photos as to the identity of each dog. This all applies even to small programs of just 2 or more dogs. 9.
10. Would the breeder be willing to subject the sire & dam to DNA tests to ensure you are getting a purebred dog from the alleged sire/dam? 11. Are the dogs guaranteed to be registry eligible through either the American Kennel Club (AKC) and the Field Dog Stud Book (FDSB - American Field). Some unscrupulous breeders are actually banned from one registry for violations so register only with the registry that hasn't banned them. 12. Will they offer you moral support and advice for the life of the dog? - Do the references from long time clients back that up? 13. Will they give you a hunting demonstration of the sire/dam? If not, beware! 14. Does the breeder train their Brittanys to hunt or trial? If not, who does? Is that trainer available to offer his opinion of their dogs? Are there personal references as to the hunting abilities of the sire and dam - preferably someone respected in the bird dog community? 15. Have other reputable folks, within the Brittany breed, ever seen the breeders dogs perform either in trials or hunting? If so, what is their opinion? If not, WHY NOT? MORE QUESTIONS? Call us (254) 725-6217 or e-mail us by clicking here. Want to see some puppy pictures, dams and sires? Click Here
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