Hawkwise Brittanys

Breeding the Brittany

HOW TO FIND OUT ABOUT HAWKWISE PUPPIES

We run a mailing list of pups bred from our Hawkwise bloodlines, usually offspring of our stud dogs or from bitches descended from our own stock. Equally we let you know of related litters that are expected in the near future. This information is emailed to you as and when litters are planned, due or have arrived (it depends on the efficiency of the bitch's owner in notifying us). Just tell us your preferred colour, sex, and what you want the dog to do. Be prepared to provide details of previous experience of Brittanys (or other breeds), reason for wanting a Brittany, family circumstances, etc. We can probably arrange for you to visit a local Brittany owner if you have never actually met the breed "in the flesh".

Contact Steve Wright on 01789 772413, 07395 094206 or email stevewright.falconer@outlook.com

A small gene pool

The different breeds of dogs were created by selecting parents for the qualities of performance and/or physique that the breeders admired. For example, if you or I decided that we wanted to produce only black dogs - then we would only mate black dogs and bitches together. Any pups that were of a different colour would be discarded. Very quickly we would achieve what we set out to do, but you might prefer long-coated dogs while I liked smoother ones. By the same process we could soon create two distinct varieties. Mating similar looking dogs together (or dogs that work in a specific way) creates what we call photo-typical dogs. Once their type becomes established they begin to breed true to it, and when this happens they are called geno-typical dogs, in that they are not able to breed anything else.

This selection process, and the necessary discarding of untypical stock, leads to a reduction in the variety of genetic options that pedigree dogs can produce when mated to a member of their own breed. Fortunately, where the desired working characteristics demand an ability to withstand the rigours of hard work, we are also selecting for robust stock. As long as this is consciously kept in mind, and not taken for granted, we can maintain a vigorous, healthy breed. However sometimes desired qualities may have a negative side to them and, if we focus on these, we sometimes can lose sight of the overall picture. Therefore breeding programmes, especially any which ignore the performance side of the breed, may concentrate and encourage weaknesses and long term vulnerability to unsoundness, loss of sight, scenting ability or hearing, etc.

Numerically small breeds, like the Brittany, will only have a small nucleus of breeding animals. It is estimated that only about 3% of all dogs are bred from. In Brittanys, with an estimated 1,700-2,000 individuals living in the UK, this means we probably have no more than 60 active breeding animals at any one time - of which possibly 12 will be males. Very often we produce less than 20 litters a year, so you can see that most stud dogs are not used very often. Very few will sire double figures of litters. This does stop excessive reliance on individual animals and helps to keep the gene pool reasonably diverse.

Some of our breeders have imported fresh stock from France and other European countries, or used overseas studs, and this is very much to their credit. However it is difficult for these breeders to know the wider families of these dogs and, without this knowledge, they could bring in as many undesirable traits as good ones. In the 1980s, when Brittanys were first brought into the UK, we also imported epilepsy and the diversity of shapes and sizes that persists today.

At Hawkwise Brittanys we have concentrated on finding and using good-looking, well-constructed working sires, often from lesser-known bloodlines and unfashionable kennels. This has kept our kennel healthy and robust, and makes our males suitable outcrosses for the more fashionable strains. One measure of our success is the percentage of our stock that are bred from. Currently it is at 6.7% - so more than twice the average. And 11 different Hawkwise dogs have been used at stud - although most of these have only served one bitch in their lives! We also monitor litter size, as this is recognised as an indicator of vigour. Over 36 years (and counting) our brood bitches have averaged over 8 pups per litter!

The gene pool further diminished

Geneticists tell us that narrowing the gene pool is not recommended, yet restricting the genetic variety of any breed is what has made it what it is. However further restrictions may always occur - either deliberately or through lack of thought.

Showing is one of the prime offenders here as it celebrates exaggeration. For example Dog A wins a lot because he has a particularly broad head, so everybody uses him at stud to improve the breadth of their own progeny's heads. The broadest of these are selected for show and are exhibited regularly. Being fashionable they win well, so this then becomes the norm when in fact it was originally an exaggeration. If this fashion continued it would be possible that future bitches might experience some of the whelping problems found in other breeds.

Extremes of other proportions or movement can change the face of the breed, and pursuing these exaggerations will narrow the genetic variety. In fact the best dog in the show ring should be the most average one! Two common breeding issues with Brittanys are colour and tails.

Breeding for colour

Most Brittanys (about 85% of them) are orange & white. This is actually a recessive version of the red chromosone, so must be present in the genes of both parents to become visible in their offspring. Peculiarly it is associated with over-riding other colours, so that a mating of two orange and white parents will only breed orange and whites - even if both have matching chromosones for other colours in their genetic make-up. In the United States, where only orange & whites and livers are permitted, this leads to an increasing deterioration of the depth of the colour, becoming 'washier' with each successive generation, and is associated with weak pigmentation. However there are other colours present in the breed. Equally as dominant as red is black and there have been black & white Brittanys since before the first recognition of the breed by the French Kennel Club. Strangely there does not seem to be any history of blue Brittanys, which would be the recessive of black just as orange is the recessive of red (a blue Brittany puppy was reportedly whelped in the USA in 2021).

Where dogs inherit both red and black chromosomes they can exhibit a range of coat patterns. Liver (the same as chocolate in Labradors) is one and is present in Brittanys. Another is tricolour where a base of black & white, or liver & white, has orange markings around the mouth, above the eyes, on the chest and lower legs and around the anus. Sometimes this distribution of colour is over a wider area and is frowned upon in the show ring.

Three generations of colour: Hawkwise Witchcraft (left) is by the sable dog Hawkwise Highlander (see below) and is clearly tricolour but would be criticised as being incorrectly marked. As a good working dog, and an otherwise excellent breed example, she was twice bred from. Among her daughters was the orange & white Broadwing Corn Dolly at Hawkwise (centre) - who twice won her class at Crufts. Mated to a black roan dog Dolly produced the orthodox black tricolour Hawkwise Hattie Mae (right).

There are two further expressions of incomplete colour dominance between red and black. One, which never occurs in Brittanys, is brindle and the other is sable. This is actually the dominant expression of the tricolour gene and presents as a red (deep chestnut) base with an individually variable scattering of black guard hairs, usually on the ears and to a lesser extent the body. Allied to this is very dark pigmentation of the lips, eyelids and nose. It is a very attractive colour but is deemed to be unacceptable.

Hawkwise Highlander was the most used sable stud dog in recent years, and the father of Hawkwise Witchcraft (see above). His major show achievements were all received from judges who were themselves breed specialists! As with all Brittanys, his roan spots are more apparent on his legs than on his body (see comments below).

Sable can be present, genetically, in orange & whites and black & whites. However it will never be seen in orange x orange matings but may be expressed where blacks are mated to either orange, tricolour or blacks. Nowadays it can be detected by DNA screening so it is possible to eradicate it from your breeding programme. Choosing to do this may be unwise as it further narrows the existing gene pool. Also we have no idea what other chromosomes are 'travelling' on the same DNA locus - so we could be eliminating potentially valuable factors that would enhance the dog's health or performance.

Basically this issue has not been tackled because it is possible to avoid the sable gene by screening. This could lead to its virtual disappearance by default. In the UK the Brittany Club has not taken any action and has left it to the fashion pressures of the showring to discourage the breeding and exhibition of sables. They have recognised that they have no control over the many falconers, shooting men and pet owners who do not exhibit their Brittanys - so legislating against it would be divisive within a numerically small breed. It is a shame that they could not, instead, have recognised this attractive colour as part of the breeds inheritance, as it is not associated with any known health problems and, by accepting it, they would be extending the gene pool which is available. In France the governing body has banned sable despite the fact that it has persisted within the breed for over a century that we know of. Of course they have many thousands of Brittanys, with very varied genetics, which helps them avoid the possible pitfalls of the narrowing gene pool.

Clear-marked versus roan

Although the Brittany is always substantially white (in France they recommend that at least 25% of its body should be white) it is usually seen to have a varying degree of roaning, particularly on its legs. Once you have got roan in your breeding stock it is very hard to completely eliminate it - and it gets increasingly more marked as the dog ages. This can lead dogs to become almost self coloured - and very hard to find if they are on point in cover. This lack of visibility can be a serious disadvantage to the shooting or hawking owner, particularly if the dog is working at a good distance from you.

At birth all Brittany pups appear clear-marked but, within days, their little, pink pads and noses slowly start becoming darker until, at a week old, they are almost completely black. Their tummies will also start having a sprinkling of black pigmentation. The greater these areas are the more roaning will develop and, by the time they are ready for sale at around 8 weeks of age, some will already be obviously roaned. Where the pads of puppy feet remain all or partly pink the pup will have much sparser roan markings or may be entirely clear-marked, i.e. free of any 'ticking'. It may be coincidence but the clearest marked Brittany I owned had the least tolerance of nettles!

The sequence of pictures below illustrates this development.

It is hard to believe that the puppy - third from the top of this litter - is the same animal as the six-week old chap with the ice cream tub, and the 12 month old dog on the right! Happily the buyer, who originally wanted a black dog, was happy with this outcome.

Visibility in the field! The two bitches shown below are both orange and white, but the one at the back is much older. At birth she would have been as white as the younger bitch in the foreground.

The Three-tailed Breed

Brittanys can be born with or without a full tail.

Full tail:

Obviously the breeder needs do nothing in this situation. However anyone purchasing a tailed Brittany puppy needs to be aware that it has not got the thick protective coat of the wolf, and will not be raised in a natural, rural environment. The tail is used vigorously and is vulnerable to damage against the corners of kitchen units, being caught in house or car doors, etc. Where a damaged tail needs surgery, at a later date, it will involve a major operation under general anaesthetic.

In the show ring the tailed dog is rarely seen as it is thought that the movement of the dog is affected by the swing of the spine, which the tail exaggerates. Also no consensus has been reached as to the length, carriage or amount of feathering that is expected on a full tail. Show breeders, almost exclusively, only exhibit tailless dogs.

Taillessness:
(which incidentally humans share) is related to spina bifida and is a dominant trait. It is also semi-lethal in dogs, in that any embryo receiving the tailless chromosone from both of its parents, will not survive the womb and is simply re-absorbed into the bloodstream. So all dogs that are born tailless always have one half of their genetic inheritance struggling to produce a tail, while the other half is determined to succeed in stopping it. A puppy like this will have the ability to produce offspring both with and without tails, in the same litter, but it will not have a visible tail itself. Sometimes a stumpy tail may be apparent, so the inheritance of this characteristic is not completely a 'one or the other' scenario.

Because the majority of show breeders do not work their dogs, they are not able to have them legally docked. In consequence they selectively breed and choose tailless breeding stock. These, having no tail at all, present a more rounded outline, particularly over the rump area. It is becoming accepted that this is now the norm - so legally docked dogs are being increasingly disregarded because their short dock 'spoils' their silhouette. The downside of this is that the litter sizes of show-bred tailless Brittanys will, statistically, be 25% smaller than those from docked or full-tailed animals. This will aggravate the narrowing of the gene pool further as there will be fewer dogs available to breed from.

Individual dogs may be affected, in different degrees, by their inheritance of taillessness. Some individuals display a sloping top-line (rather like a hyena) when running, and are limited in their ability to jump. They may also be unable to defecate without fouling their own body - and need routine cleaning by their owners.

Anybody breeding tailless puppies needs to have this verified by a veterinary surgeon, so that the individual puppies can be registered with a (B) added to their name. This is recorded on their registration document to denote that the condition is congenital. The purpose is to prevent unscrupulous breeders registering and showing docked animals as tailless.

Docking:
This third option is one where the breeder chooses to have the tail docked by a qualified veterinary surgeon. Prior written evidence, that the puppies are probably intended for working purposes, must be furnished before this simple operation may be performed. This legitimises what could be seen as mutilation of a young animal, without anaesthetic, before the puppy is 5 days old. At this age the nerves in the tail have not developed properly and the pup, beyond a brief squeak, quickly forgets the whole process. It is done as a prophylactic measure to prevent tail damage at a later age, when working in dense cover such as brambles or gorse. The breeder must obtain a Certificate of Docking from the vet, who will also be required to micro-chip the pups before they are sold to a new home.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to find veterinary practices that will perform this simple procedure. Vets respond to business pressure and are largely geared to serve the pet trade, which in turn is driven by sentiment. The Kennel Club has fudged the issue by not allowing docked dogs to be shown at events where the public pays to get in. This applies only to their own flagship event, Crufts. Elsewhere you may exhibit docked dogs if you have a 'letter of permission' from the KC (simply obtained, free of charge, on request) saying that the dog was originally docked for work, but may be exhibited.

Dilemna:
The full-tailed Brittany may be at risk of tail damage in later life through living in an artificial, domestic environment. Its tail disbars it from being shown successfully so that, effectively, tailed Brittanys are no longer exhibited. It can be bred from but, since it is unlikely to have either show successes or working achievements to boast of, its progeny will probably be less sought after and less profitable. They will mostly be sold to the pet market - and Brittanys are not very successful as 'simply pets'.

Docking avoids later injury and is both desirable and legal in working dogs. It militates against them in the show ring so we are evolving a split in what should be a dual-purpose breed.

Taillessness avoids the injury risk and, by pressure of fashion, is giving tailless dogs an advantage in the show ring. Therefore taillessness is increasingly sought but results in reduced litter size and consequently the numbers produced. Education of judges could help prevent the fashion for tailless dogs changing the interpretation of the breed standard - but showing is all about fashion and personal preference! The lure of having a dog which can be shown at Crufts seems to outweigh everything.