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Epagneul Francais

French Spaniel

History

Pointing and gun dog above all, the French Spaniel was developed to this end. Of very old origin, direct descendant of the famous «chien d'oysel» employed in Europe by the nobility for falconry and net hunting during all the Middle-Ages, this breed has been used in France since the XVII^th century. After the French revolution, hunting was democratized and became a sport available to all and the french Spaniel became very popular. Since then, many generations of hunters and qualified breeders who knew, carried by their affection and their passion toward the French Spaniel, to preserve his particular characteristics just as to improve particular hunting qualities of this dog, which are at the origin of today's french Spaniels characteristics. What did they succeed in producing? A general-purpose dog, capable of hunting feathers as well as fur, possessing an excellent nose, a strong pointing instinct and eagerness when fetching on ground or in water. Moreover, they wished a dog easily trained, easy-going, intelligent and reconcilable with the manner of living of its masters. The French Spaniel Club of France, founded in 1921, played a determinant role for the improvement of the race in Europe while not ceasing encouraging the breeding of it, contributing to its promotion and developing its hunting use. Following its introduction in Canada during the seventies, the french Spaniel does not cease, on this side of the Atlantic as in France, to allure the hunters which use it. In Canada, the French Spaniel Club was founded in 1978 and its members, whether they are hunters or simply love this, made an effort for more than twenty years, like its French homologue, to promote the french Spaniel and its use as a versatile pointing dog.

General Appearance Medium size dog, elegant and muscled, built on normal proportions, of braccoïd type. His balanced construction shows energy and toughness appropriate to his utilization. His bone structure is strong without being coarse.

Important Preoportions The length of the body (from the point of the shoulders to the point of the buttock) is superior by 2 to 3 cm to the height at the withers (the animal fits into a rectangle). The length of the chest is equal or superior to 6/10th of the length of the body.

Temperament Balanced, frank, soft, calm and docile, enthusiastic hunter, sociable with his fellow creatures and an ideal companion in all circumstances. Excellent pointing dog, he is also endowed with the retrieve.

Head Carried proudly, without heaviness, without excessive leanness showing well defined dimensions. Of medium length and width.

Skull * The lateral sides are almost parallel. The superciliary arches are marked. In profile, the axes of the skull and the muzzle are slightly divergent.

Stop * Progressive and moderately pronounced.

Skull The lateral sides are almost parallel. The superciliary arches are marked. In profile, the axes of the skull and the muzzle are slightly divergent.

Stop * Progressive and moderately pronounced.

Neck * Muscled, profile slightly curved, oval shape, without dewlap.

BODY Topline In slight depression in relation to the withers, straight, well firm in action.

Withers * Lean, quite high and broad.

Loin * Broad, not too long and powerfully muscled.

Croup * Broad, rounded in the extension of the loin and without visible bony outline.

Chest * Plenty of heart room, of great capacity, let down to elbow level. Sternal region : Ample and rounded.

Underline * Harmoniously raised towards the belly.

Tail Not docked, reaching the point of the hock, not deviated, set below the topline and falling obliquely, curved like a sabre. Strong at its root, tapering progressively towards the tip. Furnished with long wavy silky fringes starting at a few centimeters from the root, lengthening to the middle part, then getting progressively shorter towards the tip.

FOREQUARTERS The forequarters are straight and vertical. The back of the forelegs is furnished with wavy silky feathering of medium length above the elbow, but definitely longer at level of the forearm and falling to the level of the pastern.

Shoulders * Well attached against the chest and quite oblique (50° in relation to the horizontal).

Upper arm * Of inferior length by a third of the height at the withers; its slant on the horizontal is nearly 60°.

Forearm * Lean and muscled.

Pastern joint * Pastern * Well defined, lean, with visible bone structure and not coarse. The pastern is very sligthly oblique.

Forefoot * Oval, with tight, well arched toes and strong, black nails. Furnished with hair in the interdigital spaces. The pads are firm and dark.

HINDQUARTERS Seen from behind, the hindquarters are vertical; the limbs are powerful and muscled from the upper thigh to the lower thigh.

Upper thigh * Broad and quite long with powerful and very visible muscles. Its slant on the horizontal is between 65° and 70°.

Lower thigh * Of noticeably equal length to that of the upper thigh, with sculpted and visible muscles.

Hock joint * Solid and strong.

Hind foot * Oval and slightly longer than the front foot, but otherwise with the same characteristics.

Gait * Movement Easy, supple, regular and energetic while remaining elegant. The legs move well in the axis of the body without exaggerated vertical displacement of the topline and without rolling.

SKIN * Supple and well fitting to the body.

COAT HAIR * Long and wavy on the leathers, falling beyond their tips, as well as on the back of the legs and the tail. Flat, silky and well furnished on the body with a few ondulations behind the neck and above the root of the tail. Short and fine on the head.

COLOUR White and brown with medium spotting, sometimes getting predominant, with irregular patches, slightly or moderately flecked and roan without excess. The brown varies from cinnamon to dark liver. The white blaze and the white on the head, if the marking is not too wide, are appreciated. The absence of white on the head is perfectly admissible. All the outer mucous membranes are brown without depigmentation notably on the nose and the eyelids.

SIZE From 56 to 61 cm for the males.

From 55 to 59 cm for the females.

With a tolerance for each of 2 cm over.

FAULTS Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree. Skull too broad. Muzzle too short. Light eye. Leather partially white, too short or triangular. Dewlap. Deviated tail Incorrect position of the legs. Lack of bone. Hair curly on the body. Lack of silky fringes (feathering) Eye surrounded by white (marking), the eyelids being pigmented.

ELIMINATING FAULTS Lack of type (insufficient ethnical characteristics which means that the animal on the whole does not sufficiently resemble its fellow creatures of the breed). Distinct convegence of the axes of the skull and the muzzle. Upper and lower prognathism with a gap of more than one millimeter. Any other teeth missing apart from the PM1. Entropion or ectropion. Heterochromous eyes (different colours). Eye definitely too light, in animals over the age of 2 years. Strabismus (cross-eyed). Presence of dewclaws on the hind legs. Any other colour than white and brown. Depigmentation (important pink on the nose and/or on the eyelids). Size outside the limits of the standard. Timid, agrressive or biter. Important morphological anomaly. Disabling defect.

Faults Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

Note Male animals should have two apperently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.