Dual dogs

[bigbirdhunter]

I have seen some people on here that say that they have dual dogs but when i looked at the pedigrees of the dogs they are all show dogs with only like maybe only one or two dual champions in their whole pedigrees. Can some one help me to understand how these are really dual dogs? shouldn't they kinda of be 1/2 field dogs and 1/2 show dogs? wouldn't that be a dual dog? I am not really in the know about these things but it certainly is confusing when people present their dogs as something that they are not. See i am just a hunter so I guess i am just not in the loop on these things.

[kenmoore1]

IMO, Brittanys should be hunters first and foremost. A conformation title (CH) will tell someone the brit fits the breed standard and fits that standard better than most of the competition during a number of shows. As a hunter, you could see the dog's ability to hunt by taking the dog out in the field. Not everyone has a place readily available for them to go hunting, so they may try the JH route. This would give the individual an idea of the dog's potential especially if the brit was 6 mo to a year old.

If you look at pointing breeds other than brittanys they have very definite differences in the field dogs and show dogs. Most of the field dogs can't become show champions because they don't have the "appearance" of a show dog, and the show dogs have lost their "nose" or ability to be top notch hunters.

The American Brittany Club in their Objective and Purpose encourages "higher standards in breeding, training and showing of Brittanys in the field and in the show ring; to discourage the breed from becoming split into groups of 'field dogs' and 'show dogs' and to strive to keep it forever a 'dual dog' ". The other breeds have not done this. They have separated into 2 camps the field dogs and the show dogs.

A dog that has competed in both the field and show and has earned a FC in the field and a CH in the ring by defeating other dogs has earned its Dual Championship (DC). These DCs are truly dual dogs. A person that sells pups as "dual dog" quality dogs, in my mind, is saying this 7 week old pup has the potential to be competitive in the field (will hunt well and won't be a slacker) and will meet the breed standard as an older pup and an adult and would be competitive in the ring. If I were making a selection of a pup solely from a pedigree (which I wouldn't do) I would be looking for FC, AFC, NFC, NAFC, HOF, SH, MH and DC in the pedigree on both the sire's and dam's side more so than just CHs. In that way you know the ancestors have a background that is competitive in the field or can perform in the field. A true dual dog should be able to go from the field directly into the ring and be competitive.

Our goal is to bred for this dual quality. Most brits will never become DCs for one reason or another, but I think this breed has more DCs than the other pointing breeds all put together. Some breeders may be pushing the envelope to say their pups will be dual quality unless perhaps it is a repeat breeding. Well, thats enough, I hope this gives you more insight into the dual language the people are using. You asked some good questions.
KK Brits

[bigbirdhunter]

what is a "JH" ?? is this some competition?

[carverbrittanys]

Junior Hunter

Here is a link to AKC that explains hunt tests for pointing breeds www.akc.org/events/hunting_tests/pointing_breeds/