Picardy Spaniel

The Picardy Spaniel () is a medium size spaniel type of gun dog. It was developed in France in the 19th century, but has even older origins with the French nobility. It is closely related to the Blue Picardy Spaniel, and they are very alike in appearance (except for the colour), but the Picardy Spaniel is the older of the two breeds.

Colour
These dogs are always light brown with darker brown patches (called brown roan in dogs).

Temperment
The Picardy Spaniel has a gentle nature and likes to take care of children in a family.  As they are natural hunting dogs they require lots of exercise.

Popularity
Because English spaniels had been introduced to France in the early 20th century, this dog became less popular with the French hunters who liked the English dogs and their numbers began to get smaller.  Then World War I and World War II both caused the breed to nearly become extinct and a lot of effort was needed in to save the breed, they saved the breed but it is still not widely known outside of France.

References

Category:Spaniels
Category:Dog breeds originating in France
Category:Rare dog breeds