The French Spaniel is a medium size solidly built hunting dog with a strong bone structure. It is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, spaniel dog breeds that is believed to have been the progenitors of virtually all of today's hunting spaniels. Developed in France as a hunting dog in 14th century, the breed gained popularity with French Royalty during the Middle Ages. The first French Spaniel Club was founded in France, in 1921. Its president was Father Fournier, a priest to whom bred fanciers owe a great debt. Fournier recognized the utility, heritage and merits of these dogs. He identified their salient characteristics, gathered the finest examples available, and worked tirelessly to rebuild the lineages that are responsible for modern French Spaniels. Because of Fournier's meticulous selection process, and the faithful efforts of those who followed after him, today's French Spaniel is an elegant and athletic dog, firm on point, and comfortable in every environment. One can be confident that this is an intelligent, obedient faithful, family dog, possessed of classic physical beauty.
According to breed standards, the head is of moderate length and width. Muzzle with slightly convex nasal bridge is preferred over straight one. Brown nose is well pigmented with white open nostrils. Oval shape large eyes are dark brown or cinnamon coloured with expressions of kindness and intelligence. Well set back ears are moderately long. Neck is strong, well muscled and slightly arched. Topline is straight with broad and powerful loin and deep and high capacity chest. The tail is full length, not docked, set low, tapering, held slantwise curves. The skin is flexible and close to the body. The coat is dense and flat on the body, shorter and finer on the head but longer on ears, back of the legs and tail. It comes in white and brown, with medium to predominant spotting.
This breed is NOT recognized by AKC however it is recognized by FCI, UKC and CKC.
