Épagneul Picard: pointing dog for hunting hare and wild ducks

This pointing dog, well known in France, its country of origin, lends itself perfectly to hunting wild hares and ducks, even in swampy environments. The Épagneul Picard is very courageous and resistant, it is able to face long walks without showing fatigue.

THESpaniel Picard is a very ancient breed, originally from France and belonging to group 7 of pointing dogs. Already in the eleventh century there is evidence of the presence of this breed in Picardy, in particular in the area of the valley of the river Somme, which is considered its native region.

In the nineteenth century (1800) the breed experienced a certain abandonment in terms of its selection and diffusion, but was rediscovered and appreciated starting from 1904, the year of the debut of the first representative subjects at the Paris exhibition. This appearance gave the breed many benefits, as many enthusiasts began to appreciate its hunting skills. From that moment, the Spaniel Picard had its peak of diffusion, still remaining very popular in France today. Few people in our country know of Spaniel Picard. It is a medium sized dog, mesomorphic mesocephalus, morphologically classified as a braccoid type. With a solid constitution, the Épagneul Picard is a very rustic and very resistant dog: it is capable of sustaining long walks on all types of terrain and places. Its body structure is well proportioned, presenting strong and nervous limbs, a sweet and expressive gaze, a gay and proud bearing of the head and a well developed forehand.

THE Spaniel Picard he is a devoted and loyal dog to the owner. Its reliability and balance is flawless. One of its characteristics is obedience and prudence, since it has maintained all its ancestral qualities to which must be added a great elegance of shapes and lines. It is a breed that is appreciated by hunters who like to hunt with only one dog. He has a methodical and detailed look, a very developed sense of smell and a solid firmness that he maintains until the arrival of his conductor. It is a very docile, affectionate and gentle dog; he is cheerful and very intelligent. He is very playful and loves and makes himself loved very much by the people around him. It is a very courageous breed, showing great heroism in case the master is in danger; nevertheless he is very judicious and reflects before carrying out his actions. It adapts easily to home life, but still needs a lot of daily movement. The height goes from 55 to 60 at the withers, both for male and female specimens. The thorax is deep, fairly broad and well descended to the elbow. The back is of medium length, with a slight depression after the withers; the hips are delicately lower than the withers, while the loins are straight, not too long, broad and solid. The hips have a certain protrusion and reach the level of the back and the loins. The croup is just slightly oblique and rounded. The lips have a medium size, a little down but not too drooping. The muzzle is long and fairly broad, while the skull is round and broad, the occiput well pronounced, the lateral walls flat, stop oblique and not at right angles. The nose is brown, of medium size and quite rounded. The dentition is complete in development and number. The neck remains well attached and muscular. The ears are kept quite low and frame the head well, presenting beautiful wavy hairs.

The very expressive eyes are dark amber, wide open, denoting a frank and very expressive gaze. The forelegs are straight, muscular, with plumb elbows, the latter decorated with fringes. The hind legs have a straight thigh, well descended, wide, muscular, decorated with fringes up to the hock; the metatarsals are straight with the hocks slightly angulated. The feet are round and wide, with some fur between the closed toes.
The shoulder is long enough, rather straight and quite muscular. The tail forms two slight curves, being convex and concave, but it is not too long and is endowed with beautiful hairs.

THE Spaniel Picard it has a fairly fine and soft skin and is wrapped in a thick and not very silky hair, fine on the head and slightly wavy on the trunk. The colors of the Spaniel Picard are speckled gray, with brown areas on the various parts of the body and at the root of the tail; in some specimens there are often also some markings on the head and on the legs. Since its origins, the Épagneul Picard has been trained and used as a hunter of wild hares and ducks; it is also very suitable for hunting in swamps. As already anticipated at the beginning of the description, it is a dog that carries out its master's orders very well, to the point of being preferred for single hunting. In the search it demonstrates dexterity and great ability in finding the trace and, when it has found the prey, it goes to rest remaining even for long moments.