Something to be proud of...

J & A's Keeper of the Stars of Acton (True)

J & A's High Flyin' Girl of Acton (Piper) 

 J & A's Nash Stream of Kelsey Notch (Nash)

J & A's Buddy Boy - (Buddy)

CH  Triumphants Everything Nice - (Paris)

This past weekend the Northern New England Brittany Club hosted AKC Pointing Dog Hunt Tests at Sharpe's Farm in Hopkinton, NH.  This is the same event where our JackDog along with his daughter Roxie (J & A's Roxie Hoover) earned their final set of qualifying scores to achieve their AKC Junior Hunter title several years ago. Once again this venue proved to be a good one for All Things Brittanys, and for our friends.  For more information about these hunt tests see the AKC Brochure for Pointing Dog Hunt Tests.  Congratulations to Steve, Stephanie, Jim, Pam, Sam and of course to my wonderful husband!

J & A's Superior Brandi

North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (NAVHDA) :

Natural Ability Test:     NA 108  Prize I

Congratulations to Jim, Lori, Brian, and Cory Turner on Brandi's excellent NAVHDA test score!  This is a very different testing system designed for all versatile hunting dogs.  Dogs and owners/handlers participate in clinics and pre-tests for several months prior to the actual testing.  Brandi's score is in the highest possible level of NA prize awards.  For more information about see  NAVHDA testing program . 

RAMBLING ON...

John has worked so hard this summer with our crew here while also helping a good friend out with his gundog training program. It's been great for all concerned.  I'm pretty proud of my guy, as well as the Brittanys that are from the J & A's line.  I'm currently updating the Maine Brittany site.  It's going to take longer than I thought, but for a very good reason. 

As breeders of the American Brittany, we have both worked very hard to stay focused on what we believe is the true purpose of this amazing breed - to be a close working gun dog. We have seen several "trends" come and go and managed to survive them.  I can't say we're pleased with where some have taken this breed we love so much.  But then again, we also deal with the lasting effects of so called 'improvements' to the breed from years ago. 

Year ago so the story goes our dogs were noticed by other bird hunters who were out in the field.  People who knew we had Brittanys would come visit and say we needed to literally take them out of the woods and out into the field and the ring.  So we have tried to do that and I'm actually very happy we did.  Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end.  I guess we are somewhere in between the beginning and the middle.

We have taken our time to get involved with field and show events.  Those who know us realize it's really not our cup of tea. It's slow going.  It costs an awful lot of money. Did I mention fixed income?  And before I go any further - having a litter of puppies does not mean financial gain. And we're not doing what we do for monetary reasons so get that out of your head.

But here's what I see:  The few times we feel we can afford to pay entry fees, gasoline, food, travel, and hotel expenses for a competitive event we find our dogs are usually in the ribbons - either Brittanys we personally own or from our J & A line.  And I don't mean because of low entries. I mean to say our beautiful  Brittanys ARE competitive in any given arena.  So what's the importance of this?  It means that the goals we set for our program are measurable.  Saying 'oh yeah, my dogs get on birds, they are birdy, they hunt well' carries with it a certain burden of proof. 

As I continue to update the Maine Brittany site we will dentify the measureable goals, objectives, and purpose of the J & A  Brittanys breeding program.  Thanks in part to the excellent feedback from those who know them best we will list the specific strengths identified within our dogs over the past years and highlight personal successes such as are posted above and elsewhere throughout the blog archives (Bullet, Pippin, Bailey, Treasure and more!)

Take care and as always thank you for your interest and support in ATB - God Bless you and yours!

John, Ann, and our canine crew