Blue Picardy Spaniel

The Blue Picardy Spaniel is a relatively new breed of dog and still fairly rare, even in its country of origin. While there are mentions of French pointing dogs with grey-brown or tan coats and long fur with a slightly different hunting style than other Spaniels in the area before the 1900s, they were not recognized by name until the French hunting Spaniels were subdivided into several regional groups in 1907. A group of pointing Spaniels that had developed near the river Somme in the Picardy region of Northern France caused by an intermixture of the French hunting Spaniel of the time and English Setters that were boarded in this area due in part to a quarantine restriction that prevented the re-entry of many dogs owned by hunters from the UK. These Picardy Spaniels were later bred with both with Gordon Setters and with English Setters that sported a marking style known as Belton blue, a type of blue ticking with no patches, resulting in a Picardy Spaniel with a blue coloration that was recognized as a separate breed in France in 1938, the Blue Picardy Spaniel. World War II was particularly hard on populations of canines throughout Europe and the Blue Picardy Spaniel was no exception. It wasn’t until the 1990’s that the breed population began to recover from the war and they began to gain some recognition in other countries. In 1995, the breed was recognized by the Canadian Kennel Club and they are able to be registered with the American Rare Breed Association as well.