Saint Usuge Spaniel

An ancient dog dating back to the 16th Century, the Saint Usuge Spaniel almost become extinct by the end of the Second World War. After the war, a priest arrived at a parish in Saone-et-Loire in the Bresse region of France. A keen hunter himself, he enquired about getting a suitable hunting dog. Locals told him of a breed known as the Epagneul de Saint Usuge. Father Billard discovered the last reference to this dog was from a dog show in 1936 at a nearby town. He immediately set about locating the breed standard from the show and visited hunters in nearby parishes to try and locate one of this unique breed. Finally, he found a female dog name Poupette who fitted the description. After much searching, he found male dogs suitable to reconstruct the breed. A small Munsterlander female was also found in 1962 to add to the gene pool. She most closely resembled the Saint Usuge Spaniel. In 1980 the work of reconstructing the breed was handed to Serge Bey, a conservationist, which ended Father Billard's breeding program that had produced over 250 dogs over a 33 year period. In 1990, the national breed club known as the Club de l'Epagneul de Saint Usuge was set up. While the breed is not fully recognized by the American Kennel Club, it is recognized as a breed that is within the club's recovery program. Let us hope the scope of this elegant and charming dog expands as more people realize the value of this delightful canine.