KENAI
Blue Picardy Spaniel

The breeds · gun dog · pointing

AKC Foundation Stock Service · UKC Gun Dog · FCI standard 106

Blue Picardy Spaniel.

Pointing dog (FCI utilization). FCI history: 'a contact dog for chases within firing range, the Blue Picardy Spaniel adapts to all sorts of small game hunts and is particularly skilled in woodcock hunting'. Koshyk (Pointing Dog Blog): 'very birdy gundogs'; on the field-trial side, growth since the 1990s has come largely from pet and show homes, and far fewer Blues than Picardies run field events.

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
45–55LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 50 to 55 lb; breed bitches 45 to 50 lb.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 22 to 24.4 in · bitches 21 to 23.6 in

Breed clubFCI-Standard No. 106, 2023

low/high span the FCI limits and the AKC page figure; no ideal printed, so no center.

Weight

dogs 50 to 55 lb · bitches 45 to 50 lb

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed-page header only; one source.

Coat

FCI 106: flat or slightly wavy hair, legs and tail well furnished with fringes. Colour silver grey to grey-black speckled forming a bluish shade, with or without black patches; white or brown patches are a disqualifying fault. UKC: flat or slightly wavy, good furnishings on legs and tail; grey/black speckled forming a bluish shade, with black patches

Breed clubFCI-Standard No. 106, 2023

The FCI text calls the main difference from the Picardy Spaniel the colour of the coat.

Shedding

Shedding 3 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

3 of 5 · 3 of 5: flat to slightly wavy coat with profuse fringes on legs and tail; no undercoat is described

DerivedFCI-Standard No. 106, 2023

Derived from the FCI coat description, scored as a medium, feathered single-to-light coat; no source states heat performance.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Energy

3 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming load

1 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

Pointing dog (FCI utilization). FCI history: 'a contact dog for chases within firing range, the Blue Picardy Spaniel adapts to all sorts of small game hunts and is particularly skilled in woodcock hunting'. Koshyk (Pointing Dog Blog): 'very birdy gundogs'; on the field-trial side, growth since the 1990s has come largely from pet and show homes, and far fewer Blues than Picardies run field events

Breed clubFCI-Standard No. 106, 2023

FCI 106 history and utilization clause; Koshyk's 'My View' section is editorial. The FCI classifies the breed as a continental pointing spaniel; the breed points and is not described as a flusher in any source read.

Primary game

Small game, woodcock above all (FCI 106). Koshyk, quoting Castaing: the black-and-white spaniels of Picardy were found 'almost always' in the hands of snipe hunters in the Somme, Canche and Authie valleys. The breed was shown, on its original ad, as a solid point 'on the plains, marsh or woods'

Breed clubFCI-Standard No. 106, 2023

The 1886 classified ad quoted by Koshyk is a historical note, not a modern trial rule.

Range

Close to medium: 'typically ranging just beyond gun range'; about 50 m each side for a hunting dog; some run to about 100 m, and the work standard allows superior performers to range wider (Koshyk). FCI 106: a 'contact dog' for 'chases within firing range'

EditorialKoshyk C., 2012

Editorial plus FCI history wording; the two agree on close-to-medium.

Search pattern

Medium flowing gallop. Bernard Piers (Blue Picardy breeder, via Koshyk): the Blue's search is similar to the Picardy's but 'more feline', 'a more setter-like way of working'; hunters want a dog that works to the gun, maybe 50 m each side, field trialers want it faster and farther. Koshyk saw French Blues run hard and fast, head high, to about 100 m. Points standing up and intense, not lying down; some are natural backers; not hard to break to wing and shot

EditorialKoshyk C., 2012

Editorial: Koshyk and one breeder he quotes. The NAPSA FAQ gives the Picardy's pace and range (see range) but does not describe the Blue separately.

Field trial standard

Listed as 'Blue Picardy Spaniel (BP)' in NAVHDA's recognized breeds, so it tests in NAVHDA Natural Ability and Utility. Eligible for AKC pointing breed hunt tests as a Foundation Stock Service breed. UKC recognized January 1 1996. FCI 106: 'with working trial' (French club trials)

Breed clubNAVHDA

NAVHDA and AKC pages are breed lists, not rulebooks; no NAVHDA breed pass statistics exist for the Blue Picardy.

Water work

Bernard Piers via Koshyk: Blues are 'very good water workers, equal to the Picardy in that respect'; Koshyk saw French field-trial Blues described by their owners as good retrievers and strong swimmers. NAPSA calls the Picardy 'a born water worker' and 'the best bet among French pointing breeds' for water (Picardy, not Blue)

EditorialKoshyk C., 2012

Single breeder opinion for the Blue; the Picardy comparison is a related breed, labelled as such.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 3; Mental Stimulation Needs 1; Trainability Level 5; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 5; Openness To Strangers 1; Good With Other Dogs 5; Shedding Level 3; Coat Grooming Frequency 1; Drooling Level 1; Affectionate With Family 3; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 5.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

No KENAI kennel lists the Blue Picardy Spaniel yet. If you breed them, list your kennel free: it shows on this page and in the hunting dog breed finder, under every handler whose answers land on the breed.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 4 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Epagneul Bleu de Picardie, Bleu Picard, Picardy Blue

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Your blue picardy spaniel, on the record.

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