Brittany Spaniel: the inherited conditions to know and how breeding stock is screened
The Brittany spaniel has a reputation as a hardy breed, and broadly it deserves it. But it is also one of the few gundog breeds whose inherited conditions have been characterised in fine detail by research — to the point of serving as an animal model in human medicine. Knowing which ones, and which can be tested for, completely changes the conversation you have with a breeder. The Brittany spaniel breed profile puts these points in context.
Hereditary spinal muscular atrophy: rare, but dominant
First described in the Brittany by Linda Cork, John Griffin and colleagues in 1979 in the Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, canine spinal muscular atrophy (HCSMA) progressively destroys motor neurons in the spinal cord and brainstem (study on Google Scholar). The key point for a buyer is the mode of inheritance: G. H. Sack and Linda Cork's team showed in 1984, in Annals of Neurology and using a pedigree of more than 125 dogs, that it is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait (study on Google Scholar). In other words, a single affected parent is enough to pass it on, and the accelerated forms appear very early in homozygous puppies. The disease remains rare and confined to certain lines — but it makes breeding from an affected dog indefensible, even once. Worth noting: despite the clinical resemblance, it is not linked to the SMN gene of human spinal muscular atrophy.
Complement C3 deficiency
Far less well known, this inherited immune defect has also been described in the Brittany. Work by J. P. Johnson, R. H. McLean, Linda Cork and Jerry Winkelstein, published in 1986 in the American Journal of Medical Genetics, showed it results from a null allele of the structural gene for the third component of complement: homozygous dogs have no detectable C3 and suffer recurrent bacterial infections and kidney disease (study on Google Scholar). This time inheritance is recessive, carriers are healthy, and a DNA test exists. It is exactly the kind of check to ask for when a kennel works with older bloodlines.
Hips: the breed where screening pays off most
This is the most actionable point. The study by Anita Oberbauer, Gregory Keller and Thomas Famula, published in 2017 in PLOS ONE from 1,056,852 hip evaluations in the OFA database across forty-five years, puts the heritability of hip dysplasia in the Brittany at 0.58 — among the highest of the sixty breeds analysed (study on Google Scholar). Heritability that high means official hip radiographs on both parents genuinely shift the puppy's risk, far more than in breeds where environment carries more weight. The same study, by contrast, ranks the Brittany among the fifteen least affected breeds for elbows, at 1.7%: no need to obsess over that one.
What it means for the health budget
Orthopaedic hip surgery, renal follow-up or a neurological work-up run into thousands, and no policy covers a condition already declared at the time of application. In an active, long-lived breed, that is the main argument for insuring early: our breed benchmarks are in the insuring a Brittany spaniel guide, and the general criteria in pet insurance for dogs. Day to day, a Brittany that works its nose hard wears its joints differently from a sofa dog — see our scent games for the Brittany spaniel and the dog care and grooming section.
Frequently asked questions
Which tests should I ask for before buying a Brittany puppy?
Official hip radiographs on both parents first, the C3 deficiency DNA test if the kennel works with affected lines, and no neurological history in the immediate ancestry.
Is spinal muscular atrophy common in the breed?
No. It is rare and confined to certain lines. Its dominant inheritance is simply what makes it unforgivable in breeding: an affected dog must never reproduce.
Can a dysplastic Brittany still work?
It depends on the grade and on pain, and the call belongs to your vet. Many mildly affected dogs lead active lives with controlled weight and maintained muscle.
This guide is part of Planète Pets’s Dogs universe. Our advice is general in nature: for any health concern, your veterinarian remains the only reference.