Saint-Usuge Spaniel

According to Dr. Guillemin, judge at the 1936 dog show in Louhans where nine dogs were presented, it was the ancient spaniel breed that had remained intact in Bresse. Dr. Guillemin even claims to have found in the dogs "presented" to him the striking portrait of the partridge dogs depicted in the old Gobelins tapestries of various châteaux in Avignon and the Palace of the Popes. Why this name of Saint-Usuge Spaniel? At a pointing dog competition, this spaniel won first prize, and when the judge asked its owner what breed it was, he was told it was a spaniel from the region, from the village of Saint-Usuge. The Burgundian cynegete, Baron de Reculot, in his Hunting Memories in the Marshes published in the Hunters' Journal of 1838, notes the qualities of this small spaniel that "goes everywhere, explores everything and leaves no corner unexplored."​ The Saint-Usuge Spaniel nearly disappeared. Before World War II, only a few specimens remained. And it was at that moment, around the middle of the last century, that an unusual story began. In 1939, young Father Robert Billard is appointed vicar of the commune of Savigny-en-Revermont, located at the border of Saône and Loire and the Jura. He is a passionate woodcock hunter and has heard about this small Burgundy spaniel and its exceptional qualities. He decides to find one, but unfortunately war breaks out and Father Billard is taken prisoner and sent into captivity. Upon his return in 1945, with his idea still in mind, he inquires of the Société Centrale Canine to acquire a Saint-Usuge Spaniel. He is told that the breed has disappeared and that the last presence at a dog show dates from 1936. Undeterred, Father Billard begins his farm-to-farm searches and his persistence is rewarded when in 1946 he discovers in Le Fay, a village, a bitch that is quite pure and corresponds to the standard of the time. With limited means, he decides to sell his gold watch to his brother so it stays in the family, in order to buy the bitch. He names his little bitch "Poupette" and begins hunting with her. Increasingly won over by the qualities of the breed from his outings, he then thinks about acquiring a male. It is not without difficulty, but in 1950 he finds in Louhans "Dick," son of a dog that had won first prize at the 1936 show. Then comes the first litter and Father Billard begins his breeding log. He must make choices that such regeneration requires, that is, rigorously eliminate impurities, defects, and imperfections. Then the problem of blood renewal arises, as Saint-Usuges are few in number. Noticing that the standard of the Saint-Usuge Spaniel, defined by Dr. Longin in 1936, is practically identical to that of the small Münsterländer, Father Billard travels to Germany in 1962 and acquires "Bianca von der Rumerburg," a bitch with a brilliant record. For 33 years he will work with tenacity to rebuild the breed, raising nearly 250 dogs in his presbytery in Savigny-en-Revermont. In his breeding log, Father Billard noted the hunting qualities of each of his dogs, especially in pursuing the game that fascinated him more than any other: the woodcock. In 1978, he raises his last litter and gives his last puppy to the daughter of one of his friends on her solemn first communion day, with a hidden agenda. For he fully intended to make this friend the successor to the work he had accomplished over several decades. Serge Bey, in question, a local district chief at the ONF, was a hunter and lover of dogs. On April 6, 1980, the priest bequeaths him his precious breeding log with the promise to continue his work. After a census of the various owners

By nature gentle, docile, balanced, and affectionate, with great sensitivity and fearlessness toward game, attentive and passionate, it is easy to train.

A dog of very gentle and docile nature, its training proves easy provided there are no brutal gestures. It is a dog of great sensitivity for which a firm voice will suffice to obtain what the trainer requires. The Saint-Usuge Spaniel is a completely versatile dog, hunting just as well in woods, in open country as in ponds or marshes. It is a tracker and a brush beater that especially loves woodcock hunting.