French Pointer Kennel - Chenil de Grand Ciel Cinsault was the quintessential dual purpose dog, an outstanding companion dog and extraordinary dog afield! Chenil de Grand Ciel / Big Sky Kennel- is home to the Braque francais or French Pointer. ( The word Braque is pronounced like the word rock with a "B" in front and the "C" in francais is pronounced like an "S" ) We bought our first Braque in July of 1993, after reading a brief article in the 1992 Apr / May issue of Gun Dog. The author called it " a great bird hunter and a wonderful house pet. " It described an intelligent dog that could adapt to different cover and game birds. Sounded like a great dog, if only it were true. We brought Dame de Grand Ciel home and instantly found out the article was correct. A short while later, we arranged to import a male from France. Cinsault arrived in June of 1994. He was the epitome of a dual purpose dog. Cinsault and Ciel were quite a pair and whelped several litters throughout the mid-90's.   1997 European Coupe Champion, Homere du Mas du Diable Throughout the early years, selling these dogs involved a lot of, ...well, selling! It was like trying to push a rope uphill. The breed was unknown and people asked a lot of questions. They were skeptical because the breed seemed too good to be true. I remembered the feelings quite well! Things changed dramatically following the publication of the Dec. '99- Jan. '00 issue of Gun Dog (insert link). The author, Chad Mason, did extensive research on the breed, and despite being one of the so-called experts interviewed for the article, I learned a lot by reading it. The questioning by interested people went from about 34 questions to just one, "What do I have to do to get one of these dogs?" In June of 2002, we retooled and acquired new breeding stock. We imported Homere du Mas du Diable, who had won The European Coupe in 1997. That made him the top field trial dog in Europe. Later that year we had the good fortune to find and import two 15 month old females, Perle and Polka. We have continued breeding and are now looking to import new breeding stock in the near future. Perle is an extremely athletic and attractive Braque and has given us two very nice litters. Polka is by far the fastest dog in our kennel and she has also produced 2 very nice litters Tres Beau is the heir apparent to Homere. Bred from Homere and Perle, he is 42 lbs of joy in the house and terror in the field There is no question that this wonderful breed of dog is at a crossroads. Social changes in Europe and Canada are making it more difficult to have, train and hunt working dogs like the Braque francais. There is concern that if the Braque does not become established here in the US, its numbers will likely dwindle and it will eventually become extinct. We are doing everything in our power to make sure that the Braque is around for a long, long time. I would encourage any one interested in getting more information to email or call. If you are interested in breeding, please let us know as we help coordinate importation of new dogs and coordinate breedings between dogs. Mack is out of Polka and Tres and resides in Hailey, ID where he hunts Chukars and Sage Grouse for a living ~ This was his fisrt time on a pheasant wing and he was holding point within 2-3 minutes! Savvy is also out of Homere and Perle. All our pups are fully guaranteed. We won't let you be disappointed! Call for pricing and to get on our waiting list.