- Dog suitable for owners with some experience
- Basic training required
- Generally healthy breed
- Enjoys vigorous walks
- Enjoys one to two hours of walking a day
- Medium dog
- Some drool
- Requires grooming daily
- Chatty and vocal dog
- Barks and alerts to visitors/anything unusual
- Generally friendly with other dogs
- Gets along with other pets with training
- May need additional supervision to live with children
- Needs a small garden
- Can live in semi-rural areas
- Can be left occasionally with training
The Barbet dog breed can be prone to:
- Progressive retinal atrophy which is an inherited disorder where part of the eye degenerates and wastes away which can result in blindness.
Priority Kennel Club health schemes and testing:
None but there are several recommended schemes that the Kennel Club recommends which can be found here.
Key Facts
Lifespan: | 13 - 15 years |
Weight: | 14 - 28kg |
Height: | 53 - 65cm |
Colours: | All shades of black, grey, brown and fawn, with or without white, solid white, and white with markings in one of these colours |
Size: | Medium |
Kennel Club group: | Gundog |
Ratings
Family-friendly: | 5/5 |
Exercise needs: | 3/5 |
Easy to train: | 4/5 |
Tolerates being alone: | 1/5 |
Likes other pets: | 4/5 |
Energy level: | 5/5 |
Grooming needs: | 1/5 |
Shedding: | 2/5 |

Personality
Fun loving, eager to work and to please, joyous and occasionally comical, the Barbet is a delight to spend time with and train with, if you enjoy training and gundog type activities. They are something of a mud magnet, and really enjoy active walks, swimming, retrieving from water and so will suit an owner who enjoys training and grooming their dog. Good with children and other animals if socialised and raised correctly, they are friendly and gregarious, so will need regularly training to remind them of polite manners.

History and Origins
Country of Origin: France
The Barbet is a medium to large sized gundog, originating in France and also known as the French Water Dog. If you are thinking the Barbet looks like a heavier, more rustic Poodle, you are not wrong. The Barbet is related to the Poodle, in fact for almost a hundred years, the Barbet and the Pudel (the German name for Poodle) were regarded as the same breed!
Their original role was in water retrieval, fetching shot waterfowl from the marshes, wetlands and estuaries of France. Today although the Barbet is rare, they make an engaging and fun companion dog, show dog or working dog.
First brought to the UK in 2001, but not bred here until 2007, they were added to the Kennel Clubs Import Register in 2018 and can be shown in Import Register classes.

Did You Know?
- The Barbet (pronounced ‘Bar-bay’) almost became extinct after the Second World War, but has been brought back to popularity by dedicated breeders across Europe.
- As water retrieval dogs, they have long curly fur that keeps them warm and buoyant in the water, and webbed feet to help them swim!