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Barbet

The breeds · gun dog · water dog

AKC Sporting · UKC Gun Dog · FCI standard 105

Barbet.

FCI 105: 'Water dog used for hunting wildfowl. Like all water dogs, the French Water Dog is more than just a retriever; he must search for, locate and flush out the game hiding in the water vegetation. He then retrieves the game shot by his master.' UKC: 'essentially a water dog, used for wild fowling'; historically also a hunter's assistant, a sailor's companion for fetching at sea and a shepherd's dog. Barbet Club of GB: flushes and retrieves, and in the UK works on land and on driven shoots as a peg dog or in the beating team..

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.
30–65LBWeight, all linesbreed 30 to 65 lb.
1HRSExercise, every dayRoyal Kennel Club: up to 1 hour per day. AKC breed page: energy level 3 of 5. AKC feature article: thrives in an apartment with adequate daily exercise, but is not a good distance-running partner because it overheats.. The constraint most homes get wrong.

The body

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

Height at the shoulder

dogs 21 to 25.6 in · bitches 19 to 24 in

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club, 2012

No ideal printed, so no centre. The Royal Kennel Club page gives 53 to 65 cm for the breed overall. The AKC article runs below the two standards.

Weight

30 to 65 lb

Breed clubAKC

No standard prints a weight, so there is no centre and no sex split; the AKC box and the AKC article are registry/editorial statements and the Wikipedia ranges are tertiary. Low/high span all three. The range is wide because the sources do not agree and the breed is built to height, not weight.

Shedding

Shedding 1 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

2 of 5 · UKC: thick, woolly, fleecy coat 'assuring effective protection against cold and humidity'; coat long, woolly, wavy and curly over the whole body. FCI 105: thick, woolly coat; long, woolly and curly, can form strands. AKC article: overheats on distance runs.

DerivedUnited Kennel Club, 2012

Derived: a heavy, long, woolly coat over the whole body scores 2. Clipped working coats (Barbet Club of GB: about an inch) would sit higher; the standards describe the natural coat.

The dog at home

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

Exercise need

Royal Kennel Club: up to 1 hour per day. AKC breed page: energy level 3 of 5. AKC feature article: thrives in an apartment with adequate daily exercise, but is not a good distance-running partner because it overheats.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band 'Up to 1 hour per day' = 60 min by the ruled mapping. The AKC article's overheating remark is editorial and is repeated on the heat-tolerance row.

Energy

3 of 5

Breed clubAKC

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

Grooming load

3 of 5 · Royal Kennel Club: grooming more than once a week, coat length medium, does not shed. AKC breed page: coat grooming frequency 5 of 5. AKC feature article: suits 'someone who likes to brush and comb their dog frequently'. UKC: the coat forms cords if not brushed; all clips are acceptable. Barbet Club of GB: a working dog is kept at about an inch all over.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band 'more than once a week' = 3 by the ruled mapping. The AKC page (5 of 5, AKC's own scale where 5 is daily) and the AKC article both read higher than the RKC band; the sources disagree and both stand. The RKC page also says the dense coat 'should remain untrimmed', while UKC and FCI allow any clip.

The work

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

Role

FCI 105: 'Water dog used for hunting wildfowl. Like all water dogs, the French Water Dog is more than just a retriever; he must search for, locate and flush out the game hiding in the water vegetation. He then retrieves the game shot by his master.' UKC: 'essentially a water dog, used for wild fowling'; historically also a hunter's assistant, a sailor's companion for fetching at sea and a shepherd's dog. Barbet Club of GB: flushes and retrieves, and in the UK works on land and on driven shoots as a peg dog or in the beating team.

Breed clubFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2006

The FCI standard classes the breed Group 8, Section 3, Water Dogs, with working trial.

Primary game

Waterfowl (FCI: 'hunting wildfowl'; UKC: 'wild fowling'). Royal Kennel Club: traditionally used to flush and retrieve waterfowl from marshes and lakes.

Breed clubFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2006

Also used on

Driven-shoot game on land (Barbet Club of GB: 'equally happy working on land and does well on driven shoots'). UKC: 'several abilities of a pointer/setter without being a true setter'. AKC feature: some dogs have a strong prey drive and chase or retrieve birds from water.

Breed clubBarbet Club of Great Britain

The UK club notes the breed is 'not a modern gundog', is sensitive in training and does not thrive in kennels.

Search pattern

FCI 105: the dog must search for, locate and flush out game hiding in water vegetation, then retrieve. UKC: pointer/setter-like abilities without being a true setter. Barbet Club of GB: uses willingness to work and ability to scent on shoots. No quartering pattern or distance is printed in any source read.

Breed clubFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2006

Descriptive only; no source gives a yardage or pattern.

Field trial standard

FCI 105 classifies the breed Group 8 Section 3 Water Dogs 'with working trial'. Wikipedia: in France the Barbet can take the test d'aptitudes naturelles (TAN), a basic water-retrieving test, and has recently been permitted into the brevet de chasse a l'eau (BCE), a general hunting-dog test with field and water trials; in Germany it takes part in field trials.

Breed clubFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2006

No NAVHDA or AKC hunt-test statement was found on a page that was read. The French test names are Wikipedia's; the Centrale Canine page could not be read (archive copy not opened).

Water work

FCI 105: 'loving water even when very cold'; 'he shall go to water in all weather'. UKC: 'very sociable and fond of the water'; 'going into water in all types of weather'; 'fetching at sea'. Royal Kennel Club: the 'original European water dog', most at home in mud and water.

Breed clubFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2006

Cold water

5 of 5 · FCI 105: 'Very resistant to cold, he shall go to water in all weather'; loves water 'even when very cold'. UKC: 'no fear of the cold, going into water in all types of weather'; coat gives effective protection against cold and humidity. AKC article: loves the winter, the curled coat keeps it warm.

DerivedFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2006

Derived from the coat plus the breed's water work; both standards state the cold-water willingness in words, which is why the top mark is given.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Hip dysplasia

11.7% · 437 OFA hip evaluations, all data as served Oct 8 2026; 11.7% dysplastic (mild 8.5, moderate 3.0, severe 0.2), 87.9% normal (19.2% excellent, 58.1% good, 10.5% fair)

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's own current breed statistics. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock and the US population is small. UK cross-check from the Barbet Club of GB: the BVA/KC breed median hip score is 9 and the mean 11 (total combined), from 66 UK Barbets scored to 31 July 2024; that is a score, not a percent dysplastic, and is not comparable. Wikipedia and the AKC article both name hip dysplasia among the breed's concerns.

Elbow dysplasia

5.6% · 409 OFA elbow evaluations, all data as served Oct 8 2026; 5.6% abnormal (grade I 5.1, grade II 0.5, grade III 0.0), 94.1% normal

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's own current breed statistics, breeding-stock skew applies. UK cross-check: of 52 Barbets scored by the BVA to 31 July 2024, 47 were grade 0, 3 grade 1 and 2 grade 2.

Most common disorders

AKC feature (quoting Barbet Club of America officers): epilepsy, progressive retinal atrophy and hip dysplasia; a young US population with data still being gathered. Wikipedia: hip dysplasia, epilepsy and ear infections (long, hanging ears); limited breed-specific data; a 2006 study found an inbreeding coefficient of 12.4% and a 2013 study 9.1%, both high against other French breeds. Royal Kennel Club: prcd-PRA DNA test is a Good Practice test; hip, elbow and eye schemes are Best Practice.

EditorialAKC, 2020

No VetCompass paper or breed-wide survey was found. The inbreeding figures are as reported by Wikipedia, whose primary studies were not opened. Fewer than three independent breed-health sources behind this value, and two of them are editorial.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 3; Mental Stimulation Needs 3; Trainability Level 4; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 3; Openness To Strangers 3; Good With Other Dogs 3; Shedding Level 1; Coat Grooming Frequency 5; Drooling Level 1; Affectionate With Family 4; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 3.

Breed clubAKC

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

What to ask a breeder for

The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.

No KENAI kennel lists the Barbet 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. 9 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
French Water Dog, Chien Barbet

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