Quick Links: Table of Contents
- Barbet Breed Overview
- History of the Barbet Breed. Where Barbets came from
- What the Barbet Looks Like
- Best Barbet Breeders
- What Colors do Barbets Have?
- How Long Barbets Live
- How Fast Barbets Can Run
- How Popular are Barbets with New Dog Owners?
- Health Problems in Barbets and How to Prevent Them
- Dog Breeds That Are Similar to Barbets
- Other Things to Know About Barbets
Barbet Breed Overview
The Barbet is a medium-sized dog.
The adult Barbet stands 20 to 25 inches tall at the shoulder.
The Barbet belongs to the Sporting Dogs group.
Dogs in the Sporting Dogs group, like the Barbet, were bred to help hunters catch and retrieve feathered game. Some sporting dog breeds such as Retrievers, which were built for swimming, were bred to hunt waterfowl in water.
Whereas sporting dog breeds like setters, spaniels, and pointing breeds were bred to hunt quail, pheasant, and other game birds nest on grasslands.
Many Sporting Group breeds have thick, water-repellent coats that protect them from harsh hunting conditions.
The fact that Barbets belong to the Sporting Dogs group is one of the reasons why Barbets have the personality and temperament that they have.
The temperament of the Barbet is generally described as:
- Companionable
- Intelligent
- Joyful
- Obedient
History of the Barbet Breed. Where Barbets came from
Due to his heritage as a water retrieving gun dog, the Barbet is often referred to as the French Water Dog.
The French word for beard is barbet.
He was developed in the 16th century and was used to flush out and then retrieve waterfowl from wetlands and marshes.
He has since been employed in a variety of capacities, such as cart pushing and guarding.
In 1894, the first official Barbet standard was created.
He was originally a common breed and was frequently featured in French literature over the ages.
Numerous paintings also showed him hard at work in the marshes looking for waterfowl.
Many scientists believe that additional breeds including the Briard, Poodle, and Bichon were developed using the Barbet as a foundation.
Although there is little evidence to support these claims, researchers believe the Barbet contributed to other breeds.
After the World Wars in the 20th century, the Barbet nearly went extinct.
However, a small number of breed lovers pushed to keep the breed alive, and it has now recovered.
Despite still being a rare breed, the Barbet is growing in popularity nowadays.
He is developing into a wonderful family friend.
When the Barbet entered the country is a matter of debate.
The Barbet Club of America was founded as a result of their recent popularity spike.
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What the Barbet Looks Like
The Barbet is a long-tailed, substantial-headed breed that dates back centuries.
He has a striking beard and a long, dense, curly coat.
He has a very distinctive appearance, with thick hair that must completely cover him.
His coat features big, naturally occurring curls that can either be loose or tight.
His long hair also covers his ears.
His hair should never lose its curl after a bath.
All fawn, brown, black, or gray hues are available in the Barbet.
His chest or feet may be marked in white.
He can also be pied, in which case his main color is white and he has fawn, brown, black, or gray shading on top of it.
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Best Barbet Breeders
We have researched reputable Barbet breeders that you can buy a puppy.
Go to this page for our complete list of reputable Barbet breeders in various states in the United States.
On this page, you will see how much these breeders sell their puppies for, and how many puppies they have available.
A few of these breeders are listed below.
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Prismatic
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
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Indian Creek Barbets
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
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Millbrook Barbet
Puppy Price: $3,000
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Bluebonnet barbet
Puppy Price: Check with breeder
What Colors do Barbets Have?
Barbets come in the following beautiful primary colors:
Barbets come in the following lovely secondary colors in addition to their primary colors:
How Long Barbets Live
The lifespan of the Barbet is typically from 13 to 15 years.
Barbets live long if they eat well, drink well, exercise well, and visit the veterinarian regularly.
How Fast Barbets Can Run
How fast a dog breed can run is a good measure of how athletic the dog breed is.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) regularly conducts dog running competitions. The AKC records the running speed of competing dogs in these competitions. These competitions are open to all dog breeds.
Based on our analysis of the speeds of 24 different Barbets, the average speed of the Barbet is 21.8 mph (35.1 kmph).
The fastest speed on AKC record that the Barbet ran in a race is 26.93 mph (43.3 kmph) and the minimum speed on record in a race for a Barbet is 14.76 mph (23.8 kmph).
Click here to see how the speed of the Barbet compares to the speed of other dogs and other mammals such as cats, horses, humans, etc.
How Popular are Barbets with New Dog Owners?
Every year, the American Kennel Club (AKC) publishes information on how popular a dog breed is in that particular year. The AKC gets the popularity information of a breed from how many dogs of that breed the owners register with the AKC every year. The AKC collects this data for about 200 dog breeds.
The graph below shows the popularity trend of the Barbet.
The popularity of the Barbet averaged over the years is Number 146 out of about 200 dog breeds.
Do not get a dog breed just because it is a popular dog breed. And do not reject a dog breed just because it is an unpopular breed.
Health Problems in Barbets and How to Prevent Them
Every dog breed has its own set of health problems that it tends to develop. There is nothing like a perfect dog breed.
The Barbet is prone to certain genetic health conditions. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) is an organization that keeps track of genetic health problems in dog breeds.
From the extensive records that the OFA keeps, the OFA knows what health problems each dog breed is naturally prone to develop.
Hence, the OFA recommends which health screening breeders should perform on a dog breed to make sure that the breeders won`t breed `defective` dog parents that can pass down defective genes to their puppy offspring.
If you want a Barbet puppy that will grow up to be healthy, make sure that your Barbet breeder screens your puppy or your puppy`s parents for the health problems that the OFA recommends for your puppy`s breed. This will increase the chances that your puppy is free from genetic defects.
The following are the health tests that Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) recommends that breeders should screen Barbets for:
- AKC or UKC DNA Profile
- Elbow Dysplasia
- Eye Examination- minimum age 12 months, recommend CAER eye exam prior to onset of breeding and then periodically thereafter
- Hip Dysplasia
- Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) DNA Test
You can find out more about OFA`s recommended tests for Barbets here.
Dog Breeds That Are Similar to Barbets
If you have not made up your mind on which dog breed to get, you may also want to consider some other dogs similar to the Barbet.
We crunched the numbers and found that the following dog breeds that have similar behavior and temperament as the Barbet:
- Lakeland Terrier (80 percent match with Barbet). Learn more about the Lakeland Terrier here.
- Polish Lowland Sheepdog (83 percent match with Barbet). Learn more about the Polish Lowland Sheepdog here.
- Tibetan Terrier (79 percent match with Barbet). Learn more about the Tibetan Terrier here.
Other Things to Know About Barbets
Here are some of the very important characteristics of the Barbet that you need to know about the Barbet breed:
