The barbet is a breed of dog; it is
a medium-sized French water dog. It is listed in Group 8 (retrievers, flushing
dogs, water dogs) by the Société Centrale Canine, the French Kennel Club.The
breed name "barbet" comes from the French word barbe, which means
beard.
Description
The
barbet is a rare breed. Most barbets, especially those shown in conformation
shows, are entirely black, black and white, or brown. It is common to see white
chest spots and white paws or legs on black or brown coated dogs. Parti, creme,
and pied variations are being born but in very limited numbers.
Male
barbets usually grow to be about 21 to 25 in (53 to 64 cm) tall and between 40
and 60 lb (18 and 27 kg), while females usually reach about 20 to 23 in (51 to
58 cm) and 30 to 50 lb (14 to 23 kg).
Appearance
The
breed stands 58–65 cm (23–26 in) for the males, 48.26–61 cm (19.00–24.02 in)
for females with a tolerance of 1 cm +/- 1 cm (0.39 in), and weighs 17–28 kg
(37–62 lb). The barbet is a prototypic water dog, with a long, woolly, and
curly coat.
Their
coats grow long and must be groomed regularly, otherwise the coat can become
matted and the barbet may lose small tufts of hair like tumbleweeds.
The
accepted colours of the breed are solid black, brown, fawn, grey, pale fawn,
white, or more or less pied. All shades of red-fawn and pale fawn are
permitted. The shade should, preferably, be the same as the colour of the body.
Grey and white are extremely rare; mixed colours (except with white) are
considered a fault. The most common colors are black or brown with white
markings. The birth figures worldwide for 2007 are 176. All born were black or
brown some with white markings on the chest, chin, and legs.
Temperament
The
barbet’s personality is described as friendly, joyful, obedient, and
intelligent. They are quick to learn and need lifelong obedience training. They
are a great with children, families, and the elderly. Barbets will bond with
their family and prefer to be in the same room with the family at all times.
They need exercise daily to keep the dog in a healthy state of mind and body.
They
are capable retrievers for waterfowl hunting. In France, the barbet can take
the Test d'Aptitudes Naturelles (T.A.N.), a basic water retrieving test, and
has recently been permitted to participate in the BCE (Brevet de Chasse a
l'Eau), a general hunting test involving field and water trials. In Germany,
the barbet takes part in field trials.
Genetic diseases
Barbets
are vulnerable to certain genetic defects. Due to the limited gene pool for
this breed, conscientious breeders carefully study pedigrees and select dogs to
minimize the chance of genetic diseases. Unfortunately, like many breeds, a
growing popularity has encouraged breeding by people who are not knowledgeable
about the breed. Of the few health issues that have exhibited themselves;
epilepsy, hernias, hip dysplasia and entropion, most problems can be traced
back 4-6 generations. Often this was due to limited breeding stock as well as
the fact that many matings were with dogs of unknown medical history.
Overall Health
Due
to the extremely low number of barbets in the world, little is known about long
term health issues. Some issues that have exhibited themselves are ear
infections, hip dysplasia, hernias, undescended testicles, undershot/overshot
bites, and epilepsy. However, a study has just begun in France about health issues
in the barbet as several breeds have recently "contributed" to the
Barbet. Most breeders today hipscore the parents before any matings and A, B,
and C hipscores can be used.
The
most common of these issues are ear infections, a problem in most water dog
varieties. Ear problems can be minimized by proper ear care. A veterinarian
should be consulted if the dog shows signs of an ear infection. The ear should
always be clear of any hair, and inspected very regularly.
Hip dysplasia
Like
poodles, barbets are vulnerable to hip dysplasia. However, the risk of a barbet
developing hip dysplasia can be greatly reduced by thoroughly checking the
pedigrees and health clearances in both the sire and dam of your dog.
Lifespan
Lifespan
of the barbet averages 13–15 years with one recorded living until 19 years of age.
Status in the United States
There
are very few barbets in the United States. Estimated barbet numbers living in
America as of 2013 are somewhere between 150-200. Steps are being taken to
slowly and responsibly increase the barbet population in the States, through
careful breeding and imports from Canada and Europe.
Currently,
barbets may be fully registered in the United States with ARBA or the UKC, and
there has been a recent acceptance in the AKC Foundation Stock Service
Program. According to the AKC, to get full recognition there needs to be at
least 150 Barbets registered with the AKC's Foundation Stock Service to apply
for full recognition.
Additionally,
there needs to be an active Barbet Club promoting the breed through meet the
breeds, fun matches, rally, obedience, hunting, and showing active membership
as well as interest in the breed. It is crucial every barbet imported or born
in America be registered with the AKC FSS for the breed to survive in America.
In 2009, there was one litter of 6. In 2011 there were two barbet litters: 5
brown puppies born in April, and 11 puppies (5 brown, 6 black) born on
Thanksgiving. In 2012 there were two litters born in America. In 2013 there
were 3 litters born in the States.
Status in Great Britain (UK)
In
modern times, the first barbet, a male, was brought into the UK in 2001
although he did not reproduce. In 2007 two unrelated females were brought in
from France, having completed their period of quarantine and the majority of
barbets currently in the UK are descendants of these. Since then, further
examples of the breed have been imported from France, Holland, Canada and
Poland. Several UK-born barbets have been used in the breeding programmes of
other countries and their offspring can be found in Holland, Switzerland,
Germany, Sweden, Finland and Canada.
As
of 2014, the barbet is not a breed recognized by The Kennel Club, so barbets
born in the UK are registered in France (the country of origin) by the Société
Centrale Canine which is a full F.C.I. member. There are on average only one or
two litters born per year in the UK. As of 2015 there are approximately 70
barbets living in the UK.
The
majority of barbets in the UK are kept as pets, although a small number are
used regularly as gun dogs; they can also take part in `Conformation Shows` in
F.C.I. member countries with two achieving French Champion status in 2014.
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