Barbet (dog)

It is the ancestor of the Poodle and many other dogs, such as Griffons for example. The history of the Barbet is often confused with that of the Poodle while the Barbet breed only appeared around the 1860s in France as a rustic dog, which was then a farm dog and not a dog selected as the Poodle has been. Favorite dog of Napoleon I's grenadiers and mythical dog that Goethe chose to embody the promise of absolute knowledge and the power of seduction, the black Barbet is the form the devil takes to present himself to Faust. Médor (dog) is believed to be a Barbet.

Originally, this dog was used as a hunting dog in marshes (it has webbed feet), but it is now mainly used as a companion dog. A calm dog indoors, it likes to spend energy outdoors. It is a sporting dog that will appreciate accompanying its master on walks, bike rides or horse riding and will be eager for an agility course... It is very sociable and needs the presence of its master.

It can be of several colors, but the main one has been for many years black and white or black speckled with white. Increasingly, brown Barbets are encountered, or brown speckled white, or fawn, but they are rarer. The Barbet does not shed its hair. Its coat is curly, which can form locks. The long woolly curly coat of the Barbet is the essential characteristic of the breed. The Barbet's size varies from 52 to 61 cm at the shoulder for a female and from 57 to 65 cm at the shoulder for a male (FCI Standard 2006). The Barbet is also used as a guide dog for the blind. The Barbet can be used as a truffle dog. However, it is an outstanding swimmer and loves water. A female Barbet is called "Barbette", a male puppy "Barbichon", a female puppy "Barbichonne", a Barbet breeder "Barbetier". It is one of the only breeds to present this particularity. It is also the only French breed of group 8. It is also found in expressions: "muddy as a Barbet", "soaked as a Barbet" or of a man who always follows another "follow like a Barbet". These expressions are notably taken up in dictionaries of proverbs. Barbet, from "beard" was for a long time a generic term used for all long-haired dogs that have a beard, whatever its size which can vary from a Griffon, toy poodle, a Bichon to a Standard Poodle. This breed is found in the book by Hector Malot, Without Family: the dog Zerbino.

The Barbet according to the texture and length of its coat. Its coat can be trimmed with scissors approximately every two or three months to maintain a reasonable length. It can also be clipped, one or two times a year. Its coat tends to mat and get tangled a bit like wool. Due to its woolly coat the Barbet sheds very little and does not lose its hair.