We first discovered the Barbet in 2003, but it wasn't until 2007 that we imported the first two foundation females from France to the UK, albeit with very limited knowledge of the breed.

Betsy and Bepop came into the UK at just under a year old, due to the quarantine restrictions in place at the time. We quickly fell in love, not only with Betsy and Bepop, but also with the breed in general. The health of the breed, with a limited gene pool, has always been our main concern. Early matings required hours spent poring over pedigrees to find suitable males and consequently involved long journeys across Europe to provide a good foundation for the UK.

In 2010 we co-founded the Barbet Club of Great Britain with the idea that the club should preserve, protect and promote the interests of the Barbet in the UK. Implicit in the club's remit was the goal for the Barbet to be eventually recognised by the Kennel Club. To allow the breed to develop and become established, prior to being accepted by the Kennel Club, we arranged for Barbets living and born in the UK to be registered with the Societe Centrale Canine (French Kennel Club) to maintain the integrity of the breed.

As a testament to this effort, Betsy and Bepop contributed to the breed worldwide, not just in the UK, by consistently producing offspring with outstanding health test results, of good type, and fit for function.

In 2018, after years of hard work and several applications, the Kennel Club formally added the Barbet to the Import Register. Just a few months later, the Barbet was shown at Crufts for the first time.

As time has passed, we have taken up less prominent roles within the club as general committee members. Nowadays, we focus on taking care of our 4-strong family of Barbets at home, although we can still be found representing the Club and breed at various events and dog shows in the UK and abroad.

We continue to focus on preserving the health and integrity of the breed we originally fell in love with. We've also imported Martha, a female from Holland; Moby, a male from Poland; and shipped sperm in from a Canadian stud. The steadily growing population of Barbets in the UK are mostly descended from either Betsy or Bepop. Some have both in their background as they were relatively unrelated. Whilst, on a personal level, this is an incredible accolade, we also understand that there is a lot of work ahead to maintain, and continue to diversify, our gene-pool to keep the breed in as good a shape as it is today.