Curly Coated Retriever

About the breed

The Curly Coated Retriever is the tallest of the retrievers in the FCI standards: the ideal height at the withers is 69 cm for dogs and 64 cm for bitches, and the coat is a thick mass of small, tight, crisp curls without undercoat, black or liver in colour. The FCI places it in Group 8, Section 1 (retrievers), with working trial, and gives Great Britain as its country of origin.

It is an independent, sometimes aloof and slowly maturing working dog. It can suit family life, but conditionally: the UK Kennel Club (KC, now the Royal Kennel Club) lists more than two hours of exercise a day, and it needs patient training.

Origins: what is known and what is not

The breed’s ancestry cannot be reliably documented. The UK Curly Coated Retriever Club writes that it is unknown, because in the early days various working dogs were crossed for retrieving. The KC says the curly coat is credited to the extinct English Water Spaniel, with Poodle blood added for the tightness of curl; that it is the oldest of the retrievers is given only as a claim (“it has been claimed”).

It was first shown in 1860, and four years later shows had separate classes for wavy and curly coats. According to the club, the wars and the arrival of the Labrador cut its numbers: registrations fell to 5 in 1919, against a record 168 in 1994. The same source says the breed has been bred pure since the early 1900s.

Size and appearance under the FCI standard

The FCI standard gives an ideal height at the withers of 69 cm for dogs and 64 cm for bitches, and no weight. The AKC (which spells the name Curly-Coated Retriever) gives 25–27 inches for males and 23–25 for females (roughly 64–69 and 58–64 cm) and a weight of 60–95 pounds, about 27–43 kg; the Finnish retriever association mentions males that may weigh almost 50 kg, so weight is only an approximate range. Only black and liver are allowed.

Curls without undercoat: shedding and allergies

A Curly Coated Retriever does shed, but it often goes unnoticed. The FCI standard describes the body coat as a thick mass of small tight curls lying close to the skin, without undercoat or bare patches, with smooth hair elsewhere. The UK club explains that dead hair is trapped in the curls, so the dog seems not to lose coat until you massage it out; shedding is put at once or twice a year, some dogs losing little and others moulting almost completely. The KC lists the breed as one that sheds.

No undercoat does not make the dog suitable for allergy sufferers. A 2012 Dutch study, which did not include the Curly Coated Retriever, found no evidence for classifying any breed as “hypoallergenic”, and differences between breeds were small compared with differences within a breed.

Coat care: water, fingers and scissors

The curly coat is cared for with water and fingers, not a brush. An article by H. Warendorf on the UK club’s website advises wetting the dog, massaging the coat to the skin with fingertips and rinsing out the dead hair; a comb is useful only at the peak of a moult, after shampooing, and the dog should not be blow-dried because that ruins the curls. The Slovenian Retriever Club likewise says brush and comb are not used, and names regular swimming as the best care.

The KC puts grooming at “more than once a week”. The coat also needs trimming: pieces on the club’s site recommend shortening stray hair on the ears, tail and backs of the legs, and one breeder writes that a correct coat needs only a light trim about once a month. In some dogs the adult coat takes two to four years to form.

A working retriever, not just a family dog

The Curly is first of all a shooting retriever: the FCI gives its utilisation as retriever and lists it among the breeds with working trial. The KC says the curly coat was meant for retrieving ducks from water. In Slovenia the Slovenian Kennel Club (KZS) requires a natural-abilities test (PNZ) or another retriever working test for a breeding permit.

Temperament: independent, reserved, slow to mature

The FCI standard describes the Curly as intelligent, steady and reliable, bold, friendly, self-confident and independent, and it may seem aloof. The AKC standard adds that it is often less demonstrative towards strangers than other retrievers and that its independence should not be mistaken for shyness. The UK club says the breed is slow to mature, and the Slovenian Retriever Club puts maturity at around the age of three.

Training: games rather than dull repetition

A Curly can be trained well if training respects its independence. The UK club calls it intelligent and easily trained but with a streak of independence; because it bores quickly, training should be presented as a game, and early socialisation is “a must” in the club’s words. The Slovenian Retriever Club adds that working with it takes a great deal of time, patience and persistence because it is very headstrong.

Family, children and other dogs: conditional

As a family dog the Curly is suitable on conditions, not automatically. The UK club says most Curlies are very good with children, but children must be supervised and taught how to treat a dog. For living with other dogs and pets we found no breed-specific sources; the individual dog’s temperament and the way animals are introduced decide.

Flat or house with a garden, and how much exercise

The KC lists more than two hours of exercise a day, a large house and a large garden, and sees the breed in town or country. Flat living is therefore not excluded but conditional: the dog needs long walks, swimming or scent and retrieving work, not just a short loop round the block. The Slovenian Retriever Club warns that it is not suited to kennel life because it needs contact with its family.

Health: what the clubs report

The UK club rates the breed as relatively healthy, with cancer the leading cause of death by disease: various tumours are recorded, none standing out. On hips and elbows the UK KC strongly recommends the tests as a minimum before breeding because, in its words, evidence indicates these conditions are “a significant concern in the breed”. In the 2004 KC/BSAVA survey (40 deaths, its authors warn of a low response rate) cancer caused 12 of the deaths. The club was also told of problems that are not exclusive to the breed: gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV), epilepsy and allergies, and, from owners’ experience, entropion, cataract and hair loss, for which there are no tests for parents; the American club adds craniomandibular osteopathy (CMO) and immune-mediated disease.

GDV is an emergency: the club stresses that a dog with suspected bloat needs a vet at once. An online owner survey (2021–22; 77 participants, dogs entered from 11 countries; by Dr K. Swarztauber, supported by the American club) estimated that 35 of 509 dogs (7%) had bloated, of which 12 died; its authors themselves warn of possible sample bias. The coat can be a problem too: a questionnaire completed by members of the Curly Coated Retriever clubs (Royal Veterinary College, 2016) recorded symmetrical hair loss or a frizzy coat in 39 of 90 dogs from Great Britain and Sweden, usually before 18 months of age; the authors say the genetic basis still needs assessing.

Tests and breeding rules: recommendations or requirements

The UK KC lists hip and elbow tests and attention to genetic diversity under “Good Practice”, and the EIC DNA test (exercise-induced collapse) under “Best Practice”; in its words, responsible breeders should complete the tests in both categories. The UK club also encourages PRA (progressive retinal atrophy) and glycogen storage disease (GSD) tests. The American club (2018 statement) recommends hip, heart and eye examinations, GSD IIIa and cord1-PRA (cone-rod dystrophy 1) tests, and an EIC test, which it calls low priority because the variant is common and clinical signs are rare.

The Slovenian KZS is stricter: its retriever breeding regulations (2024) require the EIC and cord1-PRA gene tests for the Curly, hip and elbow imaging after 12 months of age, an eye examination for cataract (report no older than 24 months) and a minimum age of 15 months for a breeding permit. A carrier or affected dog may be mated only to a genetically clear (N/N) partner; dogs with two copies of the EIC variant are not excluded from breeding until clinical signs appear, and a vet certificate that there are none must accompany the mating. The KC explained in a 2023 news item that in the Curly the EIC results are not as definitive as other tests but a measure of risk. The American club writes that elbow dysplasia is uncommon in the breed and elbow testing optional, while the UK KC lists hips and elbows among the breed’s significant concerns (see above).

How long does a Curly Coated Retriever live?

The AKC gives a life expectancy of 10–12 years, and the UK KC “over 10 years”. The only breed sample we found is the 2004 UK KC/BSAVA survey: for 40 deaths the median age at death was 10 years 9 months (range 11 months to 15 years), lower than the overall median in the same survey (11 years 3 months). For this breed 35 of 100 questionnaires were returned, and the overall response rate was 24%, so it is a small, self-selected sample and not registry data.

Curly Coated, Flat-Coated Retriever and Labrador: the differences

The Curly Coated Retriever differs from the Flat-Coated Retriever and the Labrador Retriever mainly in height and coat. The FCI ideal height at the withers is 69 cm (dogs) and 64 cm (bitches) for the Curly, 59–61.5 and 56.5–59 cm for the Flat-Coated, and 56–57 and 54–56 cm for the Labrador. The Curly’s coat is a thick mass of small curls without undercoat, the Flat-Coated has a dense coat as flat as possible with feathering on legs and tail, and the Labrador a short, dense coat with a weather-resistant undercoat.

What to ask a breeder

When buying a puppy, ask for both parents’ results. The UK club recommends a litter where eye testing, hip and elbow tests and the EIC test have been done, and suggests also asking about PRA and GSD IIIa tests, the coefficient of inbreeding, why the sire was chosen and how the puppies are socialised; puppies should not go to new homes before eight weeks of age. The UK club warns that puppies are scarce in Britain, because the KC lists the breed as a vulnerable native breed. In Slovenia also check whether the parents hold a KZS breeding permit; you can start looking for a breeder among the breeders on Živalce.si.

Who it suits and who less so

The Curly suits active households with time for more than two hours of exercise a day, who enjoy scent work, retrieving or swimming and can accept slow maturity and an independent streak. It suits less well owners who want a quickly obedient dog that is open to everyone, a dog left alone most of the day or kept outside in a kennel, or a guarantee on allergies. The conditions are a puppy from a litter with both parents’ results, early socialisation, coat care with water, and awareness that gastric torsion is a veterinary emergency.

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