Flat Coated Retriever Breeders UK: Advertise Your Kennel Free

Advertise your Flat Coated Retriever puppies, litters and stud dogs

Do you breed Flat Coated Retrievers? Add your kennel to caninebreeder.co.uk so that buyers searching for Flat Coated Retriever puppies for sale can find you by breed and location. Your basic listing shows your kennel or company name, website, social media, location and categories. When a litter is planned you can advertise Flat Coated Retriever puppies for sale, and you can list a Flat Coated Retriever stud dog with his eye, gonioscopy, hip and elbow results so other breeders can judge the match. Add your kennel.

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Is it free to advertise here?

Yes. A breeder profile and your litter and stud dog adverts are free. Premium profiles, featured placement and sponsored articles are optional paid extras; see pricing.

Do I need a licence to advertise puppies?

In England you need a dog breeding licence from your council if you breed three or more litters in 12 months or breed and sell dogs as a business, and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes. Licensed breeders show their licence number and issuing council on every advert. Puppies must be at least eight weeks old before they go to new homes.

Is my listing already here?

We add licensed breeders from councils' public registers. Search for your kennel name; if it is listed you can claim it and edit everything.

About the Flat Coated Retriever

The Flat Coated Retriever is a British gundog bred to retrieve shot game, and it belongs to the RKC Gundog group. It was once known as the Wavy Coated Retriever, and The Royal Kennel Club (RKC) says its racier build is thought to come from setter ancestry mixed with spaniel and retriever blood. The breed rose to prominence on large shooting estates in the late 1800s, helped by Sewallis Evelyn Shirley, who founded The Kennel Club, chaired it from 1873 to 1899 and worked to settle the breed's type. Early breeders kept black puppies, and liver was later established as a second colour. The Labrador has since overtaken the Flat Coat as the more popular working retriever.

Size and build

The breed standard describes a bright, active dog with an intelligent expression that should look powerful yet light on its feet, never heavy or weedy. Dogs are 58–61 cm tall and bitches 56–58 cm. In hard condition, dogs weigh roughly 27–36 kg and bitches 25–32 kg. The standard calls this a dog of medium size, while the RKC's breed information places it in the large size category.

Coat, colour and grooming

The dense coat has a fine to medium texture and should lie as flat as possible, with well-feathered legs and tail. The standard accepts only black or liver. Yellow puppies are sometimes born, but the RKC lists yellow as a non-standard colour. The breed sheds, and the RKC suggests grooming more than once a week; the feathering is the part most likely to collect mud and tangles after walks.

Exercise

The RKC recommends more than two hours of exercise a day for an adult and suggests a large house with a large garden, in town or country. Retrieving games, gundog training and working tests give the breed an outlet for its natural gundog ability.

Temperament and suitability

The standard asks for a confident, kindly dog whose friendliness and optimism show in an enthusiastic tail. It suits owners who enjoy regular training and plenty of time outdoors. The RKC gives a typical lifespan of under 10 years, and in the cause-of-death register kept by the Flatcoated Retriever Society, tumours or cancer account for about two-thirds of recorded deaths. Anyone considering the breed should weigh that alongside its qualities and ask breeders how long the dogs in their lines have lived.

Flat Coated Retriever health tests

The RKC places the Flat Coated Retriever in Breed Watch Category 1, which means no breed-specific points of concern are currently flagged for show judges. Its breed page sets out screening before breeding in two tiers. As good practice, breeding dogs should have an eye examination under the BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme, including gonioscopy for pectinate ligament abnormality (PLA). Gonioscopy assesses the eye's drainage angle; since January 2026 results have been given on a three-grade scale, and the BVA notes that grade 3 dogs are at risk of glaucoma. As best practice, the RKC adds hip screening under the BVA/KC Hip Dysplasia Scheme and elbow screening under the BVA/KC Elbow Dysplasia Scheme. The RKC does not currently offer a breed-specific DNA testing package for the Flat Coat.

The Flatcoated Retriever Society's health pages cover conditions including hip and elbow dysplasia, patellar luxation, cardiomyopathy, bloat, epilepsy and eye disease. Cancer remains the main cause of death the society records: its March 2026 cause-of-death report attributed 203 of 299 entries (68%) to tumours or cancer, with histiocytic sarcoma the type most often named. The society has funded histiocytic sarcoma research and, on its reporting and testing page, asks owners to report health problems and register deaths.

Eye examination, including gonioscopy for PLA: BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme (RKC good practice)
Hip dysplasia: BVA/KC Hip Dysplasia Scheme (RKC best practice)
Elbow dysplasia: BVA/KC Elbow Dysplasia Scheme (RKC best practice)
Breed Watch: Category 1

Choosing a Flat Coated Retriever breeder

A careful Flat Coated Retriever breeder will have had both parents' eyes examined, including gonioscopy, and should be able to show hip and elbow results as well. You can check any RKC-registered dog's results on the RKC Health Test Results Finder. The Flatcoated Retriever Society's litter page makes a useful benchmark: it only takes adverts where both parents have hip results, an eye certificate issued within 12 months of the mating and gonioscopy within 36 months, with elbow scoring treated as best practice rather than a requirement. Because cancer is the main recorded cause of death in the breed, a knowledgeable breeder should talk openly about the ages the dogs in their lines have reached. Expect to see the mother with her puppies, to be asked about your home and routine, and to receive RKC registration, a diet sheet and ongoing support. In England, anyone who breeds three or more litters in 12 months and sells any of the puppies, or who runs a business breeding and advertising dogs for sale, needs a licence from the local council.

Can I see both parents' eye certificates and gonioscopy results?
What are the parents' hip scores and elbow grades?
How old were the dogs in this line when they died, and what did they die of?
What is the predicted coefficient of inbreeding (COI) for this litter?
Do you work, show or trial your dogs, and what does that mean for a pet puppy?

Flat Coated Retriever questions

How long do Flat Coated Retrievers live?

The RKC gives the breed a typical lifespan of under 10 years. In the Flatcoated Retriever Society's cause-of-death register, tumours or cancer account for about two-thirds of recorded deaths, so it is worth asking a breeder how long the dogs in their lines have lived.

What colours do Flat Coated Retrievers come in?

The breed standard accepts black or liver only. Yellow puppies are sometimes born, but the RKC lists yellow as a non-standard colour.

How much exercise does a Flat Coated Retriever need?

The RKC recommends more than two hours a day for an adult and suggests a large house and garden, in town or country. Retrieving games and gundog training suit its working background.

What health tests should Flat Coated Retriever parents have?

The RKC lists an eye examination under the BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme, including gonioscopy for PLA, as good practice, and hip and elbow screening under the BVA/KC schemes as best practice. Results for registered dogs can be checked on the RKC Health Test Results Finder.

Flat Coated Retriever breeders