In recent years the popularity of the French Bulldog has, quite literally, exploded out of control. In 2015, the cost of a registered French Bulldog puppy was between $5,000 - $6,000, now it’s down to $3,000 - $4,000. As the popularity of the French Bulldog has grown, suddenly everyone has wanted to get in on the “money train”. The unscrupulous began getting hold of whatever unsterilized dogs and bitches they could and breeding with them. With absolutely no regard to the quality of the animals, whether they could breath, whether they required corrective surgery for various faults, whether they even looked anything like a French Bulldog should look. So long as they could sell the puppies, they were happy. This has done nothing to help the French Bulldog as a breed, and their overall health has plummeted. The average lifespan of a French Bulldog is now only 3 years… due to all the unhealthy, badly bred puppies that are being euthanised before they’re 1 year old. I’ve seen Frenchie pups (registered ones at that), selling for as little as $1,500… French Bulldogs are starting to show up in rescue shelters and pounds all across the country. Something unheard of ten years ago. For these reasons, and so many others, it’s so very important for everyone to research their breeder. Ensure they are registered with an actual pedigree dog registry (ANKC or MDBA seem the most popular), and not just with their local shire as a “registered breeder”. Check they are doing all the testing necessary to produce pups of health and soundness. Go and meet the breeder, see for yourself that the adult dogs are fit, healthy, good looking, can breathe, and are kept in clean and appropriate conditions.

When it comes to French Bulldog breeders it’s not so much a question of whether your breeder is registered or not. It seems that every Tom, Dick and Harry is a registered breeder these days… It’s more a question of whether your breeder is ethical, experienced, and do they know what they’re doing with the French Bulldog? At the minimum you would want to see DNA testing results and spine scoring for both parents of any litter. This is not a simple dog to breed. Being both miniature and brachycephalic, there are so many things that can go wrong, and it’s the buyer who’s left paying the bills or putting their puppy to sleep.

Every potential buyer should be able to meet the parents, see where the puppies have been raised, see where the parents live. This has always been the standard among registered breeders for time immemorial… yet lately this is changing among some French Bulldog breeders. They claim that their home is their private space and not open to the “general public” (i.e. puppy buyers), or that they don’t want potential thieves knowing where their dogs are kept so they won’t allow anyone to know their address. As a puppy buyer, I would be very suspicious about any of those claims. People NEED to see where the pups have been raised, to be reassured it’s not in some disease ridden hovel of a puppy farm. Opening your home to the public is part of the package when you become a dog breeder, but some of the new Frenchie breeders don’t seem to understand that.

Every one of us wants to “bag a bargain” in life, but when buying a puppy this is certainly one time that the old adage “you get what you pay for” applies. There is very often a good reason why some French Bulldog puppies are a lot cheaper than others. Be cautious about those breeders selling for $2,000 or less. And be doubly cautious about buying cheap pups online, interstate or overseas. Overseas puppies CANNOT simply fly into Australia… it’s AT LEAST a 6 month process, often much longer than that. And it costs… tens of thousands of dollars… and that’s even when you’re lucky enough to get a real puppy and not an imaginary one. Scammers are flocking to the internet, especially for Frenchies, and placing adverts for non-existent puppies. These frauds are difficult to trace and even harder to prosecute, as they often originate overseas where the laws are different or non-existent when it comes to internet fraud. Puppy farmers are also using the internet as a great platform for selling their puppies interstate, knowing people can’t come to their home to see the puppies or the conditions they were raised in. With the volume of French Bulldog puppies being bred all around the country, there’s no reason why anyone can’t find a good registered breeder near them; where they can meet the puppies. A breeder they can go to if they have issues, someone they can call upon for advice and assistance with that puppy for years to come. Often these ethically bred pups will be more expensive than the cheapest options online, but in this instance you want quality, not a bargain.