French Bulldog breeding – what it really looks like

Now, being a French Bulldog breeder and spending time with these wonderful creatures is truly a blessing, but reproducing them successfully can also be a “curse”. And here is why… They are a breed that is made artificially. With other breeds, the male normally humps the female a few times and months later you have a whole bunch of babies. Things are a lot more complicated with Frenchies. They are small, have small legs and hips and therefore can’t get pregnant or give birth to puppies naturally. They need to be artificially inseminated and delivered through a cesarean section. You probably guess this means a lot of special care, a lot of risk and blood, health and hormone issues, many visits to the vet, a lot or stress and money… And, they have small liters. French Bulldog female normally gives birth to three or four puppies. Sometimes it can be just one or two puppies per litter and it is rarely more then 4. It’s a lot of hard work. If you don’t believe me, try breeding and raising them yourself or simply ask other breeders.

It is not just the money and hard work, it also takes a lot of thinking! Being a French Bulldog breeder takes a lot of knowledge, learning, researching, consulting experts (and not all of them do it for free) and exchanging experience with other breeders. Maintaining the quality of the breed is ethical imperative when breeding French Bulldogs! It is not enough just to find your dog a “friend” of the opposite sex. It has to be a healthy representative of the breed that satisfies certain standards, has reputable origin and proper papers that prove it.

Since you can’t always relay on the assumption that the breeders you are cooperating with are honest and trustworthy, you have to do the research of breeding dogs yourself. You have to make sure that the ancestors of your dog satisfy certain standards. Inbreeding is something that is absolutely unethical and should be avoided at any cause. Also, all dogs can generally be classified under pet or show quality. These two should not be breed together. True breeder have the ethical obligation to better the breed and maintain the quality. Means that I will never breed dogs that have suspicious origin or obvious health problems. Still, that puppy might be a good pet for someone, but to ensure nobody else reproduces them and pass on their health issues on the offspring, they should be spayed or neutered. It may sound a bit cruel, but it is in best interest of the breed.