French Bulldog Breeders: how to choose?

When you make the big decision to adopt a Frenchie puppy, you’ll soon realize that finding reliable French Bulldog breeders is much harder that it first might seem. Social media and Google are full of pages offering adorable puppies, but how do you know if they’re coming from a trusted place? How can you recognize ethical breeders and avoid scammers? This guide will answer these questions and helps you find the best French Bulldog breeders.

What does “breeder” mean?

Looking at this question you might think that the answer is obvious: breeder is a person who owns a female dog and from whom you can buy a puppy. However, the reality is actually much more than that. A proper breeder is knowledgeable about the French Bulldog breed, meaning they know what the breed standard looks like and how to achieve that look, and their main goal is always to improve the breed. They know exactly what it takes to produce healthy and beautiful Frenchie puppies, they have the money, time and equipment to give the pups and the mother everything they need. Breeding French Bulldogs is definitely a full-time job.

Types of French Bulldog breeders

Ethical French Bulldog Breeders

If you’re thinking about getting a Frenchie, ethical French Bulldog breeders should be the only ones to consider if you’re looking for a healthy Frenchie for at least a decade. But who are they exactly? In short, ethical breeders prioritize the interests of the breed and the animals over business interests. Their main goal is to maintain the high quality of the breed and raise healthy and happy French Bulldog puppies. We’ll share more about the signs by which you can recognize a responsible ethical breeder later on in the article!

Puppy Farms and Unethical French Bulldog Breeders

Puppy farms or puppy mills are run by unethical breeders, also known as backyard breeders. They are the ones who saw the increasing demand for French Bulldogs as an opportunity to make money by breeding and selling these pups merely for the profit. Needless to say, most of them have no idea what it takes to breed healthy Frenchies, and what’s even sadder that the vast majority of them doesn’t even care about that! For them, profit always comes first. 

Unethical breeders offer their French Bulldogs for much less than ethical breeders, for a couple of hundred or thousand dollars. Due to the low selling prices, they can’t afford the best quality food, vet, shots and vitamins for the puppies. They keep the poor babies in tiny places where they are not even able to learn how to run! They don’t do health checks on their dogs before starting to breed them either, resulting in some serious health issues. It’s no secret that French Bulldogs are prone to several health problems like breathing difficulties, which doesn’t mean that they will be developed for certain. In fact, unethical Frenchie breeders are the reasons why the breed gained a reputation for being unhealthy. 

Needless to say, you’ll want to avoid unethical breeders at all costs for your own and your future pup’s sake. Don’t worry, by the end of the article you’ll know exactly what warning signs you need to look out for!

Scammers

French Bulldog scammers actually don’t belong to the group of breeders, but we wanted to mention them still to raise awareness. They are ill-intentioned people who trick people into buying a puppy that doesn’t exist. They use online platforms like Facebook and Instagram, and steal photos and videos of puppies from other breeders. Scammers know all the tricks to look real, they even write fake reviews about themselves! You can read our blog post on how to avoid French Bulldog scams, we’ll include some must-follow tips in this article as well.

Signs of a responsible, legitimate ethical French Bulldog breeder

1. An ethical breeder is helpful and answers all your questions

Expanding your family with a Frenchie puppy is a huge decision and it’s just natural that you have tons of questions during the selection process. You know you’re dealing with an ethical breeder if they inform you about the process in detail, answer all your questions and help you find the best match. They send you several pictures and videos of the puppy and will gladly show them to you via video call if you’re buying online.

2. An ethical breeder wants the best for their Frenchies

Ethical Frenchie breeders think of their puppies as family members so they ask questions about you to make sure the pups are joining a loving environment. They are experts of French Bulldogs and are available for help even after adoption. They can advise you on feeding and training your pup and you can turn to them even after the Frenchie is with you. 

3. An ethical breeder can provide all the necessary documentation

All ethical breeders are able to provide you with the Frenchie’s pedigree for registration with the American Kennel Club. In Europe, French Bulldogs are FCI registered which is accepted in 100 countries including the US. It can be easily transferred to the AKC, and the best breeders help you with that. They will also give you a health guarantee and provide documentation about the shots and deworming that the puppy received.

4. An ethical breeder can provide references

An ethical breeder should have no problem with giving you references from previous clients. They can even connect you with them so that you can ask about their experiences directly. Ethical breeders also have great ratings on review sites like Trustpilot or Trustindex.

5. An ethical breeder doesn’t sell cheap Frenchies

The most obvious sign of ethical French Bulldog breeders is their prices: they never offer cheap French Bulldogs! High-quality food and vitamins, vaccinations and regular check-ups are expensive but they are absolutely inevitable to breed healthy Frenchies with a strong immune system.

The exact price is affected by a number of factors, but the average price of a quality Frenchie from an ethical breeder is around 5,300 USD. Read our Ultimate French Bulldog Price list to learn everything about Frenchie prices including why they are one of the highest among all dog breeds.

Six tips to avoid puppy farms and Frenchie scammers

At this point you might ask, how do you know if you’re choosing a responsible ethical breeder and not an unethical one or even a scammer? There are several practical tips you can follow to spot ill-intentioned people, we’ll share 6 below:

1. Avoid cheap offers in the range of 1,000 – 3,000 USD and don’t fall for amazing-sounding deals. Scammers and unethical breeders often come up with false excuses to sell cheap Frenchies, like they are moving the farm and need to urgently sell the puppies.

2. Do a Google Image search with the puppy’s picture to find out if there are any duplicates or if it belongs to a stock photo database.

3. Check the reviews of the breeder and pay attention to the profiles of the reviewers in order to spot fake ones. Do they all sound the same? Do they provide photos of their pups?

4. Ask for a phone call with the breeder or what’s better a video call with the puppy. If the breeder is reluctant and always finds excuses why they can’t show you the pup, that’s a warning sign.

5. Be suspicious if the breeder is pushing you to make a decision when you’re hesitant as that means they just want to close the deal.

6. Ask plenty of questions and expect specific and helpful answers! If the breeder doesn’t reply or gives you only general information avoiding the details, be suspicious.

Five things you should ask before buying a puppy

We’ve just mentioned that asking lots of questions is one of the best ways to spot a scammer or an unethical breeder. Now we’ll share the 5 most important questions that you should ask yourself and the breeder before reserving a Frenchie puppy or other small dog breeds.

1. How does the breeder keep the puppies?

Ask all the details about how the pups spend their first weeks. You might think that doesn’t really matter as you will pamper your baby once you have them, but the first period is absolutely essential in the life of a Frenchie. If the pup is squeezed with his brothers and sisters into a small kennel, they cannot use their muscles and cannot grow as beautifully as opposed to being able to run freely. If they rarely see humans, they will be afraid of you and you’ll need a longer period to socialize them.

2. How do they talk about the pups?

It’s a very important factor, as they treat them the same way as they talk about them. Do they know the puppies by name, do they know their personalities, do they sound like they care? If they treat Frenchies like products, most probably they keep them in a kennel and think of them as products.

3. Are they ready to show you the pup via video call? 

Unethical breeders and scammers try to escape your request to show the Frenchie live because the pups are not around them. They might even show someone else’s puppies. They tell you that the pups are sleeping, or the vet is with them and offer you to send photos and videos instead. It’s absolutely fair to be able to see your pup several times before you decide to adopt him or her.

4. What do other clients say?

As with any other service you’ll want to see the experience of other clients. And unethical breeders know it! So, they will be the first ones to establish a large social media community, buy followers, and fake testimonials and reviews, and even have a few reference ‘clients’ who are happy to testify how satisfied they are.

Apart from reading testimonials, look for their clients who post about their Frenchies on their social media profile, who use their hashtag or who are in a dedicated group keeping touch with each other. For example, our potential clients get access to our closed Facebook group with the TomKings puppy parents. You can see their feedbacks there, but you can also contact them in private to find out about their experience.

5. Is the breeder ready to help after you adopted your puppy?

As the pup will be a family member, it’s very important that you can still turn to the breeder, who spent the first weeks with them and who should have long years of experience with Frenchies. Ask before buying if you can turn to them after the adoption. If they say yes, it’s the best proof of their credibility and high standards.

About TomKings Kennel

As we have mentioned at the beginning, an ethical breeder’s main goal should always be to maintain the high quality of the breed and raise healthy and happy French Bulldog puppies. This has been our mission for more than ten years now! We achieve this goal by having our own strict guidelines of:

– the selection process of the puppy parents,

– the feeding and healthcare protocols of the babies

– the space they need to play and grow healthy muscles

– the attention we give to the puppies and the puppy moms.

We believe that ethical breeding is the only way of breeding, and as we’ve all been animal lovers since we can remember, we couldn’t do it in any other way. Read how we’ve grown during the past few years and watch our documentary video to learn more about our breeding program!

Other Ethical French Bulldog Breeders in the US

FAQ

The article is based on the expert knowledge of the TomKings Puppies team who have been breeding French Bulldogs for 10 years on their farm. All the pictures in the post belong to them and their customers, and show puppies from their breed. Check their available French Bulldog puppies, or if you have any questions or comments let us know below the article.