How a Frenchie parent created a successful Frenchie website?

Anyone who owns a Frenchie can probably say that their fur baby changed their life forever. They just radiate a positive energy that turns their parent’s world upside down, which may be a bit hard to explain to someone who hasn’t experienced what it is like having one of these goofballs around. They can inspire us in so many different ways; some of us may become more social and connect with more people, some of us may become healthier and go out more, some of us may even take the courage to start our own business. In this article, we share the story of Kyle who embraced having a Frenchie in his life in order to help other parents by sharing his experiences.

Kyle Battis’ life completely changed when his Frenchie boy Augie came into his life about three years ago. He inspired him to start a successful website called Frenchie Journey, on which he shares tons of great advice for Frenchie parents to help them raise their fur babies and give them the best life possible.

When we first read his blog, it immediately became clear that we share the same values and goals, which is to provide relevant and reliable information for anyone raising or thinking about getting a Frenchie and to spread the joy of having one of these special dogs around.

He started like any of us: a responsible Frenchie parent who spent countless hours researching the breed, but he didn’t stop at keeping all that information to himself. He decided to share everything he’s found along the way in order to help others facing the same questions that he did and still does today.

It’s safe to say that having Augie by his side has not only improved his life but continues to do so for all those people and their Frenchies who turn to him for advice. In an attempt to get to know more about his fantastic journey and love for French Bulldogs, we asked him to do a Zoom interview with us which he happily agreed to.

“My family and I started the website together three years ago when we got our French Bulldog to document our adventure with him. We wanted to share what we found along the way and chronicle our journey. It’s a side project for us, something we do as a family, but it’s grown: we are getting questions from Frenchie owners, people thinking about getting a French Bulldog, so it’s always nice to connect with other bulldog lovers and help them out.”

It didn’t take long until Kyle’s office companion, Augie turned up to introduce himself as well. Being the star of the show, we were eager to find out more about this amazing little guy without whom the website wouldn’t exist.

“Augie is a typical crazy French bulldog. He just had his third birthday the other day, we threw him a little doggy birthday party, got him some new toys and treated him to a good day. He’s fun, energetic, he goes to doggy daycare three times a week to play with his doggy friends. He’s probably the smallest dog out of the whole bunch, but he’s typically the one telling the other dogs what to do, he thinks he’s in charge and bigger than all of them. That says a lot about his personality. He’s a funny little guy, we love him.”

Before getting Augie, Kyle had an English Bulldog called Noble who had been his loyal companion for 13 years. He admitted that she was his first dog that he really loved and that it was very hard to say goodbye to her.

“After she passed away, it was hard on everybody in the family. For 13 years she’d been by my side, so I’d felt very empty when she was not there and we didn’t have a dog. It took us about six months until we decided we are finally ready for a new pet. We started talking as a family what kind of a dog we want to get. Another English Bulldog? Something different? I don’t know how the kids came up with the French Bulldog, but they unanimously decided to get a Frenchie.”

When we asked Kyle how his life changed since Augie joined his family, he just smiled and immediately took out his phone to show us a picture of baby Augie.

“When we first got Augie, he was just a little peanut of a dog, he would sit in my chair nestled up against me. He was so tiny he could fit, now he can’t fit any more. He’s just a constant companion, a constant goofball that makes us smile and laugh all day.”

His statement probably sounds very familiar to anyone having a Frenchie. At this point, we were really curious to hear how Augie inspired him and his family to start a website together, which he was eager to talk about.

He revealed that in the initial phase when they needed to buy things for their puppy, they started sharing what accessories they found to work well, where they got it and why they chose what they chose. “I’m not saying that what we buy is what others should buy. I’m just sharing what we found and a lot of people have found that to be helpful.”

When you are a Frenchie parent, you will likely run into issues with your puppy at some point, which hasn’t been any different with Augie either. In cases like these, it’s always reassuring to know that someone else has gone through the same and can give relevant advice, which is exactly what Kyle does. After posting how they’ve overcome a certain health issue with Augie, he often has people reaching out to him saying that their dog has something similar.

“We don’t ever position ourselves like the experts that know everything, I’m just sharing with others what we’ve found along the way. One of the most frustrating things is when we tried to find answers but we didn’t, so we just started writing down what we found. Right now, he’s got a right front paw that he’s been licking so I’ll be probably writing an article about why dogs lick their feet.”

The fact that Kyle’s website has become so popular over the past three years clearly shows that French Bulldogs are a breed that lots of people want to know and hear about. According to the AKC, Frenchies are currently ranked second on the list of the most popular dog breeds, for which we tried to find the reason in this article. We know this very well: every day we see pictures and read posts from our Frenchie parents in the TomKings Frenchie Family Facebook group saying that their fur babies had a huge impact on their lives and they instantly fell in love with them. What does Kyle think about what makes Frenchies so special?

“Frenchies are just completely different little creatures, they are absolutely crazy sometimes. Augie often gets the “zoomies” after bath time and just starts sprinting around everywhere like a crazy man. It’s hilarious to watch! They can be crazy but they can also be so loving, so sweet as well. He loves to snuggle, but he loves to have fun and play too. They’re just full of personality, the big personality is probably the biggest thing about Frenchies.”

“When you’re walking down the street with your Frenchie, people are like: Can I touch your dog? Can I say hi to your dog? They’re just so cute, they’re so distinct looking, they’re so nice. Seeing somebody’s face crack a smile because they see my goofy little dog… it just brightens their day. He does that for us every single day, and it’s just amazing.”

At the end of our conversation, there was one more thing we wanted to hear Kyle’s opinion about: are Frenchies for everyone? What he said was very close to what we shared not too long ago in our blogpost.

“It’s a question that people need to investigate a lot more than they typically do. I don’t think Frenchies are for everybody, there are some reasons why someone should not buy a Frenchie. They are amazing companion dogs, but they need to be with you. If you’re not gonna be around your dog, if you’re gonna leave your dog unattended for an extended period of time, I don’t think that’s a great idea.”

“If you’re just looking at the front-end investment of what it costs to get a Frenchie, you’re probably missing 80% of the whole cost of owning one. I think the most expensive mistake that people make is when they try to save a buck and they buy a 500–1000-dollar Frenchie from somebody that is not doing good breeding practices.”

“You just got to know what you’re getting into. If you’re gonna bring a Frenchie in your life, you need to be there for it for their whole life, the good and the bad, the ups and downs. Having pet insurance is a necessity, so that you can take care of them when something goes bad. If you do your homework and you’re willing to do the work and make the investment, you’ll be super happy with your decision. They’re an amazing breed.”

If you can’t get enough of Frenchies, feel free to join our TomKings Frenchie Family Facebook group for your daily Frenchie dose! You can also check out our available French Bulldog puppies here.