New french bulldog puppy.

[m3jappa]

After a few years of various bad experiences of dogs (last last one had a brain tumour among other things, last one ended up venomously defending our home for our daughter and biting people ) i am ready to take on another dog.

This time it needs to be small and low maintenance, not much chance of any aggression what so ever. easy going, good with kids, doesnt need to be run for several miles a day and wants to be a nice little family pet.

I have almost begrudgingly narrowed it down to a french bulldog. I say begrudgingly because they are such a fashionable dog at the moment and i know they are being overbred and bred by many purely for money!

I will be buying one for my mum as well after she recently lost her 15/16 yr old staffie. so ideally i would like a brother and sister.

My problem is how do i buy one? i have looked online and so many breeders seem to be selling all the designer colours, i have read these aren't really the dogs to buy for health, there are also enormous price differences ranging from under 1k to over 6k! ideally id like 2 fawn puppies, even maybe brindle or pied but i like the look of fawn.

i have joined a facebook group as well but im confused, theres lots of talk of testing, on websites like pets4homes theres talk of testing but facebook vendors talk about 'silver' standard testing, infact theres seems to be so many codes i dont know wtf they all mean.

I am also worried about puppy farms. how can i ensure i am buying a good dog from someone decent? i once found a french bulldog, and via other people found the owner, i am almost certain it was from a puppy farm, the woman was a and she really wasn't bothered or grateful we found her dog, it had also been recently bred from

And yes we could rescue, but with a 2 year old all the rescues i look at seem reluctant, with most saying suitable for older kids only, i suppose they need to cover themselves. our first 2 dogs were rescues and were ok, although they weren't rescued from a dog home so to speak. Our last dog was a staff cross, possibly crossed with a ridgeback and even though he was a pup when we got him he ended up very dangerous, he took it upon himself to protect the home to the extent of wanting to kill people! no rescue centre would take him, i couldn't give him away as i thought if he was like that with us soppy owners wtf would he have been like if someone wanted him to be a weapon! i laid on the floor in the vets with him, crying my eyes out and he was pts it was a very very traumatic experience i dont ever want to repeat, i help animals not kill them

Anyone on here know about frenchies?

[m3jappa]

Well this thread hasn't filled me with confidence im really not sure what to do.

I would love and have wanted for many years a mini dashund, way before they became the latest fashion accessory. I just dont think i could get one though, can't let them jump up, can't let them jump off stuff, basically it seems back problems are a given and by all accounts they aren't generally the nicest of breeds.

I'd love another staff, I've had 3, obviously the last one didn't go well but to be fair he was definitely crossed with something. I just have some concern that while we have a nearly 3 yr old now we will have another, staffs are very very bouncy to say the least and probably not ideal with new borns. Im really not sure what to do

A lot of the breeds which are recommended for people with kids are actually large breeds, this is a shame as without sounding mean or nasty i really dont want some massive great dog jumping all over me when i get home, bounding over the sofas and doing human sized poo all over the garden

Had the last dog not turned devil dog i wouldn't be so worried, im the first to say owner not breed however this dog was treated like a baby (maybe part of the problem) he was never shown aggression, he just wanted to protect our daughter and he became a liability, there was more chance of me winning the lottery than him hurting her, i do believe though he would have hurt a child had they knocked on the door and he got to them first, hence the tough decision we had to make

[m3jappa]

Well after much mind changing i think we will be getting a frenchie.

I have struggled to find one which is a standard colour which has parents which have been health tested though tbh.

I have now found a girl puppy, the parents are silver and gold tested. Both scored 1 on the boas grading. Now that sounds good but after a quick google its clear that 0 is best. Would it be a bad idea if the score is 1?

So so many of these are for sale with the main selling point being colour and likely colours they will produce...... very sad really

I would just like a family pet which has a low chance of developing regular vet visits.

[m3jappa]

bexVN said:

I am so so confused by your post tbh. You feel sorry for all these pups being bred but you will be adding to that problem by buying one.

You want a dog that you hope will be lo vet risk yet even with all the cautionary advice you still want to go for a Frenchie.

You want boas that is as risk free as poss (still not 100% guarantee though) which is 0 but still prepared to go for a scored one.

At least you are researching and that is a good thing because as you have found there is a phenomonal amount of backyard breeders.

Good luck with everything I obviously hope you get a healthy pup that needs few vet visits, we all want that but for some breeds that seems to not happen but yeah, I am really confused!

Im not sure why your so confused, id like a dog which is healthy, I'm aware of the problems dogs like these can have and id like to avoid that, i didn't say i was prepared to buy her i was asking if a score of 1 is a bad idea as i don't know how relevant it actually is (since making the post i have read that even if both parents are 0 the dog can still have issues).

Are you insinuating i shouldn't be buying a puppy? Maybe i should rescue? Maybe i should i dont know. A visit to the dogs trust quickly shut me down last time i went in as i told them we were planning a child, we now have a 3yr old and are planning another in the future so i know they won't let us have one. Or should i adopt one from a local place which 'rescues' anything including large amounts of dogs from other countries. Above all id like to to my best to make sure my daughter doesn't get her face ripped off by a dog with serious mental issues! Like it or not a puppy is probably the safest bet. btw we have rescued 2 staffs in the past, both of which had great lives with us, before children though.

What breed should we get? A french bulldog fits our criteria (which tbh must be fairly standard seeing as they are now one of if not the most popular dogs). id like another staff but show me one in a standard colour which hasn't been bred by some bad man somewhere.

[m3jappa]

tony i get what your saying i really do, however they appeal to me. here's why:

small
friendly to people, kids and other dogs
dont need to be ran for 2 hours a day
robust enough to have young children around
short haired

i have specifically looked for an original colour frenchie, this is because i want one which has been bred properly for health and not colour, the mum of this pup for example is a family pet, silver health testing and original colour, the dad is a regular crufts entry and is gold health tested. Bred for type and not colour. The lower than ridiculous price reflects that. A very good friend of mines parents breed french bulldogs, they have a garage full of them, they sell them for thousands a piece.....i haven't told them im looking.....


Every breed i research has issues. I like the following breeds:

staffs. great but no proper colours available, lots of crosses, the last did actually end in tears.

miniature daschunds. look cute but again bred by lots of people now, possibly snappy and yappy.

minature bull terrier. very very hard to find, need a lot more exercise, potentially loopy.

vizla. perfect breed description but probably too big and certainly needs more exercise.

whippet or italian grey hound. appear fragile, needs more exercise.

proper american pitbull, illegal, bred by bad mans, most are crosses with god knows what. a shame because my favourite breed full stop.


we can obviously walk the dog, half hour in morning and half hour in eve, someone is at home every day apart from one day where the inlaws will look after it.

At least i care, everyone i know seems to buy whatever the hell they feel like with zero thought at all about looking after it, im certainly not buying it as a fashion accessory

Edited by m3jappa on Thursday 8th November 21:50

[m3jappa]

Funnily enough i was just re reading up on whippets, i have always liked them since i did a job for someone who had a couple. i liked their gentle delicate nature. I like how lightweight they are (sounds weird i know but they are so dainty).

Upon reading i read stuff like 'a walk around the block doesnt cut it' and 'needs to be able to run' . But then it also says cant be allowed off the lead.

We do have a reasonable sized garden but im not sure its big enough for them to reach 35mph without them hurting themselves. We also live next to a road, not a busy one but still busy enough, id be terrified of leaving the front door open and it bolting. That said the job i did for that bloke years ago also lived on a very busy road and his ones iirc came outside and had no intention of running off.

How can i ensure it gets the running it needs?

[m3jappa]

There is no doubt that they aren't beautiful looking dogs but strangely i really like the look of them