Why are Frenchies so expensive ?

Many people think breeding Frenchies is a quick , easy way to make a buck and perhaps it is for some of the backyard breeders and brokers importing Frenchies from other countries. But this is before they realize the problems surrounding French Bulldogs being able to breed naturally and mate or reproduce on their own steam.  Just to break down some of those costs to you.

Firstly a breeder can pay in excess of $8000 for their breeding dogs (each) and between $10,000- $20,000 depending on quality and DNA is common.

Before having or even considering a litter you need to know if your breeding dogs are healthy and breeding quality so genetic health testing is done on each dog. We use CanineHealthCheck.com and they test for over 200 genetic conditions. The cost for this test is around $250 per dog plus shipping $30-100 depends whether ground or air mail .

So can Frenchies breed naturally ? It is very hard for Frenchies to breed themselves. Frenchies have been bred to be a short legged breed with a compact body and narrow hips. It is very difficult for a male to breed with a female and if they even try it can be so easy for the male to overheat due to being a brachycephalic (flat-faced) breed. Females are at high risk to give naturally. Due to the large heads of puppies and narrow pelvis of the dam it makes it very difficult for the dam to give birth naturally. Puppies can become lodged and this puts both the mum and puppies at risk.

If you have your own stud all well and good, but if you need to use an outside stud the fee is generally $2500 - $3500 plus extra collection and shipping say $300 per breeding.

So artificial insemination is performed by us for all of our breeding's via our repro vet. This requires blood progesterone testing from around day 7 of heat until ovulation and finding the best time to breed . Blood progesterone testing is $90.18 per test and you can do anything from 3 to 10 tests so $270.54 - $901.8 per breeding. Artificial insemination is then performed by our vet at $125 per breeding, generally 2 breeding's so $250 for the breeding's

We perform Ultrasound at 4 weeks to confirm pregnancy $125

So before having a litter you need to think of what you may need for mum and puppies. A good whelping box for mum and babies is a good idea, maybe a spare in case you have a few litters close together. So we use Dura-whelp boxes around $300 plus pads $60x 2 = $120 plus a warming system to keep puppies warm around $250. So that's 1 box = $670 x 2 boxes = $1340 then from the US is around $100 shipping each.

Frenchies can be very difficult to breed and they often require incubator care and oxygen support in the first few weeks of life as we found out . so therefore breeders often need to invest in some special equipment to have at home. An incubator costs in $890 - $2530 depending on which one you go for from Lifeline petsupplies plus shipping from the US. An oxygen concentrator is $1400 from Lifeline Pet Supplies and a nebulizer kit for that system is $90. Additional nebulizer connection kits are $27.93 each.

Mum needs to be on a high quality food. We feed Farmina to all our pregnant mums and puppies. Our pregnant mums have extra toppings of eggs, fresh chicken, root vegetable and daily NuVet Supplements.

As previously mentioned Frenchies find it hard to breed and birth naturally so C-Section is required most of the time. In fact all of our litters are by C-Section. A C-Section is primarily booked however we do blood reverse progesterone testing a few days prior to see if mum is ready. $90.18 per test and maybe 1 to 3 maybe required so, $90.18 - $270.54.

C- Section is between $900-$2000 depending on whether planned or emergency. Emergency is very common in Frenchies and often they decide to go into labor out of hours and things can move quite quickly.

So puppies are home and mum is recovering. Sometimes feeding goes according to plan but sometimes it doesn't. Mum is very drowsy and can initially reject her puppies. Puppies cannot be left alone with mum for 1 min at this time and pups will feed continuously for the first few days then 2 hourly 24hrs a day if all goes well. However you may have some sick puppies that require tube feeding of milk and s/c fluids so you need supplies urgently. Feeding tubes x 10 @ $3.95, = $39.50 fading puppy support $21.95 bulb suction syringe $4.95 x 4 , goats milk dehydrated $29.95, colostrum powder $64.95 sub q hydration kit $19.95. Calcium syringe for mum $39.95.

We in fact had 2 litters where mum completely rejected puppies and we had to rear the full litter so nipple and syringe packs $19.95 x 4 = $79.80 plus extra bottles and nipple sizes = $100. For formula we were looking at $30 tub every 1,5 days so around 3-4 a week so $90-$120 per week in milk for the first 4 weeks prior to weaning.

If things go wrong with puppies and you are unable to help them at home e.g puppies have diarrhea or vomiting then vet visits are required then depending on treatment required you could be looking at $200 per visit plus treatment which varies.

For the first week we put pups with mum 2 hourly, sometimes hourly if needed around the clock the for the 2nd and 3rd week we go to 3 hourly if pups are doing well. In between any sick pups may need additional tube feeds are fluids and oxygen etc. So pretty much for the first 3 weeks we are unable to leave the house and are with mum and babies around the clock.

At 4 weeks we start weaning onto a quality puppy food Farmina at $100 per bag which a large bag and will need around 2 bags for puppies $200. 

We litter train puppies so puppy pans around $60 x 2 =$120 plus litter at $13.50 x 6 = $81

As puppies get older we do the vet visits with first vaccines, microchip and health certificate so around $70 per puppy check , we have had litters of 2 so $140 and also 9 so $630 if all is well. Registering puppies with CKC is around $45 per puppy. We do all our own puppy packs with a bag of puppies usual food, a bed, toys, treats etc and usually around $150 per puppy pack so $150- $1500 depending on the amount in the litter.

So now we could be at around $15,182 for one litter if all goes well and there are no complications but this is not always the case. Let's look at litter size. Frenchies tend to have smaller litters say 3-5 puppies. Sometimes less we have had a 2 and sometimes more a  9. So if we have a litter of 4 and these puppies sell for $4000 that's $16,000. So we have made $818 in this breeding but we haven't really because when you look at extra things we haven't included like feeding of our adults. Food alone is around $400-500 per month x 12 = $4800-6000 per year on food, yearly vaccines $900, de-worming costs me around $300 per year and i do i myself, flea treatments $240.

I'm sure there are extras i have forgotten and it varies from litter to litter depends on whether things go well or not. DNA color testing is often performed on puppies also to determine what color they are and what they carry so this is around $250 per puppy for a fully comprehensive color and health test.

It is not uncommon for puppies to need surgeries for whatever reason e.g. we recently had a cleft palate puppy and his surgery was $900 before he went to his new home. He now lives a fantastic life and all went well.

So I hope this has given you an initial understanding of why Frenchies have a higher price tag than some other breeds if bred correctly and purchased from a reputable breeder. You may be able to get that puppy a little cheaper from a backyard breeder or import but it is important to consider what conditions those puppies have been living in, what health the parents are in, how puppies have been delivered and cared for, how the adults are cared for etc