A lot of people ask why do frenchies cost as much as they do, so we decided to share a breakdown.
Quality French bulldogs from well established and reputable breeders are NOT CHEAP!
WHY? Because they health test and screen to work away from breed specific diseases such as allergies, BOAS, hip dysplasia and IVDD. Not every pup will be perfect but working with a responsible, reputable breeder that has years of experience can help you decrease your chances of adopting an adorable pup that grows up to be riddled with problems.
I’ve provided a description down below for you to read but in all honestly if you want to add a new family member to your home and want him/her to be the healthiest baby possible, you want to work with a breeder that OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals tests and is CKC registered. The end!
Breeders that are backyard breeders can’t OFA test because they don’t have the proper registration OR the dogs wont pass because they wont likely fit the screening requirements. If you want to minimize risk of adopting a pup that grows to have allergies, IVDD or other breed specific diseases please do your due diligence! Work with a breeder that health tests through DNA, knows the history of the lines through proof of pedigree, registration AND most importantly Orthopedic Foundation for Animal tests so you know when your pup is full grown it has a higher chance of following its parents good result.
Lets continue to why theyre so expensive shall we…….
There is a great deal of time, research, effort and expense involved in raising a French bulldog litter. It can EASILY cost around $5,000- $9,000 to breed, deliver, and raise a litter.
If you consider the initial investment for the breeder to buy a quality well bred female; this on average is anywhere from $5,000-$15,000 or more!
Then you have the cost of raising that female on a quality diet, vet care, and grooming supplies which in an average year that can add $1,000-$2,000 per dog. Depending that particular dog and their needs.
When the female finally reaches breeding age (IF she turns out to be breeding quality) you then begin your search for the right stud. This can consume countless hours of researching pedigrees and healthy lines. However, if she ends up not being breeding quality your time and efforts are now focused on finding the dog a suitable loving home, interviewing families and the cost of spay and neuter which would then be a loss of $5-15K and a loss of time.
Once you find the right stud you pay another $1,000-$5,000 for a stud fee!
When the female finally comes into heat you have to begin progesterone testing at a fertility clinic to determine when she will ovulate and can be bred. These tests run, on average, $120 each and they should be done every other day until peak levels are reached, that’s another $300-$500. Once she is ready and you have your gas and mileage as well as artificial insemination is another $250 per artificial insemination, as well as a days worth of travel to the reputable fertility clinic ! Not every vet/clinic offer’s these services so your travel could be quite far. For us its a 2 hour drive one way.
Then you wait four weeks to do an ultrasound to confirm pregnancy, that’s another $150. Plus travel and time.
IF you are lucky and the female is confirmed pregnant you now have to purchase your supplies to prepare for your litter!
Hospital grade puppy Incubators are $1,000 and up, we paid $1800 plus shipping from USA for each of our incubators. You will need towels (lots), tube feeding supplies, heating pads, blankets (lots of them, it will be messy) medical supplies, milk replacement,pee pads, puppy weight scale and the list goes on…
(you can add at least another $500 in supplies and food.)
Then comes the c-section, another $1,500 if it’s scheduled during business hours. If your female needs a late night or weekend emergency c-section you can double that!
MOST french and English bulldogs do not deliver naturally and after all the time and money invested it is safer to not risk the life of the mother or her litter to “see if she can deliver naturally.” Bulldogs always need assistance from humans during labor as they have short flat faces and can have trouble tearing the sacks by themselves, not to mention puppies getting stuck! C-sections are the safest way to deliver for mom and her babies.
Some females will not have anything to do with the puppies once they are born, some are inexperienced in the matter and don’t understand what to do with the pups, thus, countless hours are spent in assisting in raising the puppies.
You have to constantly watch the mother so she doesn’t accidentally lay on one of her pups and suffocate one not even realizing it.
The puppies need to be fed every 2 hours around the clock for the 1st couple weeks of their lives. This means you can kiss sleep goodbye for at least 2-3 weeks and if you have a job you better plan to take your vacation during this time! If mom’s milk doesn’t come in or she isn’t producing enough milk, which is quite common, you will be tube feeding or bottle feeding a litter of pups every 2-3 hours around the clock! While feeding the puppies you need to be weighing them individually and making sure they are gaining weight. A puppy should gain 1 oz per day for the first couple of weeks. If not you need to supplement.
The average size of a french bulldog litter is only 3-5 puppies So, after the breeder chooses who they are keeping there may only be a few pups available for sale. If you do the math on what it cost to get that litter into the world and compare that to the amount of selling a few puppies you will see who is taking the bigger loss and why bulldogs are so expensive!
At the end of the day the amount of time and money that is invested in PROPERLY raising and breeding bulldogs is astronomical compared to the cost of buying a QUALITY puppy from a reputable breeder!
Purchasing your female and male (if not produced) $10-18k Canadian dollars depending on the pedigrees each dog. Good quality lines cost more than puppy mill lines.
Stud fees: $2500 – $6000 just to use the boy the one time
Cesarean section $1200 – $3000 – depending on date, time and vet
Orthopedic Foundation testing $1000 each adult
DNA testing through animal genetics for full panel tests color/disease $600
Vaccines per litter plus microchips $300 to $900
Fertility testing and screening $400 – $800
Incubators – Pert brooder 90 – $1800+
Medical Supplies, medications, worming, food, plush beds $500 per litter
Take home care packages for clients and registrations $300
Numbers above are estimates and I’m missing some items but I hope this helps you understand some of the costs associated with producing our puppies.
RAD frenchies 