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!
- There is lot 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 not including the initial cost of the mother.
- If you consider the initial investment for the breeder to buy a quality well bred female; this on average is anywhere from $8,000-$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 on that particular dog and their needs.
- Health testing per dog easily costs over $ 2 000.00, x-rays, OFA certification, DNA tests for hereditary diseases etc.
- When the female finally reaches breeding age (IF she turns out to be breeding quality and passes all health testing) 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 $10k-20k.
- 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, $450 for the semen collection 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 1 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 everything goes well and by God's will the female is confirmed pregnant you now have to purchase your supplies to prepare for your litter!
- Hospital grade puppy Incubators are $2,000 and up, you will need towels (lots), tube feeding supplies, heating pads, blankets (lots of them, it will be messy) medical supplies, milk replacement (in case mama doesn't produce milk - our milk box costs $120/week), 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 $2000 if it’s scheduled during business hours. If your female needs a late night or weekend emergency C-section the price starts at $4,500 and can go up to $9,000!
- MOST French and English bulldogs do not deliver naturally and 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 first couple weeks of their lives. This means no sleep 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 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 why reputable breeders, who actually put in the work and invest in good quality dogs, charge the price they do 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!
- This should also show you that when you find breeders on kijiji/craiglist selling their Frenchies for $ 2000.00 it should tell you right away that they are not investing in their dogs and the unethically bred Frenchies, who are not to blame for the irresponsible people deciding to breed to make a quick dollar, and be prepared for thousands and thousands of dollars in veterinary bills because Frenchies are sensitive dogs and if bred for money and not for health will have many issues throughout their lives.