The french bulldog It is a medium dog, about 12 kilos; with a squashed face (brachycephalic), short legs, and lots of energy. What am I going to tell you that you don’t know? Adorable.

Normally the life expectancy of a french bulldog it ranges from eight years on average to ten to twelve years as a maximum.

However, I know of several cases in which these figures have been far exceeded. How did their owners manage it? With love and giving it the best care, let’s see all the secrets of this very special breed.

Special care for the French bulldog

The secret to the health and happiness of this breed is in the care you give it. It is an animal that really enjoys your attention, the more the better.

If you pamper him every day you will avoid health problems that are so frequent and negative in this breed. So you can enjoy each other for many years!

the french bulldog

The French bulldog is a special dog at all levels.. His aesthetic generates love and rejection in equal parts. Like all flat-faced dogs. I personally love them. I find them very funny and their constant snoring makes me fall in love.

On the other hand his funny character, his affectionate gestures and his above average intelligence surprise everyone who meets one for the first time.

a frenchie It’s the perfect companion for seniors, young children, and families of all kinds.. It adapts perfectly to both apartments and houses and will not cause any kind of problem as long as the somewhat special care it needs to lead an appropriate quality of life is respected.

This is the French bulldog:

• Place of origin: France
• Average weight: between 8 and 15 kg.
• Size: 25-35cm tall, medium.
• Coat: short or very short.
• Head: strong and broad with bat ears, dark eyes with large pupils and snub nose.
• Short legs.
• Tail: short and thick at the beginning but knotted at the end.
• Preferred climate: temperate or mildly cold. Poor heat tolerance.
• Sociability: high.

One of the lesser known curiosities of the French bulldog is that It is an excellent watchdog for farms, houses or chalets. His low tendency to bark added to his origin as a presa dog make him an ideal candidate to be a perfect watchman of your home or plot although his appearance did not make you think about it at first.

The origins of this breed

The first legal registration of a French bulldog dates back to the year 1885. It was in Paris where this breed was born and for this reason it obtained its characteristic last name.

The French canine authorities recognized this breed for the first time in the year 1898.

At the beginning of the last century was not a popular dog nor usual. Most were in Paris and were employed in professional labor by butchers or drivers. However, in the middle of the century it began to gain popularity among the French upper echelons. and in a few decades his rise in society was unstoppable.

This affectionate and fun breed became fashionable very quickly and many dog ​​lovers wanted to have one. Since then the popularity of the frenchieno has stopped growing. Proof of this is the difficulty in adopting one or the high prices to acquire a puppy with the necessary guarantees.

Adopt or buy?

At Cuidados Para Mascotas we always bet on adoption. We believe that it is better to give a chance to those dogs that have been abandoned or have not had the same opportunities as breeding ones.

With this breed it is difficult to find a copy in an animal shelter due to the high demand they have. But if the pedigree is not one of your priorities, you will be able to find some for adoption.

if your intention is adopt a french bulldog be clear that it will be an example adult who has been abandoned or mistreated. So clearly they have left it to us in the Animal protectors with whom we have spoken when writing this article.

This implies that it will not be so easy to educate and adapt to your home like a puppy. Nevertheless the satisfaction of giving an abused or abandoned adult dog a home It is an indescribable feeling that will make you overcome all the difficulties in the process.

There are three associations that work to encourage adoption of this breed in Spain: Homeless Bulldog, SOS Frenchie Y SOS Gordis. If this is your idea, do not hesitate to contact them.

Buying a French bulldog

Of course, the option of buying a breeding dog is perfectly valid and legal. In fact, for those with less experience educating animals, it may be the best option..

Also is true that many people are disappointed when they buy a frenchie because the puppy develops in weeks health problems or sample significant aesthetic deficiencies. What happened?

If you have seen an ad offering French bulldog puppies for 300 or 500 dollars, be wary immediately.. The probability of these cheap puppies having congenital diseases is high as a result of irresponsible breeding.

In almost all cases the problem could be guessed from the purchase price. It is unrealistic to think of buying a puppy of this breed with all the health guarantees and responsible breeding for less than 1000 dollars.

As a reference think that the best breeders They sell them for figures starting at 2,000 or even 3,000 dollars.

Maybe you have come here because you already have a puppy with some little problem. You don’t have to worry, that’s why I’m writing this guide: to help you give you the best life possible.

The puppy stage, a unique opportunity to educate him

Educating a puppy is easier than doing it with an adult except for rare exceptions.

In this phase your puppy is a sponge. Will quickly assimilate all the rules, tricks and guidelines that you want to transmit to achieve proper behavior both at home and on walks.

It is necessary that your puppy understand from the first months of life to respect a hierarchy and understand who is boss.

One of the keys to giving your French bulldog puppy the best education is not to spoil him too much.. It can be complicated on some occasions (because of its affectionate nature) but the effort will be worth it when it comes to adulthood. it will be an animal more sensible and less whimsical.

The 5 special care that a French bulldog needs

So that your French bulldog lives many years in incredible health you just need to follow some specific and simple tips.

Don’t worry if it’s your first puppy or if you’ve never had a dog before. All tips are easy to implement and will improve the quality of life of your best friend.

Special diet to avoid overweight and diarrhea

One of the most peculiar characteristics of this breed is that it is a dog with u n very small stomach for your body size. For this reason, it is important to manage the rations well, do not spend with the amount of feed and use a nutrient-dense food that fills you up quickly.

A French bulldog has a higher percentage of muscle than the vast majority of breeds. as a consequence of it need a nutrient-dense, protein-rich diet.

On the other hand, it is very common to see complaints about the constant diarrhea of ​​this breed. In most cases, the fault lies not with the animal but with a person. inappropriate feeding. The Frenchie’s stomach is capable of fermenting food very quickly and therefore requires a I think special that is low in fiber.

If you feed your Frenchie a specific food (such as Royal Canin for French bulldogs with Omega-3 and L-Carnitine) you will avoid diarrhea, gas and overweight.

Hygiene, cleaning and brushing of the French bulldog

This breed of dog is one of the most dependent on your care to maintain proper hygiene. They are somewhat dirty dogs and tend to cause health problems if their cleanliness is not taken care of.

These are The five tips your pet needs to enjoy perfect hygiene and thus prevent infections or diseases :

1. Daily cleaning: a routine of only five minutes each day will avoid unpleasantness in the medium and long term. You will only need to give it a pass with a hygienic wipe. Emphasize your great ears of bat and in the skin wrinkles since they are the two biggest sources of problems.
2. Brushed: Even if they have short hair, it is a breed that generates a lot of dead hair and it is convenient to prevent it from accumulating. Brush it thoroughly at least once a week.
3. Toilets: it is not advisable to bathe him more than once a month unless it gets more than necessary since your skin is sensitive to changes in pH. When you wash the dog at home use a mild shampoo, lukewarm water and the towels that are necessary to dry it fast and avoid unnecessary colds.
4. Nail: Depending on the area where you go for a walk, your nails may wear out more or less quickly. Check them every week and cut them frequently since they do not like to wear them long.
5. Mouth and snout: check and clean your best friend’s mouth daily it is a guarantee to avoid tartar, infections or bad breath.

It is important that you create weekly and even daily cleaning routines so that the health of your pet does not suffer. This way you will be able to progressively improve their health and well-being.

Behavior and character of the French bulldog

It is fascinating how fun and affectionate dogs of this breed are. They have nothing to do with any other in terms of how to interact with humans and especially with young children.. They are incredible!

However, its peculiar character will make you pay a toll since It is a breed that needs constant attention and affection from you.. If you are on top of him and give it to him frequently there will be no problems, but if he does not get all the attention he needs he could develop an eating disorder. anxiety and even depression.

The French bulldog is a specialist in achieving what he wants by making funny faces or with a persuasive attitude. Don’t overindulge or a dangerous tendency will develop. for their education and behavior.

Exercise, walks and sport

One of the situations that surprises all my friends the most is see a French bulldog insistently asking to go for a walk.

Almost everyone associates this breed with a lazy and domestic animal. They couldn’t be more wrong since they are active dogs who love to go for a walk and sniff everything. We will blame their English brothers.

It is not a dog that likes to run uncontrollably to burn energy but rather he prefers to have fun playing with you and browsing with everything that is on the way. For this reason, I advise you to walk through areas where you can be calm and where you have a wide variety of stimuli to enjoy to the fullest.

Be careful with summer walks because this breed tolerates heat poorly. always carry with you a bottle of fresh water and try to walk with him in the hours of less heat.

If you are in an area where the dog needs to be on a leash the best option for its peculiar anatomy is to put a chest harness on it . Your little beast has more strength than it seems and a strain on the neck could be disastrous for its neck.

Try to keep the walks short (20-30 minutes maximum) but intense stimuli and exercise. This dog does not enjoy long walks or prolonged efforts.

Frequent veterinary reviews

Periodic check-ups at the vet are the best way to keep an effective control on health of any pet. More even with French bulldogs.

In the puppy stage it is advisable to go more frequently to the vet. There, a vaccination and deworming schedule will be established that will allow you to live more calmly for the future.

When your best friend turns one year old, it will be enough with one or two annual visits To veterinary except if you have a chronic or recurring health problem.

Health problems in the French bulldog, so you can avoid them

The French bulldog is a breed of dog with a reputation for being delicate and getting sick relatively easily.

Any owner can confirm that this type of dog You need special care to avoid health problems. Nevertheless It is the bulldog variant with the longest average life expectancy. and that develops fewer diseases when adequate prevention work is done.

Ear and eye infections

The bat ears and bulging eyes of the French bulldog make it prone to both eye and ear infections. They are areas of maximum sensitivity that are exposed to all kinds of dirt and parasites.

Conjunctivitis and ear infections are the two most common health problems in this breed. However, both cases are avoidable with some simple dog hygiene guidelines.

For prevent your dog from developing eye diseases it is essential that you clean them frequently. Ideally, do it every day, but if you can’t, a good review every two or three days should be enough.

Steps to clean your French bulldog’s eyes:

1. apply saline on a common gauze and clean the contour of your eyes carefully.
2. With a different gauze remove any remaining whey or tear that may remain after cleaning.
3. repeat the process until your eyes are completely clean.

If, despite washing his eyes every day, your dog continues to develop irritated eye problems, try changing the feeder for a melamine one.. This problem is common with stainless steel bowls.

Steps to clean the ears:

1. Remove any remaining dirt with gauze and check that it does not have parasites attached to the ear canal.
2. apply a specific product to clean your dog’s ears.
3. remove the remains that may remain and do the process again if necessary.

Avoid heat stroke in summer

If you live in the north of Spain, your pet will have the ideal climate thanks to mild winters and summers with moderate temperatures. However, in the center and south of our country it is not uncommon to see temperatures of 35ºC or 40ºC with the consequent risk to the health of your best friend.

The French bulldog and the heat do not get along.

In the event that you live in an area where temperatures exceed 30ºC, you will need to take some special measures for prevent your dog from suffering heat stroke in summer :

• Change in routines: try going for a walk with your French bulldog first thing in the morning and last thing in the afternoon. Even at night if you live in the south of Spain.
• Increases hydration: your dog needs to drink more in summer. Have several drinkers distributed around the house with fresh water and do not forget to take a bottle of cold water with you on all your outings.
• Check your body temperature: It is advisable to check from time to time if your dog has a fever (more than 39ºC) but in summer I advise you to take his temperature daily. If it rises above 40ºC, take it to the coolest area of ​​the house and you can even give it a bath with lukewarm water to reduce its body temperature.

My vet has told me that every summer they receive serious cases associated with heat stroke with dogs of this breed.

Something that works wonders to make these months more bearable is playing in the water. If you live in the sea or have a pool, you can bathe with him as long as you keep an eye on him because he is not a good swimmer

you can put a lifejacket . Another option is use a dog pool. So you can refresh yourself without risk whenever you feel like it .

Stomach problems, gas, vomiting and diarrhea

yourfrenchie farts and burps, vomits frequently, or has diarrhea from time to time? It’s not the only one.

This is the breed of dog with the craziest stomach that exists.

It is not possible to completely eliminate the uncontrolled expulsion of gases since it is inherent to the breed. However, you can give him a probiotic supplement to improve his intestinal flora.

Thanks to probiotics such as Fortiflora, your French bulldog will vomit less, you will avoid most diarrhea and you will reduce the frequency of farting and belching . You will laugh less but your sense of smell will thank you!

A more serious problem is gastric torsion. It is a serious pathology that twists and blocks the stomach due to the failure of the ligaments that support it to the body. In most cases the problem is resolved by itself but in other cases it is not. If you see that your best friend foams at the mouth or has spasms, take him to the vet urgently.

French bulldog allergies

If your French bulldog scratches, licks or chews the skin and you have ruled out that it could be a problem of parasites such as fleas or mites then it has all the ballots to be an allergic problem.

Before taking him to the vet and making a significant financial outlay on tests I advise you to rule out that it is a food allergy caused by the feed. If there is luck when changing the current food for a hypoallergenic type, your puppy will stop having discomfort, itching or redness on the skin.

In the event that the special feed does not solve the problem and your little one continues with discomfort, it is time to go to the vet. A blood test or skin reaction test will be required to determine the cause of the allergy (pollen, grass, plastic…) and apply a solution to the problem.

Do not throw away the feed if it was the cause of the allergy. Animal protectors are often short of resources and a donation like that is great for foster puppies.

Breathing problems and snoring

That your Frenchie snores when he sleeps is normal and should not worry you since everyone does. You just have to get used to it because it will be something that accompanies you throughout your pet’s life.

Instead if the snoring is excessive and it becomes obvious that you have trouble breathing at times or have apneas you could have a health problem.

It is normal for your best friend to pant more than other dogs. As it is a brachycephalic breed, its morphology is conditioned by the short shape of the head and as a consequence of this the space that exists in the skull to integrate the respiratory system is very small.

It’s also cause for concern if you notice your dog suddenly panting and snoring much louder than he did before. Are those situations those that can indicate that you have brachycephalic syndrome caused by a small trachea or a soft palate.

Brachycephalic dog syndrome affects 10% of animals of this breed.

In the most serious cases it may be necessary to use bronchodilators and even subject the dog to surgery. The options are varied and include the Rhinoplasty (to widen the nostrils and improve air intake), the palatoplasty (to solve the soft palate) and the polypectomy (in order to remove polyps that impair your breathing).

Colds and runny noses in winter

Despite being a breed that tolerates cold better than heat it’s not uncommon for your French bulldog to catch a couple of colds each year.

The first time it is normal for you to be scared since it is a dog capable of generating a large amount of snot when it gets sick. If it happens, do not panic: it is enough to limit outings outside, wrap it up well and keep it close to sources of heat at home. In a few days he will be recovered and ready to fight.

If the days go by and you still have a lot of runny nose an antibiotic may be necessary. You will have to go to the vet since in no case is it advisable to medicate it on your own.

Food poisoning

If there is something that generates constant worries for those of us who have a Frenchie, it is the mania for put everything they find in their mouths on the floor.

They are very curious and don’t care what gets in their way. Every object is likely to end up in your mouth with the consequent risk of food poisoning.

Are you one of those who walk the dog while you check your work email or read our blog on your mobile? Not the best idea with such a mischievous critter!

To prevent your dog from getting poisoned, you need to watch it during walks and give the precise order if you see that he intends to put a foreign object in his mouth. It is also a good idea to educate him from a puppy in this aspect since in the adult phase it will be more difficult for him to assimilate it.

Loneliness at home and separation anxiety

Most animals don’t like anything stay home alone and it is not uncommon for them to develop anxiety and even depression. Despite this, most end up accepting it over time.

But this breed is one of the most sensitive to loneliness and for that reason you will have to take some special measures.

The most common way for a French bulldog to express separation anxiety is not to bark or cry. These dogs have another tactic that consists of destroy small objects or furniture.

If one day you come home in the afternoon and your pet has destroyed a vase or a photo frame do not scold him or yell at him because it is not the solution to the problem.

The only 100% effective solution is spend more time with him. Adopting a second animal or asking a neighbor to keep you company for a while will only partially alleviate separation anxiety. It’s not what this animal needs, it needs you.

In my case, I try to keep an eye on him with cameras to see if he may have anxiety and I go home whenever I have a gap at work. Those ten minutes help me to stretch my legs, take a short walk and thus I can avoid separation anxiety with my dog.

Von Willebrand’s disease

Von Willebrand’s disease implies that your pet is incapable of coagulate blood normally and therefore is more liquid than it should.

It is not a common pathology but in the French bulldog it occurs more frequently than in the other races.

Diagnosing it is complicated and for this reason it usually goes unnoticed. The easiest way to detect it is in those moments in which there is bleeding like a blow or a wound.

If your French bulldog suffers from Von Willebrand you can instantly see that the blood comes out very liquid and a lot of

There is no cure but there are two treatments to counteract it and alleviate excessive bleeding in cuts, wounds and surgeries. Some veterinarians use the deamino 8-D-arginine vasopressin while others opt for blood transfusions as it is a safer, faster and more effective method of replenishing deficiencies.

The most important things to care for a French bulldog

If you have a dog of this breed, you must be clear that The most important thing is to spend a lot of time and love.

It will also be super important take care of its cleanliness especially in its wrinkles and be careful that he doesn’t eat things on the street.

The use of a specific feed for this breed it is highly recommended to avoid having to deal with the usual Gastrointestinal problems, gas and diarrhea.

Here are some ideas:

• Less amount and more daily intakes. This way you will make it “eat” less air.
• Buy him a feeder that has obstacles so that it takes longer to eat.
• Add a little exercise to your day to day. It will expel the gases in the street!
• Raise the feeder a little, do not put it on the ground, this way you will also make it swallow less air.
• Dog insurance is ALWAYS recommended, but in the case of the French bulldog I consider it ESSENTIAL.