One of the biggest factors when choosing the right breed of dog for your lifestyle is cost. Some breeds are fairly inexpensive, whereas others carry eye-watering price tags. In recent years, the price of French Bulldogs has skyrocketed thanks to the high demand and difficulty of breeding them.
In this article, we investigate the 10 key reasons French Bulldogs are so expensive.
How Much Should I Expect to Pay for a French Bulldog?
When it comes to estimating the cost, there are several factors to consider, including:
- Your country and region
- The gender you want
- Coat color
- Pedigree
Frenchies in the UK typically sell for £2000 to £3000, however, certain breeders charge more, especially if their breeding dogs are competition winners or have proven pedigree lineage.
The average price in the USA is $2,200, however, the price ranges from $1,500 to $3000 depending on a variety of factors.
The Australian French Bulldog market is huge and you can expect to pay around $10,000 Australian dollars for your puppy!
10 Key Reasons Why French Bulldogs Are SO Expensive
Just like the housing market, there are lots of variables when it comes to determining a Frenchie’s value. Here, we have listed the 10 key reasons French Bulldogs are so expensive.
1. Where you live.
Each country has different demand for French Bulldogs. They are particularly sought after in the UK, USA, and Australia. Their sudden boom in popularity happened so recently in Australia, that they still fetch a staggering $10,000!
A similar effect occurs for regions within each country. For example, in the UK, French Bulldog breeders in the north may not charge as much as breeders from southern cities.
2. The gender of your puppy.
Many breeders will request an additional charge if you are requesting a specific gender. This is because you cannot guarantee how many males and females will be in each litter, so you must get your name on the list early if you have a preference. For those potential Frenchie owners who don’t care which gender they get, you could save yourself several hundred dollars!
3. Coat Color.
Coat colors have a big impact on the cost for French Bulldogs. The rarest coat color is Isabella, which is a body-color of golden yellow with brown hairs around the edges of the ears and eyes, plus a dark brown or black muzzle. This coat color does not occur often as both parents must carry the recessive gene to have a chance of passing it onto one of their offspring. Other expensive coat colors include:
Blue – appears like a steel or light grey. Most often have bright blue eyes.
Lilac – similar to Blue but has purple looking hues.
Merle – grey body with dark grey spots or patches, plus tan markings on legs, chest, and face. Some also have a small white chest patch.
Sable – most often a liver red but the tips of some hairs are black. Gives a peppered effect.
Blue and Tan: a Blue body with tan markings on the legs, chest, and face.
Chocolate: they usually have green, yellow or brown eyes.
Black –this is a common color gene, but the Kennel Club does not recognize this coat color so they cannot compete. This made a lot of breeders phase-out Blackcoats from their breeding stock.
These coat colors are the ones that will cost the most due to their rarity. By choosing a more common coat color, your puppy will be far less expensive.
4. They are difficult to breed.
French Bulldogs were selectively bred and so their bodies are not well suited to reproducing. Females have a narrow pelvis but their puppies have large heads so veterinary help is required.
Frenchies also struggle conceiving naturally, so most breeders rely on artificial insemination, which is an expensive process.
5. They produce small litters.
Due to their small size, French Bulldogs generally do not birth litters of more than 4. A typical litter will be 2 or 3 puppies. Larger litters do happen, but not all the puppies will survive.
6. Nutritional demands.
This one is not exclusive to Frenchies. Females of any breed require a high protein diet to induce the production of milk so they can nurse their puppies.
Protein-rich diets are expensive, so this cost is reflected in the price of the puppies.
7. Post-pregnancy care.
The mother requires a few days to heal from her C-section, so the breeders take on most of the responsibility, including bottle feeding and cleaning the puppies.
The breeder also needs to keep a close eye on the mother to ensure her surgery wound is healing well and to administer pain medication.
8. Veterinary check-ups.
All breeders are required to take their puppies for regular veterinary checks. This includes their first vaccinations, microchipping, flea treatment, and wormers.
Puppies should also be weighed regularly to ensure they are growing well and maintaining a healthy weight.
9. The first week is critical.
Due to the mother’s subdued nature after surgery, she will be sluggish and more likely to accidentally roll over onto her puppies. This means the breeder cannot leave the puppies unattended for the first 5-7 days.
This kind of hands-on care is both time-consuming and expensive.
10. The popularity of the breed.
Simple demand dictates that the French Bulldog is going to be expensive.
People are willing to pay thousands of dollars and to recoup the costs of breeding and caring for the puppies, the breeders have no problems charging large sums for the dogs they produce.
Final Thoughts
So, now you have all the information, you need to decide if the steep price tag is suitable for your lifestyle. If the price is the only obstacle, perhaps looking into similar breeds would find you the perfect pet.
If the price doesn’t scare you off, then your only job now is to get searching for a reputable breeder and find that French Bulldog that will fit right into your life.
