Buying a French Bulldog puppy.
The past few years have seen a considerable rise in the number of new breeders of french bulldogs across Australia.
Where there once was a handful of litters for sale across Australia the number has recently hit and all time high. It's a worry for the breed, anyone with no knowledge can easily become a breeder of dogs. Put up an ad and sell their puppies.
Families scan the listings of breeders in their search for a frenchie. There's so many of them, who do you contact?
It's not made any easier in this search as the price is all over the place.
How does anyone become a breeder of dogs?
When someone applies to become a breeder all they need do is fill out the necessary forms, little bit of a basic questionaire, own a female and male on a main register and pay for a prefix and membership to the Dog's Qld or the equivalent controlling body for that state.
For a few hundred dollars you can now call yourself a breeder.
12 months later.....the new breeder's girl has come into season. Her weak points generally aren't understood by the new breeder so how can they select a suitable male to compliment her.
The new breeder has purchased a pair of pet quality frenchies to start breeding with. Has no knowledge of the dogs in the pedigree of the breeding pair and any faults that are likely to present in the puppies born.
The resulting puppies are compared to each other, the best puppy then kept to breed from, the rest sold at top dollar.
A lot of these breeders will sell their puppies on a main register, not a pet register, to make it more appealing for folks to buy their puppies.
Another puppy sold on main register so that you the buyer can also have a go at breeding french bulldogs. So the cycle continues with the new buyer trying his or her hand at breeding. This type of hit or miss breeding is the downfall of the breed. The resulting puppies couldn't possibly have been bred for health and soundness.
There's Breeders and there's Breeders.
Your established breeders are breeders for life.
They started out to show or own a puppy, purchased the best puppy they could from an established breeder. The established breeder became a source of advice, perhaps a mentor if you were lucky. So when your girl came into season you could make the best possible choice for her mating.
Going to shows as a competitor or spectator the opportunity is there to see the breed and get your eye in for "the look", the soundness and the qualities that you will want coming out in your future puppies. The sires you're contemplating on using are generally there, more importantly an opportunity to view his offspring. Feedback from other showies/breeders to the merits of a particular dog is also forth coming and could be useful when selecting a sire.
All this gathered information and experience comes in very handy when the time comes to mate your girl. We are limited to the number of litters a girl can have so every mating is very important to a breeder. Things happen and we may only have one shot at a litter so it's very serious stuff when we mate our girls.
Breeders study their dog's pedigrees.
Where will this mating take me and what am I going to use on the resulting offspring? The girl is not yet in season and we are planning 1 or 2 generations past her. That's how it's done.
If you ask a breeder who the puppies relatives are and they have to read from a piece of paper then there's a problem.
Breeders know 3 generations of their pedigrees as well as they know their children's names.
Breeders when selecting puppies to keep themselves and show/breed from don't compare the puppies to each other to decide what to keep.
They look to the standard of French Bulldogs.
This standard describes how the dog should look, from their correct coloured coat,
to the way their bodies should be put together.
The puppies are compared to the standard's description not to each other.
The puppies that are closest to the standard are kept for showing then breeding.
The rest are sold as a family pet. A lot of time planning and considerable effort has gone into whelping and raising this wonderful pet puppy for you.
A lot of people don't understand you cannot pick your puppy from the litter.
The breeder is breeding for themselves firstly, to introduce an extra line perhaps and keep the best puppy for showing and later include in their breeding program.
Puppies are sold as they become available.
I only want a pet not a show dog people say.
Thinking this will enable them to buy a cheaper puppy. No unfortunately it doesn't work that way.
All puppies cost the same price to breed and raise.
Likewise a female and a male are the same price.
Talk with your breeder before getting any proceedures done.
MAIN or LIMITED register.
An established breeder doesn't need to dangle a main register to buyers to sell their puppies. No one wants a first time frenchie owner going off with a main register puppy and breeding, having no knowledge or experience. It's bad for the breed's welfare.
Children don't need to experience the family dog having puppies.
The girl/boy dog doesn't need to experience parenthood to be a well adjusted pet. Pets need to be de sexed at an appropriate age, discus this with your breeder.
TIPS WHEN LOOKING FOR A PUPPY.
When presented with a list of 40 plus litters cancel out the breeders that do not show their dogs. The list diminishes to perhaps 10 litters and a much easier task to find a puppy.
Show breeders may know of other litters not advertised for you to look at other than their own litter.
View the relatives in the yard. If there anything like us their old show dogs, now the relatives of any puppies are on hand to view.
All health checks are done on the dogs bred from. X Rays of spine and hips etc.
DNA testing for genetic diseases relevant to the breed.
The puppies facilities and environment is clean with no smells and suitable for raising healthy puppies. Plenty of access to fresh air, sunshine and grass yards to run in.
French bulldogs are raised by us and ready to be placed between 8 and 12 weeks of age.
An established breeder will be around for you to seek advice from during your pets life.
Steer clear of people who breed incorrect colours so they can charge exorbitant prices. It's a good indication of someone that is breeding for money with no regard for the breed. They seek out any dogs that carry the genes for these incorrect colours, soundness and health are not a priority. They are breeding a colour only.
Don't pay extra money for a main register.