The number one question any Frenchie breeder gets asked
There is a lot involved in the price of a well-bred French bulldog. First and foremost, Frenchies are essentially a man-made breed. For the most part (there are exceptions) they cannot breed naturally so the breeder must breed them by artificial insemination. This is a task that a lot of us do ourselves or we will pay our trusted vet to do for us. Now, with that being said, since they are being bred artificially it can be difficult to know exactly when the female is ready to receive “The Goods” from the male. For this, we take our girls to the vet to get their progesterone levels measured via blood collection that must be sent off to a lab. When the results come back depending on what the number level is, the breeder can generally tell when the female will be receptive to “The Goods”. These tests run anywhere from $120 – $225 average. Sometimes one test isn’t sufficient so as many as 3-5 tests must be done. Frenchies are not the easiest to nail down as far as ovulation so typical breeding methods don’t always work, unfortunately.
Ok, so the babies are here, the hard part is over, right?
WRONG! Sometimes we get lucky… Sometimes we can sleep… But for the most part, we must stay with the new babies and moms 24/7 for several weeks to make sure they are nursing, gaining weight, not aspirating milk into their lungs, and so forth. We are literally on lock down pretty much only able to leave our homes for short periods of time. Otherwise, we are taking a risk of losing babies. Moms are not always the brightest when it comes to their precious babies. A lot of the time, they will unknowingly lay on their babies or overzealously care for them to the point of licking them or cleaning them too much. Many breeders only allow the babies with the mother while nursing for this reason.
Other expenses that should not be taken lightly are vet checks which include health testing, food, toys, bedding, etc. Average for the litter ($4,500.00-$5,000.00)
So, the bottom line is they are more expensive because well-bred Frenchies must have countless hours of devotion to each litter and thousands in expenses as well.