do french bulldogs shed
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When talking to people about french bulldogs, one of their first questions is Do french bulldogs shed? They’re hypoallergenic, right? To which I respond with a resounding No. French bulldogs have a thick, bristly coat that they shed one to two times per year. Some french bulldogs get a really thick coat that will grow in during colder seasons and will shed (violently, almost) during warmer months. Conversely, some french bulldogs have a relatively thin coat year-round. These tend to shed less overall but they still shed some of their fur in the warmer months. The best description I’ve heard for french bulldogs coats is “seal fur without the smooth sheen”. Their coat, like their general anatomy, is stout and thick. This is more exaggerated in the case of french bulldogs with a heavy coat. Still yet, their thin-furred counterparts still shed–just to a lesser degree.
If you’re a french bulldog owner, then you’re already aware that they can shed seemingly unimpeded year-round. They’re talented shedders, no doubt. When we clean our house, we’re really just sweeping up dog fur that our french bulldogs leave in their favorite spots to lounge. We have to vacuum their beds before we wash them. Our car seats are loaded with french bulldog fur. Their collars and harnesses are speckled with lodged french bulldog hairs. It gets everywhere, as you might expect.
Fortunately, of our four french bulldogs, only two have really dense fur. Our brindle and pied french bulldogs do not have thick fur. Their fur is fairly smooth and soft year-round. Our cream males, however, produce enough fur between the two of them to soak up oil in the oceans. It can truly get out of hand when they start shedding in the summer.
Do French Bulldogs Shed? – Yes – How We Deal
If you want to get a handle on your french bulldog’s shedding, here are a few tips we can offer you to help.
- Bathe your french bulldog. Quasi-regular bathing will help loosen dead hair and dander from your french bulldog’s fur. The more you can get out in the tub, the less you’re going to find all over your Ikea furniture. We recommend a monthly bath if your frenchie stays relatively clean and doesn’t roll around in the dirt and mud like ours do. If your french bulldog loves to get dirty on the regular, then a bi-weekly, or tri-weekly bath may be more appropriate. Bathing your french bulldog too frequently can dry out and irritate their skin, so go easy on the baths. Throw in some Warren London Hydrating Butter after the bath to give their fur a nice, soft sheen.
- Brush your french bulldog with a shedding brush or shedding blade. You don’t have to apply much pressure or force with these blades. A gentle glide across their coat will help loosen dead hairs from their skin. A 5-minute season every other day or during the warmer months will help cut back on stray fur.
- Brush after bathing and after playing outside. Give your french bulldog a quick brushing with one of the aforementioned tools. After a luke-warm bath, dead fur will be loosened from their skin and will come out much easier and in much greater quantities. Again, not much pressure. Just a gentle brushing. The same is true after some rough-housing outside, a lot of their dead or loose hairs will be ready to fall right out with a quick brushing.
Supplements to Help Control Your French Bulldog’s Shedding
We put a couple of supplements in our french bulldog’s food to help their coat shine and shed less. Primarily we use a pet-safe omega-3 fatty acid supplement called ShedMed. ShedMed is produced locally to us and it’s a pretty good product. We’ve seen measurable differences in the amount that our cream male sheds each season. There are other purpose-made Omega-3 supplements for dogs, but this is the only one I have used, so I cannot speak for the others. So far, it has worked very well for us.
do french bulldogs shed
Tools to Cut Down on Loose/Shed Hairs
We use two specific tools to brush our french bulldogs that do an excellent job at removing excess/loose fur. On our boys, we use a tool called the “SleekEZ” shedding blade. It’s a short length of blade not unlike the blade in a standard hacksaw, but dulled slightly. It’s mounted in a wooden grip and it is surprisingly effective at brushing out loose fur. Our Auggie Doggie loves it and he stands there patiently enjoying it all the while. For french bulldogs with dense fur, I cannot recommend the SleekEZ enough. It’s equally as good at removing excess from frenchies with soft, single-coats. If your french bulldog has a thinner coat, brush them with a gentle pressure to be certain you’re not pulling out fur that your dog may not be naturally shedding.
For those with tougher coats that seem to shed non-stop, I recommend picking up a FURminator. Aside from the punny name, this shedding brush can really brush out an entire undercoat in two to three sessions. We use the FURminator mostly on Auggie because his coat is sooo thick. He also gets really, really hot during the warmer months. Keeping his undercoat brushed out really helps keep him cooler. On our french bulldogs with single coats, we use the SleekEZ. It’s gentler on their coat and it really helps remove the loose fur. The FURminator might potentially remove too much fur on a frenchie with a thinner coat. You’re encouraged to try both and really see what works best for your french bulldog. We settled on these two tools by trial-and-error. They work great for us, but naturally, all dogs are different.
That’s our spiel! Hopefully this has been helpful for you all. Thanks so much for reading! Subscribe to my channel on YouTube! Follow us on Instagram! Have a great day!
do french bulldogs shed
do french bulldogs shed
do french bulldogs shed
I’ve beeen thinking about breeding my frenchie Stella she 3yrs old now. My big question is should i first try breeding her r go straight to artificially insemination?
Hey Susan, glad to hear from you. I’ll bet Stella is a lovely little lady. Three years old is a good age for a dam to have a litter. One important thing to consider is if you have the funds on hand. One of our puppies got parvo and the vet bills on that alone were roughly $3000. The C-Section was $1400 and we estimated our expenses for raising seven puppies (vaccinations, boosters, health exams, pee pads, food, toys, misc. supplies) to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $4400, all told. If you’re comfortable with these figures, then I’d say you’re okay to breed, but don’t otherwise.
As for how to breed her, I’m a proponent of artificial insemination. It ensures a litter and is much less stressful on the dam. A male frenchie often has…trouble…figuring things out and it often makes things stressful for everyone involved. If you’ve got a good stud and he’s able, you can give it a try, but it’s really for his benefit, not yours or the dams. A male around a female in heat will act like a total buffoon, so letting him give it a try might ease his baser urges. Otherwise, artificial insemination is much, much easier.
Please please please help me! My white Frenchie (Ivy Rose) has tears stains under her eyes. I have tried everything including Angel Eyes, wipes, Wrinkle Paste, Benadryl. How does everyone keep their Frenchie’s eyes clean???
coconut oil works well on tear stains. It’s a natural antibiotic, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory that will help eliminate tear stains and it is completely safe to use around your pet’s eyes. As long as you use only organic, unrefined coconut oil. Non-organic and refined oils may contain pesticides and chemicals.
First, gently blot away moisture from the area, getting the hair and skin as dry as possible. Then use clean hands to massage a small amount of coconut oil under the eyes and along the sides of the nose where stains occur. The use of coconut oil for pet tear stains helps in two ways. First, the oil creates a water-resistant barrier for repelling tears—not allowing them to soak in and stay on the face. Secondly, by naturally fighting bacteria and yeast buildup.
For more stubborn tear stains, use a soft, lint-free cloth to gently work a small amount of coconut oil into the stain. Use a white or light-coloured cloth so you can see the red or brown matter collecting on the cloth. Repeat this in short sessions twice a day until staining is gone or you no longer see it rubbing off on the cloth.
Is using Shed-Med different from using coconut oil?
My Frenchie sheds twice a year and it can be a lot of fur. I found the best way to keep it in control was to have her professionally groomed every season and it guaranteed she was really well brushed. It makes life SO much easier and has really kept the mess down. I also slowly got her used to the vacuum, using the long baseboard attachment she’ll lie on the floor and let me vacuum her. To start I would open the air flow adjuster so it wasn’t too much suction and it helped her get used to it. I think it must also help force cool air thru her fur and over her skin thru the thick fur.
One thing about the Furminator I spent the money and got one initially and was told by a breeder that they can scratch their skin. He suggested a rubber silicone shedding brush and it works REALLY well, she appears to really enjoy it.
Thank you for this useful article. We have always used the Furminator for our frenchie and for us its like a miracle worker, and the best part is that our Frenchie loves our furmination sessions HAHA.
You can check us at frenchieholics.com we have interesting articles and products dedicated to our lovely breed – French Bulldog. We are new in this world of Frenchie websites, but we are trying hard. Thank you!
What shampoo do you recommend?