Will my Frenchie really only live til 6 years ?

[Jessiesthedog]

I spoke with a breeder today who suggested my girl would live til 6 max. I was quite taken a back

My heart goes out to OP, and I don't even know if you are still reading responses after all this negativity.

As many people have pointed out, French Bullys as with all short snouted dogs are not the longest lived of breeds, but many make it to 10-12 years with a really happy life. True, this is not the 15 years plus enjoyed by many of the hardy terrier breeds, but it is certainly much longer than the six years mentioned by your breeder.

So if your breeders comment was about the breed in general, I think they are being overly negative.

That said, if your breeders comment was based on experience with litters they have bred then I am horrified that they continue to breed pups from lines with such limited lifespans. If this is the case then they should be reported to the Kennel Club as they should not be promoted as responsible breeders. If your pup is in this position then all I can say say is love him or her and try and keep them as healthy as possible. My heart goes out to you as this is hard, I know.

Good luck @Jessiesthedog, she sounds well loved and cared for so will hopefully beat the odds by a long way. Seek good/specialised preventative vet care and address any issues quickly.

There is still so much demand for these dogs, raising some more awareness of the issues would great.

Saying that all breeds have health problems is a bit silly. All breeds can have some health problems, as can any cross-breed or mutt, but most breeds have a decent lifespan and a reasonable chance at a healthy life. It's only a handful of breeds that can barely breathe, have a ridiculously shortened lifespan, or have been bred with such huge heads and narrow pelvises that they can't give birth to pups naturally (and yet is still used as breeding stock).

The hope with Cavaliers is more responsible breeding

tjeres a healthy breeding protocol and all dogs thinking of being breed from should have mris to check for syringomelia/chiari, heart tests etc.

but of course these are expensive and people don’t want to pay what it costs to get a properly health tested puppy

i strongly believe that there should be quite strict government regulation for breeding

There are a lot of “animal lovers” that like to proclaim how much that they love animals but go on tiger walks, ride elephants, swim with dolphins in captivity and consume cruelly raised animal products and support puppy farms and breeders of dogs that have such a poor life that it’s tragic.

Just as long as we have what we want, we don’t tend to think of the suffering of others especially animals

I f people stopped buying these poor dogs with flat faces then people would stop breeding them.

The point is that, if people like you didn't buy brachycephalic dogs, then fewer brachycephalic dogs would be bred - ideally they should be boycotted as a breed so there is no incentive to breed them at all.

Yes, French bulldogs have the highest rate of requiring C-section of any breed. Somewhere around 80% of all deliveries

Depends what you see when you look at that picture. Do you see oversized eyes prone to dryness, injury and ulcers. A short deformed nose from its compressed skeleton that will cause it to struggle to breathe or eat properly.

Or do you see the cute large, more forward facing eyes so your natural instinct thinks of it as a small child and you can just forget about the fact they are painful deformities. Dogs shouldn't look like that.

The damage done to this breed to criminal. I wanted to get my Mum one because she had them growing up and I think it would be a good dog for her now that she is older and not able to cope with the physical demands of a larger more energetic dog. I didn't get one because they are all snub nosed. They look like a completely different breed from the photos of her childhood dogs. I found a website for a place in Holland that is trying to breed healthy ones, but basically the breed has been destroyed. It will never be quite what it was. And it isn't the only dog breed this has happened to. Humans pf theist 70 years have a lot to answer for.

*humans of the last 70 years.

I know of 2 schools that use these as school welfare/therapy dogs. Can’t help thinking the teachers who they live with are basically getting their family dogs living costs paid for but that’s another issue. Don’t understand why anyone would buy them

Why would you judge someone for walking one? You don’t know why they have it? They could be an animal lover who rescued it, gives it a good life and tries to do what they can to make their breathing more comfortable.

Tbh that’s just a shitty thing to say and says more about you than someone with one of these dogs.

That’s what the vet said when we were discussing breeding from my JRT. She said she’ll be fine, despite being very small, but she’d be saying the complete opposite if she was a brachycephalic breed.

Can’t stand seeing those dogs. Well done OP for encouraging the breeding of the poor creatures. You clearly couldn’t even be bothered to do any research. They should be made illegal.

OPs really starting to regret buying a French Bulldog now she’s been told by the breeder to expect such a short lifespan.
Next time she’ll be buying a dachshund because they look cute too.

@LolaButt here here!

I had a brachycephalic dog, not this breed, who lived til 15. If they are not close to breed standard they might live longer the vet told me despite all the possible inherited defects.
As long as you heed your vets advice if your pup needs any treatment what more can you do now? They are already part of the family. Enjoy

Genuine question, what's wrong with Dachshunds?

You forgot to add eating them to that list.

I fostered a Cavvie (I suppose I failed technically as we kept her). She is the sweetest dog. It breaks my heart that the people who had her since being a pup used her to breed Cavapoo puppies and that she had 6 litters in 5 years. She was kept in greenhouse and had never been walked until we took her in. She was very overweight and didn't know how to play, fetch or catch. We have been told that she will most likely die of cancer (due to all the pregnancies) or heart failure (when I cuddle her her heartbeat is very irregular). I feel so guilty that we only get her for a limited time. We got her when she was 5 and a half and is now 8. She is afraid of doorways, car journeys, big people and the sound of dishes clattering. I dread to think what happened to her that we don't know about. Sorry to derail the thread. I know it's not about Cavvies.

OP I get that you’re feeling bad but “She was going to be born whether I took her or not” is not an acceptable thing to tell yourself.

If the demand isn’t there, people won’t breed them. The dog/pet trade is a sick, sick industry and ignorance is not an acceptable excuse.

My neighbour had one who died this summer aged 4. It was a sudden/unexpected death. They have a 6yo pug still living which is much more snuffly than the frenchie was but both had breathing problems. That’s according to me, who can hear them over my tv. According to my neighbour they have longer faces than most frenchies/pugs and no problems at all. The frenchie also had a disc prolapse and had a £5k spine operation about a year before she died.

Elongated spine, purposefully bred for by the breeders. My cousin has 2 , and though they are cute apparently you have to get pet insurance for them the day they arrive and hope their backs don't fail before your insurance kicks in, as they definitely will. They then need surgery.

So sad that people pay good money to support the cruel breeding of these tragic animals.

I don't know how an animal lover can buy a brachycephalic dog. They are born to suffer 😢