Holmes Pride Frenchies - French Bulldog Kennel

Each breed approved by the American Kennel Club has a standard that provides a word picture of what the specific breed should look like. All reputable breeders strive to produce animals that will meet the requirements of the standard. In addition to describing the breed’s appearance, the standard indicates the desirable personality, disposition and intelligence. The standard presented here for the French Bulldog was approved by the French Bulldog Club of America and accepted by the AKC.

Here we go:

General appearance:

The French Bulldog has the appearance of an active, intelligent, muscular dog of heavy bone, smooth coat, compactly built, and of medium or small structure. Expression alert, curious, and interested. Any alteration other than removal of dewclaws is considered mutilation and is disqualification.

Proportion and Symmetry:

All points are well distributed and bear good relation one to the other; no feature being in such prominence from either excess or lack of quality that the animal appears poorly proportioned.

Influence of Sex:

In comparing specimens of different sex, due allowance is to be made in favor of bitches, which do not bear the characteristics of the breed to the same marked degree as do the dogs.

Size, Proportion, Substance:

Weight not to exceed 28 pounds; over 28 pounds is a disqualification. Proportion – Distance from withers to ground in good relation to distance from withers to onset of tail, so that animal appears compact, well balanced and in good proportion. Substance – Muscular, heavy bone.

Physical Characteristics of the French Bulldog:

1) Ears: Known as the bat ear, broad at the base, elongated, with round top, set high on the head but not too close together, and carried erect with the orifice to the front. The leather of the ear fine and soft.

2) Neck: Thick and well arched with loose skin at the throat.

3) Back: Roach back with a slight fall close behind the shoulders; strong and short, broad at the shoulders and narrowing at the loins.

4) Body: Short and well rounded. The chest is broad, deep and full; well ribbed with the belly tucked up.

5) Tail: Either straight or screwed (but not curly), short, hung low, thick root and fine tip; carried low in repose.

6) Hindquarters: Hind legs are strong and muscular, longer than the forelegs, so as to elevate the loins above the shoulders. Hocks well let down.

7) Coat: Moderately fine, brilliant, short and smooth. Skin is soft and loose, especially at the head and shoulders, forming wrinkles.

8) Color: Acceptable colors – All brindle, fawn, white, brindle and white, and any color except those which constitute disqualification. All colors are acceptable with the exception of solid black, mouse, liver, black and tan, black and white, and white and black, which are disqualifications. Black means black without a trace of brindle.

9) Feet: Moderate in size, compact and firmly set. Toes compact, well split up, with high knuckles and short stubby nails.

10) Weight: Not to exceed 28 pounds.

11) Forequarters: Forelegs are short, stout, straight, muscular and set wide apart. Declaws may be removed.

12) Flews: Black, thick and broad, hanging over the lower jaw at the sides, meeting the underlip in front and covering the teeth, which are not seen when the mouth is closed. The underjaw is deep, square, broad, undershot and well turned up.

13) Muzzle: Broad, deep and well laid back; the muscles of the cheeks well developed. The stop well defined, causing a hollow groove between the eyes with heavy wrinkles forming a soft roll over the extremely short nose; nostrils broad with a well defined line between them.

14) Nose: Black. Nose other than black is a disqualification, except in the case of the lighter colored dogs, where a lighter colored nose is acceptable but not desirable.

15) Eyes: Dark in color, wide apart, set low down in the skull, as far from the ears as possible, round in form, of moderate size, neither sunken nor bulging.

16) Skull: Top of the skull flat between the ears; the forehead is not flat but slightly rounded.

17) Head: Large and square.

Holmes Pride Frenchies - French Bulldog kennel from California, USA

The Breed Standard

General appearance:

Proportion and Symmetry:

Influence of Sex:

Size, Proportion, Substance:

Physical Characteristics of the French Bulldog: