How to buy a healthy French Bulldog puppy: a complete guide

Start with the breeder, not the colour

Rare colours are what most people notice first, and that is exactly why they attract careless breeding and scams. A lilac or merle coat says nothing about how a puppy breathes, how its spine develops or how it was raised. Decide first what kind of breeder you want, then look at colours.

A good breeder plans few litters, tests every parent before breeding, can explain the genetics behind each colour and is just as interested in you as you are in the puppy. Expect questions about your home, your routines and how much time the dog will spend alone. A breeder who asks nothing is usually a breeder who checks nothing.

If you are still deciding between colours, our colour overview and the guide to French Bulldog colours explained cover what each one means genetically, including the colours that need extra care.

Meet the parents, not only the puppy

The parents are the best preview of the adult dog your puppy will become. You should be able to see the mother, and the father or at least good recent videos of him, together with their age, temperament and health results.

Look for moderate features rather than extremes: visibly open nostrils, quiet breathing at rest, a body that moves freely, and a dog that is relaxed and curious with people. Ask how old the mother is, how many litters she has had and how long she rests between them. You can see the dogs behind our litters on our breeding dogs page.

Visits and the live video call

Seeing the puppy and the parents with your own eyes, live, is the single most effective protection against both poor breeding and fraud. Photos can be borrowed and videos can be old; a live call cannot.

Visits to our home in Stockholm are by appointment once your application has been approved. Before any reservation we always meet on a video call, where you see the puppy and its parents live.

Use the call well. Ask to see the mother with the litter, the space where the puppies live, and the puppy you are interested in moving around and breathing at rest. Ask the breeder to show the paperwork on camera: DNA reports, the vet check and the microchip numbers. A serious breeder is happy to do all of this.

How the process works

Every breeder works a little differently, but a safe purchase follows a clear order where nothing is paid or promised before you have seen the dogs. This is how it works at Exotic Swedes:

1. Apply. You send an application telling us about your home, your routines and the colour and sex you hope for.
2. Video call. Once your application is approved we meet on a live video call, where you see the puppy and its parents. Visits in Stockholm can be arranged by appointment.
3. Offer from the waitlist. When a puppy matches your wishes, you receive an offer from the waitlist. At that point the contract, with all its terms, is sent to you by email so you can read it calmly before you decide.
4. Homecoming. Your puppy comes home when it is old enough and every requirement for your country is met, either by collection or through our delivery options.

Whichever breeder you choose, read the contract before you commit to anything, and make sure it names the specific puppy, its microchip number and both parents.

Ask for health results in writing

Ask for DNA results for both parents covering the breed's core markers: CMR1 (retinopathy), DM (degenerative myelopathy), HUU (hyperuricosuria), JHC (juvenile cataract) and CDDY (disc disease risk), together with their colour loci. Ask too for a breathing assessment such as a BOAS grading, and a veterinary health check for the puppy itself.

Results should come from an accredited laboratory and carry the dog's name and microchip number, so you can match each report to the right dog. If a breeder only offers to tell you the results, or shows a report without a microchip number, ask again. Our health page explains the tests we run, and the guide to French Bulldog health tests explains how to read a result.

Scam checklist

Rare-colour French Bulldogs are among the most common breeds used in online puppy scams. Be cautious if you see any of the following:

• Puppies are always available, in every colour, at any time of year.
• The price is far below what health-tested breeders ask.
• The seller avoids a live video call or can never show the mother with the puppies.
• You are pushed to pay quickly, before you have seen the puppy, to hold it against other buyers.
• Payment is requested to a personal account, by money transfer service, gift cards or cryptocurrency.
• After the first payment, new fees appear for transport, insurance, crates or vaccinations, often from a 'shipping company' you have never heard of.
• The photos turn up on other websites when you run a reverse image search.
• The seller offers to meet in a car park or at a petrol station instead of where the dogs live.
• There are no DNA reports, or the reports have no microchip numbers.
• The puppy is offered to leave its mother before eight weeks of age.

One warning sign is enough to slow down and ask more questions. Two or more is a reason to walk away. Our guide to choosing a rare-colour breeder goes through how to check a seller step by step.

Papers and registration

Many rare-colour French Bulldogs are registered outside the Swedish Kennel Club (SKK), because colours such as blue, lilac and merle fall outside the FCI breed standard that SKK follows. Instead, they are registered with independent registries. Our registries page explains which registries we use and what each one covers.

A pedigree is a record of parentage, not a health certificate. It matters, but it does not replace DNA results and a vet check. If you are unsure what non-SKK papers mean in practice, read French Bulldog papers without SKK explained.

What should be included

When your puppy leaves the breeder, it should come with:

• A written purchase agreement that names the puppy, its microchip number and both parents.
• Microchip registration, and in Sweden registration of ownership in the national dog register.
• A vaccination record and a veterinary health check.
• A pet passport if the puppy is travelling abroad.
• DNA results for both parents and the puppy's registration papers.
• Feeding notes, a small supply of the food it is used to, and a care guide.
• Lifelong contact with the breeder for questions, big and small.

Our guide to preparing your home covers what to have ready before the puppy arrives.

Buying from abroad

Families outside Sweden can bring a puppy home too, but the rules depend on where you live. Within the EU a puppy needs a microchip, a pet passport and a rabies vaccination before it can travel, which in practice means it is around 15 weeks old or more. The UK, the USA and the UAE have their own requirements, and some of them set a higher minimum age.

Read importing a French Bulldog from Sweden for the paperwork per country, and how a puppy travels with a flight nanny for the journey itself.

Import rules change. Always confirm the current requirements with the official authority in your country and with the airline before you plan the journey.