How to choose a rare-colour French Bulldog breeder and avoid scams

Why rare colours need extra care

Blue, lilac, isabella, merle and the other rare colours are produced by specific genes. Some of them are harmless on their own, but a few combinations carry known risks, the best known being two copies of the merle gene. A breeder who works with these colours therefore has to know more, test more and plan more carefully than a breeder of standard colours.

The same colours are also the ones scammers advertise most, because high prices and long waiting lists make buyers impatient. The good news is that a genuine breeder and a scam fail completely different tests, so a short, structured check protects you from both risks at once.

Questions to ask every breeder

Ask these by email or on a call, and notice how the answers come back. Clear, specific and unhurried is what you want.

• Which DNA tests have both parents had, at which laboratory, and can I see the full reports?
• What are the parents' colour genotypes, and what colours can this pairing produce?
• Has either parent been tested for merle, including cryptic merle? Who in the pedigree carries merle?
• How have the parents' breathing and structure been assessed, for example by BOAS grading?
• How old is the mother, how many litters has she had, and how long does she rest between them?
• Where are the puppies raised, and how are they socialised before they leave?
• Can I see the puppy and the mother live on a video call before anything is reserved?
• What happens if I can no longer keep the dog later in life?

A good breeder will also ask you plenty of questions. That is a positive sign, not a hurdle.

Check the DNA reports properly

A DNA report is only useful if you can be sure it belongs to the dog in front of you. Check these points on every report:

• The dog's name and microchip number are printed on the report, and the microchip number matches the one on the parent's other documents.
• The report comes from a recognised laboratory, with a report or case number and a date.
• It covers the breed's core markers, CMR1, DM, HUU, JHC and CDDY, plus the colour loci relevant to the colour you are buying.
• Ideally the sample was taken or verified by a veterinarian, which the report will usually state.

Then verify the report at the source. Many laboratories let you look up a result online with the report number, or will confirm it by email. If a breeder refuses to share report numbers, or the laboratory has no record of the test, treat the report as unverified. Our health page lists the markers we test on every parent.

Merle and cryptic merle

Merle is a dominant pattern gene. One copy gives the marbled coat of a blue merle or koi. Two copies, which can happen when two merle carriers are paired, are associated with a high risk of deafness and eye defects.

The difficulty is cryptic merle: a short form of the gene that may barely show in the coat, so a dog can look non-merle while still carrying it. Modern laboratories can measure the length of the merle allele and report these forms separately. Ask whether both parents have been tested in this way, and expect the breeder to explain how the pairing avoids two copies. A breeder who says a dog 'cannot be merle because it does not look merle' has not understood the risk.

Red flags that point to a scam

Puppy scams follow a recognisable script. Any one of these is a reason to stop and check; several together are a reason to walk away.

• Stock-looking or professional photos with no videos, or photos that change between messages.
• Puppies always available, in every colour, with no waiting list.
• Pressure to decide today, or a story about another buyer who is about to pay.
• No live video call, or a call where the camera never shows the puppy and mother together.
• Payment requested to a personal account abroad, through a money transfer service, gift cards or cryptocurrency.
• A transport or 'pet shipping' company that suddenly requests extra fees for insurance, special crates, vaccinations or customs.
• A price well below the going rate for health-tested puppies of that colour.
• No physical address, or an address that does not match where the dogs are said to live.

Use a reverse image search

Scammers rarely own the dogs in their adverts. Download a few photos from the advert or website and search for them with a reverse image search tool, such as the image search built into the major search engines. If the same pictures appear on other breeders' sites, under different names or in other countries, you have your answer.

Do the same with the breeder's social media. A real kennel's account usually shows the same dogs growing up over months and years, with consistent surroundings. You can follow the dogs behind our litters on our breeding dogs page.

A safe order of events

Whatever breeder you choose, insist on this order: first an application or conversation, then a live video call where you see the puppy and the parents, then a written offer and contract that you read before committing, and only then any payment. Never pay to a party you have not verified, and never pay more because a transport company asks you to.

This is also how we work: you apply, we meet on a video call, and when a puppy from the waitlist is offered to you, the contract with its terms is sent by email. For the full picture of buying a puppy, read how to buy a healthy French Bulldog puppy.