So you want to use your French Bulldog stud for breeding? Before you get started you will want to follow these steps in order to make sure you male is breeding quality and healthy. You will want to consider the financial and time commitment required to pursue studding your Frenchie male. It’s not as easy as it seems but nothing that worth it is easy. Please keep in mind our stud program. Your stud may be featured in our program if approved and we will work to match him to appropriate females.
#1 Have him assessed by the vet and approved for breeding.
Your vet will check and see if he has two testicles, both testicles are down, and that the prepuce and penis are normal. The vet will also assess knees, hips, heart, bite, and general health. Please keep in mind, not every stud will be perfect but if you decide to move forward you will know his weaknesses.
# 2 Order your genetic health and color testing.
There are several things you can be doing while you are waiting for your Frenchie to grow to age where he can begin breeding. Having him genetic tested for health and color is one of them. I like to use Orivet or Animal Genetics currently.
For the health panel they test for recessive genes that are more common in Frenchies. Recessive means they need two copies of the gene in order to get the disease. If they have one copy, they are considered carriers. It is best that you male is four panel clear meaning he isn’t a carrier for any of the genes tested. If he is not 4 panel clear, it doesn’t mean you can’t breed him but it will limit your pool of potential matches. Your stud may also be passed up for a male who is 4 panel clear and the stud fee will likely be lower.
The color panel will give you the information needed to predict what colors your male and breeding female will potentially produce. It will also be an indicator of how much you will be able to charge per stud fee. The rarer colors tend to have higher stud fees than the more standard colors.
#3 Have his semen tested.
You will need to have your males semen tested. It’s best to do this via a vets office that specializes in breeding. You can also use this test at home to ensure your male has healthy semen. Please keep in mind it is best to record the whole process of collecting semen and testing if doing the test yourslef. https://caninep4.com/collections/sperm-analysis/products/petcount-sperm-quality-test
#4 Place her on a good quality food.
Being on a good quality food is essential for breeding and producing high quality pups. The fresher the better. In my program I feed a balanced raw diet. I’ll be writing about food more at www.frenchiesnaturally.com. Here’s a basic order from what I consider best to the less desirable. I realize this can be intense and filled with lots of debate. We will deep dive in this in the Frenchie breeder program. Realize you can create any combination of these as well. Such as feed kibble in the am and raw in the evening. Or place some raw on kibble. Or cook for them and combine it with kibble. Or cooked and raw and kibble. Do what works for you and your dogs.
- Fresh prepared raw rotating diet to prevent allergies.
- Freeze dried raw like Wolf brand-choose 3 different animal sources and rotate feeding them to prevent allergies.
- Fresh prepared cooked diet-preferred 3 different animal sources
- Prepared diet ordered from companies like Ollie-preferred 3 different animal sources rotating.
- Canned dogfood–get 3 different animal sources and rotate
- Organic kibble-get 3 different animal sources and rotate
- Kibble–get 3 different animal sources and rotate
#5 Current on vaccinations & de-wormings.
It is important to not over-vaccinate your male but he should be kept up to date on his vaccinations to keep him healthy. I am adimant about not over-vaccinating which can be easily prevented via using titers. But I also am a believer in vaccinations in preventing disease. If your male isn’t healthy he won’t be able to breed. Keep your male on a proper deworming schedule as well. More details in the breeding program.
#6 Negative test for brucellosis.
Brucellosis is a sexually transmitted disease in dogs and causes abortion in females at 45-55 days of gestation. Before studding your Frenchie male he will need a negative brucellosis test. We recommend testing every 6 months as you are breeding your male to outside females. This helps place the female owners mind at ease. Merck Veterinary manual recommends testing once yearly. To be a part of our program you will be required to test twice yearly. You can get the test and perform it at home. Or you can test at your vets office. Please keep in mind if testing from home you will need to record the entire process and email us the video.
#7 Wait until your male is 1 year old to breed in the stud program.
Males become fertile after six months of age and reach full sexual maturity by 12 to 15 months. With AKC you can register your pups normally if the male is greater 8months old and less than 12 years old. For your male to be a pat of our stud program, he must be at least 12 months old. You may decide to breed to one of your females after 8 months old in order to stud him as a proven male. Proven males collect a larger stud fee.
#8 Register your stud with AKC & order pedigree.
This is an easy step. Check your registration papers to ensure you have full AKC rights to breed. Then go on and register your male and order a pedigree. If you already have the papers but no pedigree, you can order one online to be sent to you or just get the online version. The important part is we ensure the male and female we are breeding are not related for at least 3 generations to prevent inbreeding.
#9 Assess his temperament before using as a stud.
There is evidence that temperament is passed down from mom and dad. Assess your males personality. Is he aggressive or anxious? If so, you may want to reconsider breeding him.
#10 Assess your Frenchie studs confirmation to ensure he is proper quality for breeding.
We have a full module on Frenchie confirmation in the Frenchie breeding program. Your Frenchie doesn’t have to be 100% perfect but he should have many of the qualities that better the breed. This is controversial as there are many opinions on this which we discuss in the program.
There is so much to do in order to make sure your male is ready to stud out. Want more support? Make sure to join the Frenchie breeding program where we have a supportive group of breeders interacting in our private Facebook group and have monthly live calls bringing in experts and answering questions. There’s a series of videos just for you as well teaching you all you need to know about studding your male French Bulldog from collecting semen, shipping it, and more.