These are the colors and markings allowed by the AKC French Bulldog Breed Standard to promote good health. Colors not allowed by the AKC are because dogs bred in those colors carry genetic defects and traits harmful to our breed.
If you do not see a color on this page you were thinking Frenchies came in see the bottom of the page for disallowed colors. BLUE is such a color.
The Black Masks are the foundation of this breed.
They have solid black across the muzzle and sometimes
across the eyes as well hence the term "black mask".
Above is a Black Mask Red Fawn.
Below is a Black Mask Fawn with black across the eyes.
Another variation using the Black Mask is Black Mask Pied and Black Mask Brindle.
Brindle with White
Brindle with White color
refers to a dog that is
black with a pattern of
red, brown or fawn hairs
throughout the black.
Breed standard requires
only a trace of brindle
therefore just a few
hairs will qualify a dog
that appears primarily
black to be called
brindle. The dog
left is an example of a
mostly black with little
brindle.
Here is a fawn tiger brindle (Left) next to a puppy without much brindle.
Above is a tiger brindle which has many colors
tiger stripped through the black. Both are called
Brindle with White on the pedigree.
White and Fawn (pie-bald)
White and Brindle or White and Fawn as the Breed standard designates are also called "pie-bald" or "pieds" which refers to a dog that is mostly white with markings and spots of another color.
There are also Red Fawn Pieds (above right) and "Honey/
Lemon" and Fawn Pieds. Recently I found a breeder call Brindle, "Chocolate", instead of the correct designation of Brindle in order to make their pups sound like an exotic color worthy of more money.
Pieds can have a double hood.....
or a single hood.
Left is a good example of a cream.
Fawns will have a little more gold or beige coloring like the Black Mask fawn's body color shown at the top of the page.
Any colors you do not see above are NOT Rare and therefore worth more money. They are not allowed for a GOOD REASON.
Below are the colors NOT allowed and the reason why:
ALL White - carries the deaf gene.
White and Black with NO trace of brindle- carries the deaf gene.
Black and White with NO trace of brindle- carries the deaf gene.
Liver- Early blindness and juvenile cataract genes.
Black and Tan- TOO Dominate a color combination. If allowed to be bred it will overtake all colors and eliminate every other color from the breed.
ALL Black with no trace of brindle-TOO dominate a Color.
BLUE is Mouse and is not allowed-early blindness in pups with yellow or green eyes. The Blue/Mouse color produces dogs with Follicular dysplasia -gradual hair loss starting as young age causing dry scaly skin susceptible to bacterial infections. No cure and condition becomes increasingly worse. Blue should not be registered as Fawn on AKC registration and is rare because breeders should NOT try to breed it. Just because your BLUE puppy with yellow eyes can see now and has good skin doesn't mean it won't loose its sight and develop skin problems later.
These pages on the French Bulldog Club of America website all address why BLUE and other colors are not allowed in our breed:
http://www.frenchbulldogclub.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/6331
http://www.frenchbulldogclub.org/ht/d/sp/i/240/pid/240
FBDCA Breed Standard-COLOR- click here to download pdf doc.
Excerpt from FBDCA Article:
The color that has become more widespread in
recent years, and which some are promoting as "rare," is
the "blue" coloration caused by the recessive gene called "Blue Dilution" (D/d).
This gene can act on both the dark (black or brown) and light (red to yellow)
pigments. In a brindle or a brindle pied
dog, what should be black hairs (as well as black pigment on the nose, and paws)
is a slatey blue-grey color. In a fawn or fawn pied (white with fawn
markings) dog, the fawn hairs are a silvery fawn and the nose, the dark mask (if there
is one) and paw pads are slatey blue-grey. Any French Bulldog that has mouse
colored hair - whether on a brindle or a fawn dog - should be disqualified as
mouse. The coat color constitutes a disqualification - as does the nose color. Although some people find blue
Frenchies attractive, neither they nor their offspring should be sold for
show or for breeding, as they all carry a disqualifying genetic fault. If a blue dog
(d/d, with two copies of the recessive "blue gene") is bred to another blue (d/d),
all of the resulting puppies will also be blue (d/d). If a blue dog (d/d) is bred to a
non-blue who is NOT a carrier of the blue gene (D/D), ALL of the puppies will be
carriers of, but will not express, the blue gene (D/d). If a carrier of the blue gene
(D/d), is bred to a non-carrier (D/D), 1/2 of the puppies will be normal non-carriers
(D/D) and 1/2 will be carriers (D/d). If two carriers are bred together (D/d X D/d), 1/4
of the puppies will be blue (d/d), 1/2 will be carriers (D/d), and 1/4 will
be normal non-carriers (D/D). Some people mistakenly believe
that even though a dog may have a blue dog in its ancestry, that if no blues
have been produced in several generations that means that their dog can’t be
carrying the blue gene. This is wrong. It is not like mixing paint in a bucket,
progressively diluting out the undesirable gene. A recessive gene will keep
passing hidden and unchanged through an infinite number of generations of
carriers. The insidious thing about a recessive gene is that carriers pass the gene on
to about 1/2 of their offspring, producing another generation of carriers; then
those carriers pass it on to 1/2 of their offspring, and so forth, so that the gene
spreads unnoticed through the gene pool as people unaware of an affected
ancestor breed its descendents. It will only surface when a carrier is bred to another carrier (or to
a blue), which happens when people do line breeding. This is one of
the beneficial things about line breeding; it exposes the presence of undesirable
recessive genes in a line, so that responsible breeders can undertake to eliminate them.
Red
Red Fawn
