Meet the Breeder Who Is Working to Create Healthier Frenchies

When most people think about French Bulldogs, they picture one thing: those little gargoyle faces. Flat muzzles. Bug eyes. Perpetual snorting. Unfortunately, these traits so many of us find adorable can also create miserable health conditions for the dogs themselves. In the Netherlands, it’s actually illegal to breed dogs with excessively flat snouts (aka brachycephalic breeds). Some breeders have begun to imagine what the breed could look like if squashed faces were no longer a prerequisite.

Dr. Kelly Kessen, a veterinarian and campaigner for the Dutch animal-rights nonprofit Dier&Recht, knows that Frenchies with snouts might be a tough sell for some at first. At the same time, she urges anyone on the fence to consider what life is actually like for a traditional Frenchie — or any dog with a flat face and narrow nostrils. “Do you want your eyes popping out?” Dr. Kessen asks. “Do you want to snore all the time?” 

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If you’re having trouble imagining what life feels like for these dogs, Kessen suggests clipping your nostrils shut with a clothespin. “You will be gasping for air because you cannot breathe and talk at the same time,” she says. “You cannot eat with this thing on your nose.”

The Netherlands first banned the breeding of flat-faced dogs in 2014, but the criteria were not published until 2019, at which point Dr. Kessen says that enforcement actually began. Chantal Wageveld, the breeder behind Hawbucks French Bulldogs, actually began her journey before that. She was 18 or 19 and moving out of her parents’ house when she decided she wanted a dog. “When you’re that young, you don’t really know anything,” she says with a laugh, “so you [take] some quizzes, and you’re like, ‘Oh yes, Frenchies!’” 

Wageveld’s first dog, Quinta, was six years old when she adopted her. Wageveld soon caught the “Frenchie virus” and adopted another — a male puppy named Tyke. While Tyke turned out to be unusually athletic for the breed, Quinta died at nine years old from spinal complications, which Hawbucks’ website notes is a common complication for the breed. 

Over time, Wageveld learned as much as she could about the breed and attended dog shows with Tyke. Eventually, she studied to become a veterinary nurse. At the dog shows, however, she noticed something about the traditional breeders. In her words, they “didn't really want to go the athletic route. They really didn't like that type at all. Eventually, Wageveld brought a third Frenchie home — a sturdy-looking female named Yara who, after genetic testing, proved to be just as healthy on the inside.

Wageveld began breeding in 2016, although she notes she’s a relatively small breeder; almost a decade later, she’s just welcomed her fifth litter. She believes that her veterinary experience lends her a kind of insight that many of her peers lack. “I noticed that some breeders did the testing [and x-rays]... but they didn't know how to read those x-rays,” she says. Too often, she adds, breeders will claim to care about health as a sales tactic, with little actual investment.

Hawbucks’ Frenchies are bred to have longer muzzles and necks, produce no respiratory sounds while at rest, and to have tails — a trait that Kessen notes is essential. After all, our dogs use their tails to communicate.

Kessen offers a specific checklist of qualities to avoid when looking at Frenchies and other flat-faced dogs:

• If dog is snoring, gasping, or making rasping sounds while at rest, that indicates blocked airwaves

• If the dog’s nostrils are partially or completely closed, they cannot breathe properly

• If the dog’s nasal folds are visible, they can become inflamed; the hairs on the dog’s face can poke their eyes and cause irritation

• If the whites of the dog’s eyes are visible when looking forward, their eye sockets are too shallow and their eyes are vulnerable

• If the dog cannot fully close their eyelids, their eyes become dry and can become damaged

• If the ratio of the dog’s skull to snout is less than 0.30, too short, their airwaves are too short. (To calculate the ratio, measure from the tip of the nose to where it meets face, and from where the nose meets the face to the back of the dog’s head. Divide the second number by the first number. The lower the number, the better off the dog will be.) 

Although it is illegal to breed excessively flat-faced dogs in the Netherlands, Kessen notes that it is not illegal to own, sell, or import them. Dier&Recht hopes to change that, or to expand the Netherlands’ regulations to other European countries.

As straightforward as the stakes here might seem, they are not without controversy — even in the Netherlands. From the beginning of her breeding journey, Wageveld says, her efforts seemed to frustrate some of her older, more traditional contemporaries. “Some breeders loved it, and other breeders hated it,” she says, adding that at one point, people were even posting photos of her with Yara and commenting on social media.

In Europe as in the United States, there are also plenty of pet parents who are convinced that their dogs are just fine. “People say, ‘Oh, my dog doesn't have problems,’” Wageveld says. “But when you put them next to any normally built dog, there is such a difference. I mean, they're like potatoes, the Frenchies. They're as flexible as a potato.”

As an adoption-forward publication, Kinship encourages anyone who is considering adding a dog to their home to check out their local shelters and rescue organizations. There are also plenty of breed-specific rescues for those set on a specific type of dog. But whether you’re looking at a flat-faced dog from a rescue or a breeder, it’s important to evaluate their health. Beyond her breeding efforts, Wageveld is also working to spread awareness on social media about what, specifically, to look for. 

“If people are educated, they ask breeders [questions about their dogs’ health],” Wageveld says. “And if breeders don't get away with it anymore, then they won't do it anymore because it doesn’t sell.”

And let’s face it — Frenchies will always be cute no matter how long their noses are.