French Bulldog Shedding: How Bad Is It Really?

Frenchies are great, cute, and quite funny little dogs.

My own french bulldog, Oogie, definitely fits the description.

Based on my experience with french bulldogs and many other french bulldog owners, I can tell you this:

French Bulldogs shed year-round, with heavier shedding during spring and fall. However, the amount of shedding is decent, especially when compared to a Labrador Retriever, which sheds much more. Shedding can be significantly reduced with the correct diet and a good grooming practice.

Now, I consider myself an orderly person that loves a clean home. However, I still decided to get my French Bulldog despite knowing this.

I can tell you this: I don’t regret it for a second. The breed’s lovely personality and other aspects were more much more important, in my opinion.

Let’s dive in deeper, so you can get the whole picture.

How Bad Does a French Bulldog Shed?

While French Bulldogs do their fair of shedding, they are not the heaviest shedders. As a comparison, dog breeds like Alaskan Malamute, Huskies, or Labrador Retrievers shed significantly more.

French Bulldogs are year-round shedders. However, during fall and spring, French Bulldogs replace their summer coat with their winter coat and vice-versa. This means that during those months, the shedding will be heavier.

Yes, they shed all year and a bit worse when the seasons change, but, in my own experience, the amount of shedding is not enough to noticeably bug me (and I’m on the cleaner side).

I do have a vacuum cleaner robot, which helps, though.

What Color French Bulldog Sheds the Least?

Based on evidence from Frenchie owners in the real world, it seems that black, dark fawn, and dark brindle French Bulldogs shed the least, while cream and light fawn French Bulldogs shed the most.

However, the difference between the different colors is not significant and may be due to the color of the hairs rather than the actual shedding amount.

Are French Bulldogs Hypoallergenic?

There is no truly hypoallergenic dog that never sheds, and that includes French Bulldogs.

Unfortunately, French Bulldogs are non-hypoallergenic. So, if you are allergic, I highly recommend avoiding them.

Not only do they shed fur, but also dander (dead skin), as it can become dry and flaky.

Generally, some proteins that may cause an allergic reaction may be present in dogs’ dander, saliva, and urine.

What Can Cause French Bulldogs to Shed Excessively?

Shedding is natural for all dogs. However, it highly depends on multiple factors.

Medical Conditions

Some medical conditions can affect your Frenchie’s shedding. Those include:

• Parasites (fleas, mites, lice, etc.)
• Bacterial or fungal infections
• Food or other allergies
• Kidney diseases
• Liver diseases
• Thyroid or adrenal issues
• Cancer
• Immune diseases
• Sunburns

Stress and Anxiety

There are an infinite amount of things that may stress your Frenchie.

Some examples of stressful things could be:

• A change in routine
• Separation
• Thunderstorms, fireworks, or other sharp and loud noises
• New animals in the home

When a dog gets stressed out, cortisol is released, which can cause excessive shedding. But, unfortunately, that is not the only bad thing that can result from too much cortisol in the system.

The dog’s immune system, mood, and even digestive system may also be affected.

Dietary Imbalance or Sensitivity

One symptom of food sensitivity or imbalance can be excessive shedding.

If you’ve recently changed your dog’s diet or introduced a new food, it could be that your dog is actually sensitive to something in that new food.

Medications

Shedding doesn’t always mean that there is an inherent problem. Sometimes, external things like medication could play a part.

However, this should only happen during long-term treatment.

For example, topical treatment of parasites such as fleas can cause balding spots, and a high dose of steroids over an extended period can also cause shedding.

How to Reduce Your French Bulldog’s Shedding?

Given you now have the idea of why your Frenchie sheds in the first place, here are a few ways you can reduce your French Bulldog’s shedding.

Balanced Diet

A good diet is arguably the most important thing to control excessive shedding in dogs.

French Bulldogs specifically are known to be sensitive to all kinds of foods.

The change of diet alone can make a world of difference to the shedding and other things like energy levels, itching, and even smell.

Try experimenting with different kinds of foods that contain only one type of protein (monoproteins) to try and figure out if one type of protein causes the problems.

I have had to change my Frenchie’s diet about 5-6 times over an entire year to finally find a good match.

When I finally found that food, the shedding had improved drastically. As a bonus, almost all other aspects of this health improved too.

Increase Water Intake

Keeping your Frenchie’s skin hydrated is another thing to keep an eye on.

Dehydrated skin can make shedding worse.

Make sure that your dog always has access to fresh water.

Get a Rubber Grooming Brush

Brush your Frenchie regularly (at least once a week) using a rubber brush.

Most Frenchies don’t like getting brushed regularly and have somewhat sensitive skin. So, a rubber brush may be a much better option than a bristle or a slicker brush for French Bulldogs.

Your Frenchie will thank you for it.