When talking to people about french bulldogs, one of their first questions is Do french bulldogs shed? They’re hypoallergenic, right? To which I respond with a resounding No. French bulldogs have a thick, bristly coat that they shed one to two times per year. Some french bulldogs get a really thick coat that will grow in during colder seasons and will shed (violently, almost) during warmer months. Conversely, some french bulldogs have a relatively thin coat year-round. These tend to shed less overall but they still shed some of their fur in the warmer months. The best description I’ve heard for french bulldogs coats is “seal fur without the smooth sheen”. Their coat, like their general anatomy, is stout and thick. This is more exaggerated in the case of french bulldogs with a heavy coat. Still yet, their thin-furred counterparts still shed–just to a lesser degree.

If you’re a french bulldog owner, then you’re already aware that they can shed seemingly unimpeded year-round. They’re talented shedders, no doubt. When we clean our house, we’re really just sweeping up dog fur that our french bulldogs leave in their favorite spots to lounge. We have to vacuum their beds before we wash them. Our car seats are loaded with french bulldog fur. Their collars and harnesses are speckled with lodged french bulldog hairs. It gets everywhere, as you might expect.

Fortunately, of our four french bulldogs, only two have really dense fur. Our brindle and pied french bulldogs do not have thick fur. Their fur is fairly smooth and soft year-round. Our cream males, however, produce enough fur between the two of them to soak up oil in the oceans. It can truly get out of hand when they start shedding in the summer.

DO FRENCH BULLDOGS SHED? – YES – HOW WE DEAL

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If you want to get a handle on your french bulldog’s shedding, here are a few tips we can offer you to help.

1. Bathe your french bulldog. Quasi-regular bathing will help loosen dead hair and dander from your french bulldog’s fur. The more you can get out in the tub, the less you’re going to find all over your Ikea furniture. We recommend a monthly bath if your frenchie stays relatively clean and doesn’t roll around in the dirt and mud like ours do. If your french bulldog loves to get dirty on the regular, then a bi-weekly, or tri-weekly bath may be more appropriate. Bathing your french bulldog too frequently can dry out and irritate their skin, so go easy on the baths. Throw in some Warren London Hydrating Butter after the bath to give their fur a nice, soft sheen.
2. Brush your french bulldog with a shedding brush or shedding blade. You don’t have to apply much pressure or force with these blades. A gentle glide across their coat will help loosen dead hairs from their skin. A 5-minute season every other day or during the warmer months will help cut back on stray fur.
3. Brush after bathing and after playing outside. Give your french bulldog a quick brushing with one of the aforementioned tools. After a luke-warm bath, dead fur will be loosened from their skin and will come out much easier and in much greater quantities. Again, not much pressure. Just a gentle brushing. The same is true after some rough-housing outside, a lot of their dead or loose hairs will be ready to fall right out with a quick brushing.

SUPPLEMENTS TO HELP CONTROL YOUR FRENCH BULLDOG’S SHEDDING

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We put a couple of supplements in our french bulldog’s food to help their coat shine and shed less. Primarily we use a pet-safe omega-3 fatty acid supplement called ShedMed. ShedMed is produced locally to us and it’s a pretty good product. We’ve seen measurable differences in the amount that our cream male sheds each season. There are other purpose-made Omega-3 supplements for dogs, but this is the only one I have used, so I cannot speak for the others. So far, it has worked very well for us.

TOOLS TO CUT DOWN ON LOOSE/SHED HAIRS

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We use two specific tools to brush our french bulldogs that do an excellent job at removing excess/loose fur. On our boys, we use a tool called the “SleekEZ” shedding blade. It’s a short length of blade not unlike the blade in a standard hacksaw, but dulled slightly. It’s mounted in a wooden grip and it is surprisingly effective at brushing out loose fur. Our Auggie Doggie loves it and he stands there patiently enjoying it all the while. For french bulldogs with dense fur, I cannot recommend the SleekEZ enough. It’s equally as good at removing excess from frenchies with soft, single-coats. If your french bulldog has a thinner coat, brush them with a gentle pressure to be certain you’re not pulling out fur that your dog may not be naturally shedding.

For those with tougher coats that seem to shed non-stop, I recommend picking up a FURminator. Aside from the punny name, this shedding brush can really brush out an entire undercoat in two to three sessions. We use the FURminator mostly on Auggie because his coat is sooo thick. He also gets really, really hot during the warmer months. Keeping his undercoat brushed out really helps keep him cooler. On our french bulldogs with single coats, we use the SleekEZ. It’s gentler on their coat and it really helps remove the loose fur. The FURminator might potentially remove too much fur on a frenchie with a thinner coat. You’re encouraged to try both and really see what works best for your french bulldog. We settled on these two tools by trial-and-error. They work great for us, but naturally, all dogs are different.