You always knew where a Frenchie was. The ears gave them away from across the room, two big upright triangles turning towards every sound, and then there was the noise: the snort, the sneeze, the grumble like a very small old man disagreeing with the weather. They slept flat out on their backs, legs in the air, and snored loud enough to hear through a wall.
French Bulldogs are mostly city dogs now, often the only pet in a flat, often very attached to one person. They don't need long walks, they can't swim well, and they're not keen on stairs, so a lot of their life happened on the sofa next to you. That closeness is a large part of what's missing.
Each Small Goodbyes portrait comes in oil, watercolour, charcoal, line or pastel, with a free preview before you pay, and is made to order for your Frenchie. If a friend has lost their Frenchie, see our dog memorial gifts.
| Kennel Club group | Utility |
|---|---|
| Life expectancy at birth, UK | 4.5 years (Royal Veterinary College, 2022) |
| Coats you see most | fawn, brindle, pied (white with patches) and cream |
| Styles that suit | oil for brindle; pastel or watercolour for fawn and cream |
Why so many Frenchies are lost young
If your Frenchie died young, you're not alone, and it isn't because you missed something. In the Royal Veterinary College's study of UK dogs, French Bulldogs had the shortest life expectancy of any breed, about four and a half years at birth. The flat face that makes them look the way they do also makes breathing, sleeping and keeping cool difficult. Many owners spent a lot of their dog's life on vet visits and careful walks. Grief for a young dog often comes with a sense of being robbed of years, and that feeling is fair.
What owners remember
The zoomies round the living room for no reason at all. The head tilt when you said a word they knew. The way they leant their whole weight into your legs. The face that swung between deeply suspicious and completely delighted, with nothing in between. Frenchies are often the dog that people who aren't dog people remember, because they were funny, loud and entirely themselves.
Choosing the photo
Take the photo from their eye level if you can, with both ears in the picture. Big dark eyes can disappear into a dark brindle face under flash, so a daylight photo near a window works better. A three-quarter view shows the shape of the muzzle and the folds above it.
Which style suits a Frenchie
Oil suits brindle, because it brings out the stripes in the coat. Pastel and watercolour are gentle on fawn and cream. For a pied Frenchie, line drawing makes a striking picture from the patches alone.
If it has only just happened, the practical side of the first days is on the dog memorial portraits page, and how to write a pet eulogy helps if you want to write something down before the details blur.