🦴 Updated on February 2nd, 2024
If you are the proud owner of a French Bulldog or are in the market to buy one, you might be wondering why some French Bulldogs cost more than others if they are the same breed.
These price differences are usually related to your Frenchie’s coat color, and specific colors are rare, which causes an increase in the dog’s price. We will be using a French Bulldog DNA color chart to discover which colors are rare, which are common, and the science behind your dog’s coat color.
It’s also helpful to examine a French Bulldog color price chart to determine which color Frenchies are more affordable and which will be a more considerable investment.
French Bulldog Color Chart
Before breaking down the science behind colors and the rarity of Frenchie coats, let’s discuss the possible colors and color combinations found on the French bulldog colour chart.
Brindle
Brindle is a stripey shade that usually mixes brown, black, and gold. It can contain some tan shades. Brindle Frenchies can be considered tri-colored or multicolored, depending on how many shades are present in their brindle coat.
Brindle Frenchies can also have some white patches throughout their fur. If the white patches are large enough, they can be considered a brindle and white French Bulldog, and not just solid brindle.
Fawn
As the name suggests, fawn-colored Frenchies are a light brown shade that looks like the color of a baby deer. Fawn can also sometimes have a reddish tint to it.
Frenchies can be a solid fawn color, a combination of fawn and white, or a combination of fawn and brindle.
Black
This one is pretty straightforward. If your Frenchie is solid black, you’ve got a black French Bulldog. Black Frenchies can also have patches of white in various places on their coat, but as long as they are mostly solid black, they are categorized as having black fur.
Cream
Cream Frenchies have a pretty, soft, light brown coat. Sometimes their faces are a darker shade of brown than the rest of their coat.
White
White Frenchies, as their name suggests, are solid white. We’d recommend purchasing a whitening shampoo for your pup if you have a white Frenchie to keep their coat nice and bright!
Merle
Merle Frenchies are one of the more unique-looking variations of French Bulldogs. They have a beautiful speckled pattern, and their distinguishing characteristic is their extreme rarity. The bright blue eyes are not an exception.
Blue
Blue Frenchies are a nice shade of light gray. There are also blue fawn Frenchies that mix the gray and fawn hues to produce a unique gray-brown color all its own.
Chocolate
As you can probably guess by the name, chocolate Frenchies are a beautiful rich brown color.
Lilac/Isabella
These gray Frenchies are known both as lilac or isabella French Bulldogs. While they are not purple, their gray coats usually have a lovely lilac tint that makes them stand out. They also typically have light-colored eyes that can be blue or gray.
Tri-Color French Bulldog
There are also tri-color Frenchies that can combine three of the colors above to produce a vibrant, speckled coat.
Tri-color Frenchies, double-color Frenchies, and solid Frenchies all have the same sweet, friendly temperament, so selecting your French Bulldog tri color based on coat color alone is ultimately a personal preference.
AKC Recognition
The AKC recognizes the following colors for French Bulldogs:
- Cream
- Fawn
- White
- Brindle
And any combination of the above.
The AKC does not recognize the following colors for French Bulldogs:
- Blue
- Chocolate
- Lilac/Isabella
Any combination of these colors, including a tri-color frenchie with one or more of the recognized colors, is also not officially recognized.
The AKC recognizes more common colors in Frenchies because achieving the rare, unrecognized colors can sometimes result from unethical breeding processes.
While it is possible to breed Frenchies in rare colors, you should research your breeder and their practices to ensure you’re supporting a reputable breeder.
French Bulldog DNA Color Chart Calculator
To better understand how French bulldogs acquired various color coats, it’s helpful to take a look at their history.
The History Behind French Bulldog Breeding
According to the AKC, the popularity of the French Bulldog originated in – you guessed it – France. They were dark in color and commonplace in brothels in the 19th and 20th centuries, giving these cute pups a bit of a notorious reputation.
Since then, their popularity has skyrocketed, and breeding them to produce more unique colors has become more commonplace. The rise of breeding contributes to the vast array of colors – and prices – that come with French Bulldogs.
Why are Certain Colors More Expensive?
Simply put, it is more challenging to breed Frenchies with more rare coats like blue, merle, or chocolate. Even Frenchies with more common coats like fawn or cream can be a challenge to reproduce. Of course, achieving a rare coat is even more time-consuming and expensive than simply breeding French Bulldogs without caring what color they come out.
The anatomy of a French Bulldog makes it difficult for them to reproduce naturally, so most breeders use an artificial insemination process.
The more specific color you want their coat to be, the more complicated and expensive the insemination process is, so this is why breeders charge more for Frenchies with rare coats. They’ve put a lot of work and money into the breeding process, so they want to make it worth it!
French Bulldog DNA Color Price Chart
Here is a list of average French Bulldog prices based on the color of their coat, ranked from least to most expensive:
- Brindle – $4,000
- Fawn Brindle – $4,500
- Black – $4,500
- White – $5,000
- Fawn – $5,000
- Cream – $5,000
- Chocolate – $6,500
- Blue – $6,500
- Blue Fawn – $6,500
- Lilac/Isabella – Between $7,000-$8,000
- Fluffy – $11,000+
Remember that these are the average prices breeders charge after referencing a French bulldog breeding color chart. You can also try to find a brindle, fawn, or black Frenchie on an adoption site or at your local animal shelter. Adopting your Frenchie will likely be much cheaper than purchasing one from a breeder.
If you seek a Frenchie with a more rare coat, you will most likely have to purchase one from a breeder and expect to spend significantly more money.
Fluffy Coats
While fluffy coat Frenchies can come in any color, we wanted to call them out specifically because they tend to cost an extravagant amount of money. This is because fluffy French Bulldogs are extremely rare.
Their hair is a bit longer than usual and tends to have more fluff around their ears and neck. A fluffy French Bulldog is a significant investment, but some are willing to shell out the big bucks to purchase one of these adorable, rare Frenchies.
Regardless of the color of the bulldog, whether rare or not, they are unique to their owners. They put effort and love into them. If you are raising a cute bulldog and want to customize some related items for it to express your love.
The custom enamel pins are a good choice. You can customize the enamel pin with your puppy’s name and image to carry around with you to show everyone how much you love it. The equally exquisite and personalized enamel pins can also be collected as souvenirs. To learn more, please click EnamelPins Inc
French Bulldog DNA Color Calculator
Here is a handy guide from UC Davis’s School of Veterinary Medicine’s Veterinary Genetics Lab for Frenchie DNA.
Agouti
The Agouti, or A Locus, gene controls the amount of red or black in a dog’s coat. So if this gene is present in one of the parents’ DNA, it can affect the amount of these shades in the pup’s coat.
Brown
The Brown gene, otherwise known as B Locus, Chocolate, or Liver, can change black pigment to brown in a Frenchie’s coat.
Cocoa
The Cocoa gene can make brown coats even darker.
Dilute
The Dilute Gene, or D Locus/Blue, does exactly what its name states; it lightens the pigment of the color on your dog’s coat.
Dominant Black
Dominant Black (also known as K Locus) controls both black and red/yellow pigments.
MC1R
This gene, shortened to E Locus, controls markings on the coat rather than solid colors. The Frenchie color chart labels these colors as black, red, yellow, and cream.
Piebald
Piebald (S Locus) can cause white spotting on a dog’s coat.
These genes are responsible for the look of your dog’s coat depending on which genes of the parent dogs are dominant or recessive. Dog breeders use their knowledge of genetics to produce puppies with specific coat colors and markings.
The more the breeders know about French Bulldog DNA, the easier it is for them to produce puppies with rare coats so they can charge more for them.
French Bulldog Color Price Chart: Final Words
Whether you spend $11,000+ on a fluffy Frenchie, $6,000 on a blue Frenchie, or $200 on a brindle Frenchie from the humane society, you are gaining a friend for life. They are sweet, active, and loyal to their people.
Knowing more about their color by referencing a french bulldog colors chart, you can decide how much you want to spend on a Frenchie with a rare coat.
