Pups are cute, especially if it’s a French Bulldog puppy with adorable bat ears and multiple skin folds. As they develop, though, you might be curious about how big they’re going to actually get. Take a look below at the different French Bulldog growth stages as well as the factors that go into the size of your dog’s size. Some of them may surprise you!
Typically, French Bulldogs will get to be about 11-13” (27-33 cm) in size. Their weight, assuming that they stay with healthy ranges, is between 26-28 lbs (12-13kg). Get familiar with the most common sizing details, the different parts of their body that grow (sometimes at different speeds!), the different types of Frenchies as determined by size, and how to predict French Bulldog growth spurts.
How Big Do French Bulldogs Get? Frenchie Sizing
Within those common French Bulldog size parameters, a lot is going on! All things considered, a French Bulldog is considered to be a small or medium dog.
However, they are solid dogs. So, all 13” (33 cm) of him is going to be solid bone and muscle! Another way of describing Frenchies is “chonky”. Frenchies are, indeed, very chonky. But that’s just part of their loveable charm, right?
French Bulldog head size: what’s going on?
One of the most common issues that French Bulldog owners start to have right around their first birthday, is accepting the fact that the head is smaller than the body.
If you’ve noticed this about your own pooch and you’re trying to figure out if it’s your imagination or not, take a breath — it’s a common French Bulldog problem.
What’s happening is as literal as it looks. Your French Bulldog’s body is growing at a different rate than its head. This can often be upsetting to those pet parents who worry that something is wrong, but it’s pretty common with Frenchies.
You’ll probably be very relieved to know that Frenchies continue to fill out until they read about 2 years of age. During this time, though their bones and body mass have finished growing, their heads will appear bigger because their chest, neck and sometimes face will fill out.
Between the filling out of their physiques and any last-minute growth spurts in the frame of your French Bulldog means their head will catch up with their body.
On average, their head size will end up being 18.5” (47 cm). While the head may always seem to be slightly smaller than the body of a French Bulldog, it’s everything to do with their physique and not a birth defect.
Don’t worry — it’s only noticeable to you because you saw your pup go through his or her most awkward growth stages!
French Bulldog Neck Size
As mentioned briefly, you’ll find that a French Bulldog’s neck will often continue to fill out after that first year or even two years. While the neck itself is done growing, your Frenchie will “grow into him/herself” and this often includes the neck in particular. The size of most adult Frenchie necks is 14-16” (35-40cm).
French Bulldog Chest Size
Yup, you guessed it: the chest fills out for a few years even after your doggo becomes an adult dog. This is especially so if he’s healthy and doesn’t spend his whole life on the couch. The average for his or her chest will be between 18-26” (45-66cm) when it is fully filled out and isn’t overweight.
French Bulldog Length
As you may already know, the length of your French Bulldog is from his withers to his adorable tail stub. Even though the chest, neck, and the head itself may fill out once he gets past his original growth stage, the length tends to be pretty much set from the time he reaches his first birthday or so.
On average, the length of a French Bulldog’s body is going to be between 10-11” (25-28cm).
Of course, there are always going to be dogs that will be bigger or smaller than that and be perfectly healthy and with a normal life expectancy. There are quite a few factors that go into determining their overall measurements.
Genetics, health problems and lifestyle all play a role, for example.
Are there different sizes of French bulldogs?
Now that you’ve got a handle on the idea of a Frenchie’s dimensions, it’s time to add another factor to the equation! This is, specifically, determining whether or not your French Bulldog is a standard Frenchie or a mini (aka teacup) Frenchie.
Toy dog breeds, toy bulldogs, tend to be really common and are a result of breeding exclusively runt pups to create a genetically smaller version of this French Bulldog. It’s basically a smaller version of your French Bulldog.
A standard French Bulldog is going to meet the specifications listed up above in all of the similar sections. As far as weight is concerned, they tend to fluctuate between 17-23 lbs (7.7-10.4kg) at their adult weight.
There are a lot of factors that go into their weight that you should know about for your French Bulldog, but this is just an average. The American Kennel Club sets the max of weight at under 28 lbs (12.7kg).
A teacup or mini French Bulldog, on the other hand, tends to be 2.5-7lbs (1.1-3.17kg) at full French Bulldog growth!
Other than their weight, you’ll notice quite a few differences in a mini and a standard Frenchies. Firstly, there is an obvious size difference between them. But this difference extends to their feet, tail stubs, ears, body, and everything.
Interestingly, mini Frenchies often have the same size difference between their bodies and heads! While they may be different in size, they progress at the same rate as far as French Bulldog growth spurts.
Why is my French Bulldog so big?
Are you surprised at the overall measurements of your French Bulldog? Feeling a little nervous because your pooch seems to be a little (or a lot) over the normal parameters above? Take a moment and consider the different options in detail.
Parents and genes
Just like with humans, you can predict a lot about a French Bulldog’s full-grown measurements by taking a look at his or her parents! When you are looking to source your French Bulldog puppy, you should always insist on meeting both Mom and Dad of your potential puppy.
While this is important for a lot of reasons, one of them is going to be taking a look at both of them to get a really good estimate for the size you can expect in the future.
Typically, mothers are just a bit smaller than fathers, but it’s a great indicator of an average, especially if you put them side by side and then stand next to them. It’s like a cool form of time travel!
The litter of the mama-to-be can also determine the dimensions of your pooch, so it’s especially important to know how many puppies are expected from your puppy’s mom. If it’s just one or two, then your pooch should meet average. If it’s three or maybe four, you can expect all puppies to be a bit smaller.
Health issues and diet
As you can probably imagine, there are a lot of factors that go into a French Bulldog’s health. A proper diet, keeping a proper weight, and staying healthy as far as sickness and other common breed-associated health problems are also important in assessing size overall. Your vet can help you stay on top of this!
Are they big or just chonky?
Interestingly, when worrying about your French Bulldog being too big, you may want to really get familiar with his body physique! Is his body actually oversized (as in, bones and length), or is more of an issue with his chonkiness level?
It’s very easy for Frenchies to be overweight, even if they’re young. Even though it feels as though your solid Frenchie is just too big, he could just need a few more walks.
Even though French Bulldogs tend to hover between the “small” and “medium” category on a dog breed growth chart, every case is definitely different.
If dimensions will be an issue for you, you’ll definitely want to be very careful when choosing the breeders as well as the parents of your puppy-to-be. In terms of space, remember that Frenchies aren’t especially difficult to take care of, particularly in terms of their own space. French Bulldogs can be easily enjoyed even if you live in an apartment!
At what age do French Bulldogs stop growing?
As mentioned briefly above, French Bulldogs tend to grow as far as length and bones until they are anywhere between 8 months to a year old. From that first year to their 2nd birthday, they’ll continue to fill out and take on the full grown measurements and dimensions of a French Bulldog in neck, chest and head size.
During this first year, you’ll be able to get a feel for what you can expect in the length and height of your excitable Frenchie puppy. Once that first birthday has passed, it’ll be more about detail specifically related to filling out into his frame.
French Bulldogs have some pretty distinct characteristics, and their dimensions is definitely one of them. From head to tush, this will help you to know what you can expect from your doggo’s various milestones. And, if he ends up being a little bigger than you planned, just look at this way: now there’s just
