Hello all I’m in the begging process of adopting a male French bulldog puppy. Till now I have seen him only virtually (the breeder lives in another town) and I planned to go and see him in person next weekend. In the meantime, I’m having video calls with the breeder and the puppy. She sent me a video clip and since I’m already crazy in love in the puppy, I watched it like a hundred times and I noticed something that is worrying me- he wobbles a lot and looks like he is not flexing his hind legs, when he is walking he looks a bit like a frog. The video clip is made in the pen where all of his bothers and sisters are and it is quite obvious that he is walking differently. He is 7 almost 8 weeks old and by this time, I think he should be walking steadily and stepping properly. Since this is the first puppy I will have, I’m kind of in the dark if this is normal for a puppy his age. I’ll attach some photos, apologising in advance of the quality, and I will appreciate any feedback – do you think his legs are fine…? P.S. I apologise for the poor quality of the photos, they are screenshots from the video. I could upload the whole video as well
It’s impossible to tell from a picture. Have you spoke to the breeder? As the puppies should be health checked by the breeder’s vet.
Regarding this topic I have not, I plan to do it today. Initially, when we started the communication, she assured me he is in good health and is up to date with all of his vaccines. He is also supposed to have pedigree. I’m not sure if it is possible to do it here, but I can upload the video where he is moving, but is kind of hard to spot him, since all of the puppies are in it…
You can ask for evidence of the health check or find out which vet they use and ask if they are happy for you to call and confirm the pups have been checked. Don’t forget to ask if the parents are health screened for any hereditary conditions relevant to the breed and what were the results.
They are 8 puppies from the same litter. She said that the parents are test for genetical diseases. Thank you for the idea to contact the vet they use!
Are you sure that the puppies are pure-bred, because French bulldogs usually have around three puppies in each litter. Anything more than five puppies is very unusual for a Frenchie, with seven puppies being born extremely rare. And you say there are eight puppies in the same litter?
Yep, at least that’s what she told me – 8 puppies from the same litter. The number sounded a bit bigger to me as well, but she assured me that the parents and the puppies have pedigrees. She also gave me a link to one website where the pedigrees are listed and also she is registered at FCI (we are in Europe).
So the breeder said that the parents are test for genetical diseases and she assured you that the parents and the puppies have pedigrees. Are the parents registered as purebred, and are the puppies registered as purebred? Because anyone can get printed pedigree forms and fill in whatever they want - it is only official Kennel Club registrations that mean anything. The FCI is is an international federation of a number of national kennel clubs based in Belgium, with members, associates and partners in 98 countries. However, none are in the United States, United Kingdom, or Canada, the official purebred registries in those countries are not members of the FCI. Presumably that does not matter to you as you are in Europe. Have you already paid a deposit on the puppy you chose, sight unseen?
Yes, I paid small amount as a deposit, like one-tenth from the total. The rest, I am supposed to pay, when I take him.She keeps them until they’ve had their vaccines at 12/14 weeks.
In answer to your question in your OP, a nearly eight-week old puppy should be walking steadily, stepping properly, and scampering around normally. If the puppy cannot walk/step/scamper by that age it is definitely something to be very concerned about. Also, it is not usual for a breeder to keep puppies until they are 12/14 weeks old as they will have passed the optimal age for socialisation by then.
@Cathy27 We seem to have had a few posts about weakness in the hind legs of French Bulldog puppies over the last few weeks. You can view them by opening the recent posts on the FB forum. To the best of my knowledge, there is only one KC recommended DNA test for French Bulldogs. This is for DM - degenerative myelopathy - the results for the parents would appear on the KC registration document of any future progeny. I agree that eight puppies would be an extraordinarily large litter for a French Bulldog.
