French Bulldog vs English Bulldog: How the Two Breeds Compare

French and English Bulldogs look like two sizes of the same dog, and they do share an ancestor: the French Bulldog descends from small English bulldogs taken to France in the 1800s. But when you are choosing between them, the differences matter more than the resemblance, and most of them come down to size, heat and health.

At a glance

	French Bulldog	English Bulldog
Weight (breed standard)	Not over 28 pounds	About 50 pounds for males, 40 for females
Coat	Short, smooth, single	Short, smooth, single
Standard colors	Brindle, fawn, white and combinations	Red, white, fawn, fallow and combinations
Tail	Straight or screwed, short	Straight or screwed, short
Heatstroke odds vs a Labrador	6.49 times	13.95 times
Median lifespan (UK)	9.8 years	9.8 years

Sources: the French Bulldog and Bulldog breed standards, Hall and colleagues, 2020, and McMillan and colleagues, 2024.

Size and build

The practical difference is weight. A French Bulldog tops out at 28 pounds under the breed standard. An English Bulldog is built to weigh about 40 pounds for a female and 50 for a male. That matters every time you lift your dog into a car, carry them up stairs, or need to get them to a vet in a hurry.

Neither standard sets a height, and the heights quoted online vary widely, so treat any height figure as a rough guide.

Coat and color

Both breeds have short, smooth, single coats and shed a moderate amount all year. A weekly going-over with a slicker brush keeps loose hair down. Some owners add fish oil for coat condition; check the dose with your vet first. Our shedding guide covers what’s normal.

On color, both standards are narrower than the breeding market suggests. The French Bulldog standard allows brindle, fawn, white and combinations of these, and blue, lilac and merle are disqualifications, as our colors guide explains. The Bulldog standard allows red, white, fawn and fallow, with brindle and piebald patterns, and disqualifies merle and any color it doesn’t define.

Tails

Neither breed’s tail is docked. Both can be straight or “screwed”, and the screw tail wasn’t bred in to prevent injuries. It is linked to a variant in a gene called DVL2, which researchers found in every Bulldog and French Bulldog they tested. The same variant is associated with malformed vertebrae further up the spine, which is part of why both breeds see spinal problems (Mansour and colleagues, 2018).

Temperament and exercise

Both are affectionate companion breeds that want to be near their people. French Bulldogs tend to be livelier and more playful. English Bulldogs are usually calmer and happier to spend the afternoon lying beside you. Both can be single-minded about training.

Neither breed needs much exercise, but both need short, regular activity to stay a healthy weight. Short walks in the cool part of the day and indoor play with chew toys cover it. Our guide to walking a French Bulldog applies to both breeds.

Heat is the biggest practical difference

Both breeds are flat-faced and both struggle in heat, but the English Bulldog is at much higher risk. In a UK study of dogs under veterinary care, Bulldogs had 13.95 times the odds of heat-related illness compared with Labrador Retrievers, against 6.49 times for French Bulldogs (Hall and colleagues, 2020).

If you live somewhere hot, that difference should weigh heavily. Either breed needs air conditioning in summer, walks at dawn or dusk, and an owner who knows the early signs of heatstroke.

Health

Both breeds carry a heavy load of disease linked to their body shape, and the UK’s large VetCompass studies give the clearest comparison. French Bulldogs had higher odds than other dogs for 20 of 43 common disorders, led by narrow nostrils, breathing problems, ear discharge and skin fold infections (O’Neill and colleagues, 2021). English Bulldogs had higher odds for 24 of 43, including 38 times the odds of skin fold infection and 27 times the odds of cherry eye (O’Neill and colleagues, 2022).

These are the problems you are most likely to meet in either breed.

Breathing (BOAS)

Narrow nostrils, a long soft palate and a narrow windpipe make breathing hard work, especially in heat or excitement. Keeping your dog lean helps, and surgery is the main treatment for moderate or severe cases. Our health issues guide covers the signs.

Skin folds

Folds trap moisture and bacteria. Wipe them out a few times a week with a gentle pet wipe and dry them thoroughly. English Bulldogs have far deeper facial folds and need this more often.

Joints and spine

Hip dysplasia, kneecap problems and spinal disease are all common. Keeping your dog lean is the most useful thing you can do. Joint supplements are widely used, but the evidence for them is mixed, so ask your vet before relying on one.

Cherry eye

The gland of the third eyelid slips out and shows as a red lump in the corner of the eye. It needs a vet, and usually surgery to put the gland back rather than remove it.

Allergies

Both breeds are prone to skin and food allergies. Food allergy is diagnosed with a strict elimination trial, often using a limited-ingredient diet, and is best run with your vet so that it actually answers the question.

Birth

More than 80% of litters in both breeds are delivered by caesarean section (Evans and Adams, 2010), which is one reason both are expensive to breed.

Pet insurance is worth arranging early for either breed, before any of this appears.

Lifespan

You will often read that French Bulldogs outlive English Bulldogs. The largest study to date doesn’t support that. Across more than half a million UK dogs, both breeds had a median lifespan of 9.8 years, among the shortest of any breed (McMillan and colleagues, 2024).

What most helps either breed live longer is unglamorous: keeping them lean, avoiding heat, regular vet checks, and acting early on breathing problems.

Grooming and care

Beyond the folds, both breeds are simple to groom: weekly brushing, nails, ears, and a bath when they need one. Our bathing guide covers how often and how to protect the ears.

Training

Both respond best to short, reward-based sessions and lose interest in long ones. Frenchies have a reputation for stubbornness that is mostly about motivation. Our guide to French Bulldog stubbornness covers what works, and our training guide takes you through the basic commands.

Where they live best

Both suit apartments and small homes, and neither needs a yard. What both need is a climate-controlled home. Our guide to why French Bulldogs suit apartment life applies to English Bulldogs too, with one caveat: an English Bulldog is much heavier to carry up stairs when they are old or unwell.

Cost

Both breeds are expensive to buy, largely because of how they have to be bred, and both cost more than average to keep. Our French Bulldog price guide covers advertised prices, rescue fees and ongoing costs, and the same reasoning applies to English Bulldogs.

Which should you choose?

If you want a smaller dog you can carry easily, or you live somewhere warm, the French Bulldog is the more practical of the two. If you want a calmer, more sedentary companion and live somewhere cool, an English Bulldog may suit you better.

Whichever you choose, choose the breeder carefully. Ask about BOAS grading, health testing and how the parents breathe at rest, and look for moderate features rather than extreme ones. And consider rescue: both breeds turn up there often.