The Complete Guide to French Bulldog Food

There’s no single best food for French Bulldogs. What matters is that the food is complete and balanced for your dog’s life stage, that you feed the right amount, and that your Frenchie stays at a healthy weight. Here’s how to judge a food, what the options are and how to change foods without upsetting your dog’s stomach.

Start with the label

The most useful sentence on a bag of dog food is the nutritional adequacy statement. If it says the food is “complete and balanced,” the product is intended to be fed as your pet’s sole diet and should be nutritionally balanced (FDA). To make that claim, a food has to meet the AAFCO nutrient profiles or pass AAFCO feeding trials, and the statement names the life stage it’s meant for, such as growth or adult maintenance.

One common myth is worth clearing up: dog food isn’t approved by the FDA before it goes on sale. Most ingredients, such as meat, poultry and grains, don’t require premarket approval. What the law does require is that pet food “be safe to eat, produced under sanitary conditions, contain no harmful substances, and be truthfully labeled” (FDA).

Dogs need six classes of nutrients: water, protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals (Merck Veterinary Manual). Carbohydrates are worth a note, because they’re a common worry: they aren’t considered essential in the diet of adult, non-reproducing dogs, though they do matter during growth, pregnancy and nursing.

Types of French Bulldog food

Dry food

Kibble is the most popular kind of dog food. It’s easy to measure, keeps well unopened and usually costs less per meal than wet food.

One old claim about kibble doesn’t hold up. Dry food alone does not improve oral health (VCA Animal Hospitals). Special dental kibbles are made larger so that a dog has to bite through them, which scrapes plaque off the tooth, and products carrying the Veterinary Oral Health Council seal for plaque control have been tested. Even then, daily brushing is the thing that keeps teeth healthy.

Wet food

Canned food is mostly water, which makes it soft and strongly flavored. That suits picky eaters, dogs with sore mouths or missing teeth, and dogs who need more water in their diet. It costs more per meal, and an opened can has to go in the fridge.

If your dog has kidney disease or another illness, don’t pick a food by category. Your vet may prescribe a therapeutic diet formulated for that condition.

Home-prepared food

Cooking for your dog gives you complete control of the ingredients, which appeals to owners of dogs with diagnosed food allergies. The catch is nutritional balance. The most common imbalances in home-prepared diets involve calcium, phosphorus, zinc, magnesium and iron, and “removing ingredients or making ingredient substitutions can disrupt the nutrient balance, potentially leading to nutrient deficiencies or excesses” (VCA Animal Hospitals).

If you want to cook for your Frenchie, use a recipe formulated by a board-certified veterinary nutritionist, follow it exactly and have your vet check your dog regularly. Growing puppies are the riskiest candidates for a home-cooked diet, because their nutrient needs are the least forgiving.

A note on grain-free food

Grain-free foods are often marketed for dogs with allergies. Since 2018, the FDA has been investigating reports of dilated cardiomyopathy, a serious heart disease, in dogs eating diets high in peas, lentils, other legume seeds or potatoes, many of them labeled grain-free. Of the reported cases, 91% involved grain-free diets and 93% contained peas or lentils, but no causal relationship has been established, and the agency has said it doesn’t intend to publish further updates “until there is meaningful new scientific information to share” (FDA).

That’s not a reason to panic if your dog does well on a grain-free food. It is a reason to choose one with your vet rather than on marketing, especially since grains are an uncommon cause of food allergies. Our guide to French Bulldog food allergies explains how food allergies are actually diagnosed.

Feeding by life stage

Puppies

Puppies need food labeled for growth, and they need it more often than adults. The AKC suggests four feedings a day from 6 to 12 weeks, three from 3 to 6 months, and twice daily from 6 to 12 months (AKC). Small-breed puppies can move to adult food at 7 to 9 months, so a Frenchie puppy will usually be on puppy food longer than six months.

Adults

Most adult Frenchies do well on two meals a day of a food labeled for adult maintenance.

Senior dogs

Small-breed dogs are considered senior at around 10 to 11 years old, not six (VCA Animal Hospitals). Energy needs can fall by 12% to 13% with age, so portions often need to come down. There are no established nutrient requirements for senior dogs, which is why senior foods vary so much between brands. Ask your vet what your individual dog needs, especially if they have a health condition.

Portions and weight

Feeding guides on the bag are a starting point, not a prescription. Body condition, not the amount left in the bowl, should determine your dog’s portions (AKC). Measure meals rather than free feeding, and weigh your dog regularly.

Weight matters more for this breed than for most. The AKC breed standard caps a French Bulldog at 28 pounds (AKC), and extra weight makes breathing problems worse in flat-faced dogs, so keeping your Frenchie lean is one of the most useful things you can do for their health (VCA Animal Hospitals).

How to change your dog’s food

Switch gradually over about a week: roughly 25% new food on day 1, half and half by day 3, 75% by day 5, and all new food by day 7 (AKC). Watch for vomiting, diarrhea or a drop in appetite, and slow the change down if you see them. Dogs with sensitive stomachs, food allergies or other gut problems may need longer, and if the upset continues after a gradual switch, talk to your vet.

Feeding tips

• Keep water available. Dogs should always have access to fresh water, and dry food contains very little moisture.
• Slow down fast eaters. Dogs that eat fast have five times the risk of bloat compared with slow eaters (AKC), so a slow-feeder bowl is worth trying if your Frenchie inhales dinner.
• Skip the raised bowl. Elevated bowls are often suggested for flat-faced dogs, but they’ve been linked with bloat rather than protecting against it (AKC).
• Feed more than one meal a day. Dogs fed a single daily meal are twice as likely to bloat as those fed twice (AKC).
• Keep things calm after meals. Let your dog settle rather than starting a vigorous game straight after dinner.
• Adjust for the individual dog. Activity level, life stage, lean body mass, age and environment all change how much energy a dog needs (Merck Veterinary Manual).

Food and allergies

If your Frenchie is itchy, has recurring ear infections or an upset stomach, don’t switch foods at random. Food allergies are diagnosed with an elimination diet run by your vet, and skin problems have plenty of other causes. Our guides to French Bulldog food allergies and French Bulldog health issues cover what else could be going on.

In conclusion

Pick a complete and balanced food for your dog’s life stage, measure the portions, keep your Frenchie lean and change foods slowly. If you want specific product suggestions, see our guide to the best dog food for French Bulldogs. And when in doubt, your vet knows your dog.