Understanding the Different French Bulldog Colors

To understand the colors you must first understand the genetics. Here is a little breakdown: 

Each color and/or color pattern has its own single or multi-letter alphabet(ex: “b” for brown/chocolate, “Kbr” for brindle). The color and color pattern has its own little box. That box falls within a bigger box that makes up a dog’s color pallet. This pallet is called a locus which also means “location.”

Each locus has enough space for two of these little boxes, called alleles. One allele carries one color.

When two alleles join together inside one locus, they determine the French Bulldog colors.  So, in other words, these two boxes carry genes that, when mixed together, create the unique shade of the coat of your dog.

Standard coat colors:

The standard french bulldog coat colors recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC) include: 

Fawn-this coat color almost looks cream. These colors vary from a very light cream to a reddish cream color. They can have a black mask or be mask-less.

White-white colored coat, can be solid or with patterns(piebald, brindle, or merle)

Brindle(pattern)-A common pattern with a fawn base coat and darker hairs that extend or twist in bands, also known as “tiger strip”. 

Black-black markings related to brindle or pied patterns or black mask. (Note solid black or without a trace of brindle is disqualified per the AKC standards.)

Cream-white colored with a bit of yellow, often called eggshell. They may have a pink nose, lips, and paw pads or can be black. In rare cases, they can have blue eyes.

Any mix of the above colors plus pied are recognized by the American Kennel Club. These dogs are able to compete at shows and are accepted officially by national or international bodies.

Exotic or Rare coat colors:

Chocolate - These French bulldogs are very rare. The chocolate brown allele is a recessive gene, therefore needs to have two copies (one from each parent) to physically inherit the chocolate color. The chocolate color can range from a light reddish/brown to a darker shade of chocolate/brown color. The more reddish coat color has also been known as “rojo” colored and denoted “bb” on the b locus. (bb)

Blue- Blue or “gray” color french bulldog. This dog carries two copies of the d allele (dd). This color is the result of a dilution gene, which affects eumelanin (a brown to black pigment that is the most common form of melanin and whose functions include protecting the epidermis against damage from ultraviolet radiation). Carrying two copies of the d allele(dd) will allow for a dog with a black coat to physically look blue(gray). This coat color varies in an array of shades of gray, ranging from light gray to a very dark gray(almost black).

Cocoa-a dark chocolate colored coat. More common chocolate gene, previously called “non-testable chocolate”. Carries two copies of cocoa gene. (coco)

Lilac-Lilac french bulldogs are a rare color with a light gray coat appearance. The DNA consists of two copies of both the blue(dilution) genotype or d allele(denoted “dd”) and chocolate brown phenotype which was previously referred to as “nontestable chocolate” or the cocoa variant (denoted “coco”).  The lilac french bulldog will carry two copies of both blue and cocoa (dd/coco)

Merle (pattern)-The merle coat is not a color but a pattern of mottled patches of color on a solid or piebald coat.  These dogs typically have light blue eyes or have one or more regions of the same iris pigmented differently from the rest of the iris, called heterochromia Iridum.

This pattern is a very touchy subject in the french bulldog community as the breeding of two merles can cause severe health issues. Therefore, a merle dog should only be bred to a non merle.

Isabella-Milky brown coat color with green or amber colored eyes. DNA consists of two copies of both the blue(dilution) genotype and the testable chocolate recessive gene. Also referred to as the “true lilac”, “double lilac”, or “double dilute”. (dd/bb)

New shade Isabella- A pale or lighter shade goldish-brown coat color with green, amber, or blue colored eyes. Referred to as “triple dilute” having DNA consisting of two copies of Blue(dilution), two copies of testable chocolate, and two copies of non-testable chocolate(dd/bb/coco)

New shade Platinum Isabella -Uniquely rare combination of coat colors, with DNA consisting of two copies of each: blue(dilution), testable chocolate, non-testable chocolate, and cream. (dd/bb/coco/ee). Coat will be cream as the cream color covers all other colors when present in DNA. The nose, eyes, lips, and paw pads will be lighter in color.

Fluffy-long haired french bulldog. These pups carry the L-long hair gene. Some believe this rare gene was the result of a genetic mutation, however others believe a different dog breed was introduced to produce this rare gene.