About Maison Noir Frenchies

Maison Noir is one house in Miami, one breeder, and never more than two litters a year. I'm Solange. Before I bred French Bulldogs I spent nine years as a veterinary surgical technician, and a good part of that time was spent sitting with flat-faced dogs as they came out of anesthesia, watching the ones with pinched nostrils and long soft palates fight for air that a better-built dog takes for granted.

So this program started from a list of things I would not accept. Nostrils I cannot see into. A dog that snores while it is awake. A neck so short the dog cannot cool itself on a walk. My foundation bitch, Josie, came from a mentor who had been selecting for open airways for twenty years, and every dog I have kept or brought in since has had to breathe at least as well as she does.

Today that standard is written down. Every breeding dog here is examined under the OFA Respiratory Function Grading Scheme, has spine radiographs read by a radiologist, and has OFA patella, cardiac and eye exams plus a DNA panel for CMR1, HUU, DM and JHC. I post the results on each dog's page, including the ones that are less than perfect, because you should know what I know.

My litters are conceived by artificial insemination and delivered by planned C-section, which is normal and sensible for this breed. For the first three weeks I sleep beside the whelping box. The puppies grow up in my living room with a vacuum, a blender, visiting children and a neighbor's very loud parrot, and they go home at ten weeks.

The name started as a joke. The first thing visitors saw was Josie's black mask at the front window and a row of dark brindle faces behind her. A friend called it the maison noir, and it stuck.