AMY TALLARICO: Hi, little mama.
Hi, Mama.
I know you like
Mondays, don't you?
Last time, it was
on a Monday, too.
[PHONE RINGING]
AMY TALLARICO: They're taking
the puppies in three hours.
AMY TALLARICO: Pretty much
so you're gonna be on call.
The surgery team,
she said, is gonna
take them late this afternoon,
so probably around 3 o'clock.
We will.
Nono says hi.
OK.
Thanks, Nono.
It's like having a baby.
Everybody calls everybody.
Isn't that weird?
Let me tell Rich.
Good.
So she's 2.2, so they're
taking the puppies
in about three hours.
OK.
We love you.
Mootsie, you're
having babies today.
What do you think?
[MUSIC PLAYING]
RICHARD TALLARICO: Having
pets, and particularly dogs,
is part of the American
experience for a lot of people
and a lot of families.
These dogs are so loved
by so many people,
and they're growing
in popularity.
And it will not be long before
they're the number one breed.
REPORTER: A violent
canine robbery
caught on camera
in West Hollywood.
The target, Lady Gaga's
dog walker and her three
beloved French Bulldogs.
In the surveillance
video, you can
hear them growl as the
suspects put them into the car.
The third dog, Ms.
Asia, managed to escape
and runs to Fisher side
as the suspects raced off.
WOMAN: I think a lot of what's
fueling the demand for these
is social media.
And I'm not talking
celebrities, I'm
talking like
Instagram and TikTok.
JOHN MULANEY: My wife and
I have a French Bulldog.
Her name is Petunia.
She's a little French bulldog.
[CHEERS, APPLAUSE]
She's great.
She's got a little flat face.
She likes to walk,
but she can't walk far
because she can't
breathe well by design.
INTERVIEWER: Bred to suffer.
Bred to suffer.
My dogs aren't
suffering here today.
PHILLIP SCHOFIELD:
What do you-- what
do you say when you hear
that they should be banned?
PET OWNER: They
shouldn't be banned.
How can you ban a breed?
Are you gonna ban
bulldogs and pugs?
WOMAN: Yes.
PET OWNER: You are?
WOMAN: Yeah.
We should have everything--
INTERVIEWER: People
love Frenchies.
Tell us about this Frenchie
and why this dog is so special.
Chappie's dad is, like,
the most expensive Frenchie.
He makes, like, $300,000
a year off of breeding.
[VOICE ECHOING]
REPORTER: Profile his
own endorsement deal.
A growing number of
French Bulldog owners
are giving up their pets because
of unexpected medical bills.
French Bulldog was named a
winner of the Annual National
Dog Show and beat out
approximately 1,500 dogs
representing more
than 200 breeds.
And he loves
every minute of it.
He's so smart.
[LAUGHS]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
RUSTY RUEFF: We were in
San Francisco on a Sunday
afternoon or something.
And we looked over,
and we saw this thing.
And we're like, what is that?
The guy said, it's
a French Bulldog.
And we had never heard of
it, never seen one before.
And then it became an obsession.
Obsession.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
This is my little shrine.
These two are my girls,
and they have passed away.
And then that's Arnie.
And then this is Vashti's.
That looks just like her.
KATHY IANNUZZI: We get together
probably once to twice a month.
It's a great way for other
French Bulldog owners
to meet each other, learn
more about the dogs,
and kind of tighten
our little community.
It's something about the way our
dogs interact together kind of
brings us all together.
KATHY IANNUZZI: [LAUGHS]
Have you seen their faces?
[LAUGHS] I don't think I've
ever met a dog like this breed.
On any given day, I
don't think I can ever
see somebody walk by this
particular breed of dog and not
smile.
LORI CIARLA: Every
day, I laugh at her.
Every day, I can't stop
taking pictures of her.
I have a sickness.
[LAUGHS] And my oldest son,
who he's the huge lab lover,
he owns a lab of his own,
he's the one who was like,
I can't believe you're
gonna get a French Bulldog.
He's in love with this dog.
When he walks in the
door, he's like, Remy!
He, like, melts into this
puddle and picks her up.
And it's just so funny.
It's like having another
little person in your house.
They are the biggest,
small dog you'll ever have.
I've had a lot of
other dogs in my life.
But the uniqueness
of this breed, it
makes you want to have
another and another.
It's just the way they are.
JUSTIN SUARES: Just
looking for a house
so I can actually buy a
couple more Frenchies.
Yeah, eventually.
Everyone says, oh, I
love to breed them,
but I love this breed.
So I really-- maybe one
day, I can get my own line.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[DOG CHAINS CLINKING]
I have Mozzarella,
which is Mootsie.
I have Lottie, Dom, Pete.
I have Juice, Toby,
Harrah, Nia, and Mellow.
ELLA TALLARICO: Used to be
just like a normal family.
Every night, I'd ask
for a French Bulldog,
and he'd tell me,
oh, we're never
gonna have a dog in this house.
It was like, but I want a dog.
And then one day, I got a dog,
and then we got another dog,
and we got another dog, and
we got another, and another,
and another.
Like 10.
I can't even count anymore.
Our family is a, you know,
French Bulldog breeders.
And Amy is our lead breeder.
And she has the experience
and the kind of maternal care
and ICU background.
Even though I'm typically at
the helm when the puppies come,
I am not at the helm.
Amy is the caretaker.
And basically, she's gonna
be driving the ship here
for the next three weeks.
What do we have here?
Who likes this?
Look at all your toys.
You like this crazy
little mop, don't you?
My son always had this
thing for French Bulldogs.
He had this book downstairs.
He keeps showing
me the pictures.
They're cute, but
they look wrinkly.
They didn't look as lovable
to me as I was thinking.
I had a-- we had an Irish
Setter, completely different
spectrums.
Oh, you guys.
You exhaust me.
Huh?
You exhaust me.
RICHARD TALLARICO: French
Bulldogs are loyal.
They are protective.
They're comical.
They are playful.
Their persona and their
personality is bigger than life.
There are videos
of French Bulldogs
chasing bears out of the yard.
They take a seat at the
table, like they have no idea
that their French Bulldogs.
And something about that
makes us all really,
really attracted to
the French Bulldog.
I think it's definitely going
to be pretty crazy usually
is around here on a
normal day, but now
that we're having two litters,
it's gonna be even crazier.
Like, we've never had
two litters before.
We've only had one, and
that's pretty crazy alone.
Oh, there we go
with the big belly.
Belly girl.
[SOFT GRUNTS]
[LAUGHS]
Does that feel better?
Hmm?
Yeah.
OK.
We'll put your
blankie under you.
Come here.
Roll back.
Ready?
Roll back.
Oh, get all those babies over.
Oh, there we go.
There he is.
Isn't that nuts?
He's really moving, this guy.
I do love this part.
I mean, I love all of it,
but cleaning poop definitely
doesn't do it for me.
This is the-- this is
the part that's the best.
It's exciting to see the
puppies and watch them grow.
Like, if you look at
her, you could never
imagine seven puppies
being in there.
And then when they come
out, they're so tiny.
And within two weeks times,
they're like triple in size.
And they're basically walking,
and their eyes are open.
Something like, for kids you
wait, what, a year to do,
they do in like two weeks.
It's crazy.
Humans have selected
dogs for different things
for hundreds and
thousands of years.
We selected dogs initially
as humans to help us hunt
and guard us and keep us safe.
The word "brachycephalic"
simply means "short-skulled."
English Bulldogs were bred to
have a slightly shorter face so
that they could hold on
to the flank of a bull
and still breathe because
their nose was set back.
Then you take that 100
years further forwards,
where people have
said, actually,
I'd really like it if their
faces were much shorter
than that.
And we've taken what used to
be a working athletic breed
and changed it beyond,
in my view, recognition.
When mammals are born, they tend
to have relatively large eyes
because their eyes don't
change through their life,
and they tend to have short
faces because it helps suckling.
So we have an innate drive in
us to nurture animals that have
big eyes and round baby faces.
It sets something
off in humans that
makes them want to
care for those animals.
OK, she just went
into surgery right now.
Yeah, so I'll let you know.
She looks so nervous.
I felt so bad for her.
Yeah, my mom and Kristen came.
Well, I'll let you know.
Just call me when you're done.
All right, we love you.
Bye.
So you have lots of Bulldogs
who cannot breathe well enough
to mate, so they can't
actually do the job.
We also know from lots of
studies that around 50% to 70%
of brachycephalic dogs are
born by cesarean section.
These puppies in England, I
can't speak for the United
States, but in the UK now,
they are selling for between 3
and 6,000 pounds a puppy.
And people are paying
absolutely massively
over the odds for an animal
that has a high price
tag because it's been
difficult to produce.
[WHEELS WHIRRING]
AMY TALLARICO:
Oh, here they are.
Wow, there's a lot of blues.
Oh, my gosh.
They're so little!
So many of them
are blue this time.
Wow.
Hi.
I know, life is hard.
Yeah.
So 280 grams.
AMY TALLARICO: 280?
Yeah.
And then we have set--
AMY TALLARICO: So
that's red puppy.
Yes.
And it's a little girl.
AMY TALLARICO: So it's a female.
OK.
280 grams.
And then just-- there we go.
Oh, my goodness.
Oh, yeah.
All right!
Great, OK.
All right.
We'll go with orange next.
[AMBIENT MUSIC]
AMY TALLARICO: OK.
I'm glad, mom.
She's good to go.
OK.
You're OK!
AMY TALLARICO: And he has
a white dot on his head
and white dot on his back.
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
[SQUEAKING]
Oh.
[LAUGHS]
It's so good though this time.
You gotta tell her, huh?
Yep, it's classic.
But good job.
Keep it in style there, my dear.
Oh, yeah.
There.
It's your blanket.
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
Oh, yeah.
Mootsie loves her babies.
It's your baby.
We're putting the
puppy up to her nipple
to have him help actually
stimulate the milk.
So since she has
no milk, he's not
gonna really receive
anything out of there.
But it's just a good
way to help stimulate.
And then we'll end
up feeding them, tube
feeding them because
unfortunately, she
doesn't have any milk.
So we're gonna put the puppies
in this incubator, which
is a portable incubator, so
we can all get home safely.
I am excited to see what
the kids are gonna think.
Hi!
Hi!
Hi!
Puppies!
Hi, yeah.
It's so funny, they
all look familiar.
Yeah, it's so weird.
Hi, babes.
How are you?
What's in there?
What's in there?
Oh, wow.
A lot of solid.
Yeah!
Oh, wow.
[SWOONING]
You got a little blaze.
Isn't it weird?
That's a boy.
Yeah, it does
look just like me.
Oh, wow.
They're all 9.8
ounces across the board.
Puppy green for now.
Cute, right?
Got him, Ella?
Mr. Orange.
Oh, more blazes, wow.
They all have blazes.
A lot of them do.
Is that a boy or a girl, Leo?
I think a girl.
Girl, good little girl.
Oh, look at the nice spots.
Good girl.
Oh, is she licking her?
She's sniffing her.
Yeah.
Come here.
PATTI RUEFF: I had never
had a pet in my life, ever.
We got our first
Frenchie, Louis, in 2007.
We didn't know that much, and
I did not do enough research.
RUSTY RUEFF: I had two dogs
when I was just a little kid
but didn't really grow
up around him after that.
And so we called our friend
Bo, who's a veterinarian.
He said, oh, there's
not a better breed.
You're going to love it.
They're so--
PATTI RUEFF: Never met a
Frenchie I didn't love.
RUSTY RUEFF: Never
met a Frenchie.
He goes, however,
whatever you pay for it,
you might want to think about
three to five times as much
in medical bills.
And we're like, whoa.
And he said, do
yourself a favor.
Get pet insurance, which I did.
Yes, that was very helpful.
Thank god.
In his lifetime, he
had five surgeries,
all this holistic stuff,
and always had something.
There was always something.
At first experience with
a pet, I thought, well,
this is what you do.
And my friends--
Because we've been told by
Bo and others, you know, hey--
You're gonna spend five
times what you paid for.
So we're like,
well, that came true.
PATTI RUEFF: When I did
my research after the fact
on the breeder, there was
a lot of bad press on Yelp
about how she raised sick dogs.
And we talked to
her all throughout,
and she would never admit
that there was anything wrong.
Oh, it's normal.
It's this, it's that.
And it kind of really wasn't.
Yeah, we do.
Yeah.
We do.
RICHARD TALLARICO: We got into
breeding because we bought
a French Bulldog as a pet.
However, at the time, we didn't
know what we were looking for.
And it turned out that she
was healthy, and we got lucky.
And as we heard more about the
stories of failures and death
and investments and
tragedy for these families,
we figured that there has to
be a better way to do this.
We knew there was.
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
AMY TALLARICO: So we feed
the puppies, tube feed,
because Mootsie has no
milk, every two hours.
So we have to drop what's called
an OG down into their little
bellies and slowly give
them 3 and 1/2 mLs of milk.
It takes about an hour to get
through all seven of them,
so it's really about
an hour and 15 minutes
of lag time before the
next feeding starts.
I think 45 minutes so far.
That's OK though.
Mootsie's had maybe
45 minutes too.
We're gonna check Mootsie soon
to see if she has any milk,
and it'll really help
us schedule wise,
because then what we'll be
able to do is lay out Mootsie
and put all the puppies on her.
And they'll feed
at their own pace.
And I'm hoping that that is
a definite by this weekend,
since Lottie should
be ready to have
her puppies by this weekend.
So tube feeding 15 puppies will
definitely be a real challenge
if that is what it comes to.
EMMA MILNE: Some of
these breeds are--
and I don't think
this overstates it.
They are clinging to existence
through veterinary intervention.
If you have an animal, a breed,
or a species that cannot pass
the most basic test
of reproduction,
that has to make you ask very,
very difficult ethical questions
about whether they should
continue to be bred.
[PANTING]
I don't think you'd
find many people who
don't know about what we call
BOAS, which is Brachycephalic
Obstructive Airway Syndrome.
Around 50% of these animals are
clinically affected by BOAS.
They tend to have very what
we call stenotic nares.
So their nostrils
are very pinched.
We've made the bones shorter,
but the other soft tissues
haven't done that.
So lots of these animals,
when you see them,
when they're panting
particularly,
you'll notice what
look like huge tongues
compared to the size of their
head, by horrible coincidence.
But lots of these animals also
have very narrow windpipes,
so it's kind of a perfect
storm of airway obstruction.
People sometimes say
they purr like cats,
or they grunt like pigs.
And that's just
part of the breed.
And it's so funny.
And I totally believe that.
I actually believe that.
Most owners, they know their
French Bulldog has a breathing
problem of some
sort, but they still
can't understand that that
snoring sound they're making
is the breathing problem.
It's normalized by lots of
owners and lots of breeders,
and we have to get
away from that.
It's not normal for a dog to
make respiratory noise all
the time.
AMY TALLARICO: 10 5?
10 4.
A little bit 10 4.
[GRUNTING]
All right.
Oh, that puppy too.
This is always so cute to me.
I always find it so
funny how they all
find their little way here.
And sometimes, like, when she'll
be sleeping in the little box
by herself, they'll all
find their way to her.
And that's really cute.
Puts her to sleep too.
It's a lot of work, huh, Mozz.
This is a lot of work for you.
We'll split it, OK?
You do half, I do half.
How's that?
Is that good?
Hmm?
Oh, but see, mama loves you.
You're such a good girl.
Are you sleeping, girl?
I love this, but I do
love the ICU too, so.
Taking care of
something, I think
that's what I love
best about both of it.
So I do enjoy this.
And puppies are nicer
than some patients.
And the puppies really
don't talk back.
And you get to watch
them grow from go.
So, like, we got to watch them
from like the delivery, all
the way through till they
go to their next home, which
is really nice.
We do.
I think so, don't you?
Yeah.
Even though they
go to great homes
and we're really happy
for the new owners,
sometimes it's hard,
especially if they stick around
for a while.
Like our last little
guy, he stayed with us
until he was six months old.
So it was really
hard to let him go.
[CHILDREN GIGGLING]
I got you.
What are you
doing, you crazy boy?
No!
No!
Their ears and their
adorable, squishy face.
And for Lenny, the
spot on his butt.
That's your favorite
thing about him?
Yeah.
I think once you
have a Frenchie,
you probably can't go
back to ever having
any other type of pet or breed.
I just absolutely am
obsessed with him.
And there are times that I
think I don't know what I ever
would have done without him.
EMMA MILNE: I used to be
on a television program
in England that was
incredibly popular.
We were semi-celebrities
for a while.
And I had two
mongrel dogs who were
beautiful, unique individuals.
And everywhere I went,
people would say,
oh, your dogs are so beautiful.
What are they?
And we'd just say, well,
they're crossbreeds.
They're just beautiful dogs.
Personally, I don't
understand what drives
that specific want for a breed.
I'm a lab guy.
[LAUGHS] So I wouldn't
own a French Bulldog,
not for anything about
the French Bulldog.
Just my personal choice.
There's a reason
that you have breeds.
They have specific traits.
They have things that
you're interested in.
First of all, I know what I'm
getting when I get a Labrador.
They are retriever.
I know the personality
of the dog.
I like a dog where I
throw something in,
and it will always bring it
back to me and it's drive.
They were selected for that.
For me, that's
important and especially
since I use the dog for hunting.
Whatever breed you
pick, you should
know what its thing is
that it's been bred for.
Myself and lots of vets
want to say to people,
do you want a pedigree dog,
or do you want an inbred one?
And people always say, oh, no,
I don't want an inbred one.
I'd much rather
have a pedigree one,
because people don't
understand that pedigree just
means inbread.
Some French Bulldog
breeders absolutely
want to know what
their litters carry
in terms of genetic disease.
And some French Bulldog
breeders absolutely
do not want to know what
their litters carry.
Because that has a
negative impact on the sale.
Not restricted to
French Bulldogs.
I would hope that people
use genetic testing
to make decisions based
upon mating choices.
So if they carry for
a certain disorder,
they choose a mate who doesn't
carry for that disorder.
So there's not a chance
to actually produce
affected puppies.
People make their decisions
based upon the colors,
assuming probably that the
dog is clear of diseases.
Whenever I see a coat-color
test without the disease,
it's like, oh, like,
well, you should
test for genetic diseases.
Really, you should
stop testing for color.
That's a lament I
have with every breed.
If you want to be the best
French Bulldog breeder that you
can be, you need to exercise
tolerance and BOAS test
every one of your breeding dogs,
but hardly anyone is doing it.
The problem is
the French Bulldogs
have predisposition
towards medical issues.
It speaks to the
ethics of breeding,
but it also speaks to the breed.
So there's a real value,
since we love these dogs,
in creating a better or
bettering the breed by using
genetic testing and mating
healthy dogs to healthy dogs,
and really working with Cornell
to scrutinize all our breedings,
and to make better
dogs, to help them
evolve in ways that
makes them less
susceptible to genetic
problems and illness
so that these dogs
have longer lifespans
and make people happier
for a longer time.
AMY TALLARICO: Yeah?
Baby's gonna come out today?
You want the babies
to come out today?
[SNORTING]
OK.
Oh, good girl.
Your sister's grumpy.
She's gonna bark at
us in one second.
You watch.
What?
What?
What do you want?
Yep, I knew it.
Good job.
Come here, girl.
OK, come here, girl.
Oh, god.
There you go.
The panting is just
like a sign of labor.
Usually, like a woman would
hyperventilate or whatever,
it's just a sign of
her going into labor.
If she doesn't have the
first puppy within four hours
after the water
breaks, we have to--
I mean, if it was
like two hours,
she didn't have the first
puppy, we should go to Cornell,
just because we're an
hour away from there.
And we'd have to be able
to get there in time just
to make sure she and
her puppies are safe.
I know.
Good girl.
OK?
OK, good girl.
Good girl.
I'm just trying to see if
I can feel it in the canal
to see if it's there.
I hope one's not big, and
it's going to get stuck.
Go ahead, baby, push.
It's OK, baby.
It's right there.
NONO: You got one?
No, it won't come out.
It's OK.
It's all right, girl.
Hi, this is Amy.
We have our Frenchie
that goes there.
She's in active labor.
And it's been about a half hour
of her trying to pass one puppy.
So I didn't know if you
could page Therio for me.
Thanks, bye.
Yep.
OK, great.
If the puppy wasn't crowning,
I wouldn't be as concerned.
My concern now is the
puppies in the canal
but unable to pass
because it crowns.
And then it goes back in and
crowns and then goes back in.
So that's why I'm
more concerned.
[PANTING]
Oh, yes.
Good girl.
Good girl.
Let them come out.
Come on.
Let them come out.
Let them come out.
Yes.
Oh, good girl.
Keep going.
You got it.
Yes, good girl.
NONO: I only find crust.
Oh, yes.
Hang on, Nono.
Oh, hold on, girl.
Hold on.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's OK.
It's all right.
Everybody, hang on.
OK.
Daddy, mommy's gonna get him.
NONO: Good girl.
[PHONE BEEPING]
OK.
OK.
I have one puppy out,
but I'm on my way.
I think we need some help here.
Here, look at this baby.
Look at this baby, OK?
Look at that baby, OK.
All right, thanks.
Can you just write
down 11:14 first puppy?
Oh, I don't know.
Whatever--
Oh, you did it.
OK, great.
Thank you.
See if we can just
get him to cry.
Get him to cry!
Let him cry, right?
Tell him to cry.
If you C-section them, 8
to 10 minutes of stimulation.
No.
[SQUEAKS]
Yeah!
NONO: What did Marianne say?
All right.
Oh, wow!
That's your first girl!
And can you write on that
little sheet 12:11, uh, female?
Good.
[PANTING]
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
He's little.
He's a little puppy.
Three down, Lottie.
Five to go.
Come on.
You got it.
[PANTING]
Hey.
OK, do you mind watching
him just breathe?
NONO: Yeah.
Just a sucker.
[PANTING]
Let's get a nap.
Let's take a nap.
You take a nap while
your babies feed, OK?
All right.
That's all right.
OK, a little girl.
Oh, she's got a lot in her nose.
Let's get it out for her.
Hold on, hold on.
Let mommy help her.
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
Let's see if he
wants to go over.
All right.
She went like you.
Yeah.
Tell them I'm on
my mom's kisses.
I just need them.
Yeah, I need them.
Nono, you got to take this.
I think she's gonna
have another one.
Broken sack, broken placenta.
She's not as good.
[TENSE MUSIC]
[PANTING]
What do you think?
I think she'll pass away.
Huh, you think so?
Mm-hmm.
Why?
Oh, that breathing,
that breathing.
It's OK.
NONO: You want to hold her?
Or do you want me to like--
AMY TALLARICO: Just watch her.
It's OK.
NONO: Got that baby breathing.
AMY TALLARICO: Let
me help you, baby.
Let me help you.
Oh, you're doing fine.
NONO: Want to be cuddled?
Come here.
What's the matter, baby?
AMY TALLARICO: Can you bring,
um, just one of the rainbow
blankets.
We knew her well-being at home
could have potential risks.
But we also knew that if
she went under anesthesia,
she could have potential risks
because Lottie's allergic
to a lot of things.
She's been allergic
to medications before,
so we wanted to make
sure she was OK.
So in doing so, we potentially
put some of the puppies
at risk being self-welt. You
know, that's what we got.
RICHARD TALLARICO:
Yeah, good girl.
See?
AMY TALLARICO: She ate a little.
Mom would reject her if she
didn't think she was good.
Go ahead, Lola.
AMY TALLARICO: No, it popped on
the way out, and she inhaled it.
And then I sucked it
out, like it was like--
AMY TALLARICO: Yeah.
AMY TALLARICO: OK.
So what do you want to do?
RICHARD TALLARICO: We are headed
to get some crystalloid, which
is IV fluid for replacement
for one of the little pups
that Amy's concerned about.
Amy's at the helm, and
she's a decision maker
when it comes to this stuff.
We both have medical
background, but it's very much
a role reversal, right?
She's the doctor, and I'm
sort of the nurse right
now making a run for IV fluid.
I'm very happy to support her in
that way and do whatever I can.
I think in life, you know,
if you put the effort in,
you can't really
have the regrets
because not everything's
in your control.
And so we're gonna
put the effort in,
so we don't have any regrets.
[CROWD CHEERING]
DEBORAH STEVENSON:
And I love that one.
It's so sweet.
And that kind of-- that kind
of sums up our relationship.
And this, just laughing.
I've been silly.
In the height of his
career, he ended up
being one of the top agility
dogs in the country, which
is pretty incredible
for a Frenchie.
He was in the top 20
lifetime agility dogs.
When he finally
retired, he had--
I kind of lost
count after a while,
but he had over 100
performance titles.
He was the first
French Bulldog ever
to earn a Master Agility
Championship, which
is the AKC highest honor in
agility or was at the time.
I remember early on when
I started training him,
and somebody asked me, how many
yards per second does he run?
And I told him.
And she said, oh, he's not
fast enough to get a mark.
And I thought, OK.
But he was, and he did.
And as he learned,
and he got better,
and he got more confident,
he got faster and faster,
and he did better and better.
I thought, what a great
role model for children.
All right.
So this is Soren's book.
And--
[CHUCKLES]
So this is he.
He goes to a trial, and he
sees all these dogs kind
of looking at him and saying,
you know, your head's too big,
and your legs are too short.
And you can't-- you know, you're
not gonna be able to do agility.
[LAUGHS]
It's him jumping
over the last bar
to get his agility championship.
And I just love it.
The face is just so him,
those big, googly, wild eyes.
So it's definitely my favorite.
And this is probably
my second favorite.
So this is Soren with all his
friends and his mock ribbon.
And then real Soren.
It's not always what
you would think.
Like, some people think
the flat face means,
you know, dogs can't breathe.
But I will say that
Soren and Audra both had
very Frenchy faces, and they
breathed extremely well.
And I kept them in good
shape because they were--
I was asking them
to be athletic.
I don't think
anybody ever thought
of a French Bulldog quite the
same after watching him run.
He's a dog that truly changed
my life in so many ways.
Writing books, I
didn't know I wanted
to write children's books.
But writing his book
really inspired me
to keep writing because of him.
So he's led me down a lot of
paths that were very unexpected
and continues to do so,
even though he's gone.
He just always found
the best parts of people
and never gave up.
So I just try to be more--
try to be more like Soren.
I think everybody should
be more like Soren.
RICHARD TALLARICO: Good morning.
So this is the morning after.
Last night was a very
busy night for us.
Everybody pitched in.
We had my mom here and Sarah.
We sort of took shifts.
Biggest concern
has been not just
the the the puppies in general,
but just specifically Phoebe.
We gave her a name
last night because we
felt like, I don't
know, maybe it
felt like by giving
her a name, gave her
a better chance of survival.
Either way, we didn't
want to just leave her
as the puppy that
was struggling.
But basically, what
went on overnight was
we nursed her along.
She went through her
gasping episodes.
She looked like she
was going to pass.
She went through that
four or five times.
She stayed in
those sort of bouts
of what looks like hypoxia for
probably 45 minutes at a clip.
Each time, each interval
got closer and closer.
She's lost a lot of weight.
And when I say a
lot of weight, she's
lost a full ounce since birth.
So now, I think she's
under 5 ounces, which
is very concerning.
She definitely has the spirit
wants to fight through it,
and she never seems to give up.
But she's sort of laboring.
And so that took a lot
of out time and energy.
Basically, it's the first
night that I was available
because I obviously am
not operating today.
So I could stay up with--
Amy and I stayed up till about
3:30 AM to make some decisions.
We felt like Phoebe needed this
as a sort of intensive care
unit, so we switched her over.
We have nebulizers
going with albuterol.
We have oxygen piped in.
I got 4 liters of
oxygen piped in.
And and she is--
She's passing right now.
Come sit down here.
[GRUNTING]
OK, good.
RICHARD TALLARICO: Twinny?
Yep?
I'll come downstairs.
Yeah.
We gave her a name
before she passed.
I gave her a Phoebe.
I know you like the F names.
We sort of had to name
the litter last night
because we thought maybe if we
named them, they wouldn't be--
they wouldn't be, um--
You know, last time, I asked
the family after it happened,
I said, should we-- do
we want to keep breeding?
Is this too hard
on us emotionally?
And I went around and took
a vote from everybody,
and everybody said yes.
They wanted to keep
doing it as a family
because of how if
we weren't doing it,
then we wouldn't have
these other great puppies
and the ability to
make people happy.
But as we go through this
process, we'll reassess that.
HEATHER HANNAH: I was gonna
become a French Bulldog breeder.
I totally intended
on doing that.
Can I just lift up Arnie and
put his face in the camera?
OK.
This is it.
Come here, buddy.
Come here.
This, look at this face.
It is so cute.
He is really, really
cute to look at.
He looks like a little
baby with those big eyes.
And it appeals to
some innate thing
that I just can't describe.
I don't even know where to
start with his health problems.
You can see his head
is tilted like this.
That's caused by a condition
called syringomyelia.
It's caused because he
has a Chiari malformation.
And that means that
there's not enough room
in his skull for his brain.
If you touch him over here,
he'll start scratching.
See?
You can see the pain
probably in his eyes.
He's actually had the piece of
the back of his skull removed.
You can't repair it, but
they can stop the progress.
So hopefully it's been stopped.
If the sound is really good, you
can probably hear him snorting.
He'd already had the nose
and the soft palate surgery.
So the specialist obviously
knew that he couldn't breathe,
but they didn't know how
to fix it at that point
since he'd already
had the surgeries.
[SNORTING]
I learned about a
surgeon in Germany
who was doing advanced airway
surgeries that were not being
done in the United States.
This German surgeon sat
down with me, and he said,
this is a problem
with the breed.
Can you not hear it?
And I'm like, no.
Hear what?
He's a French Bulldog.
Of course, he's noisy.
And that's who opened my eyes.
It was someone actually
sitting down with me
and having a discussion and
pointing out the obvious.
Yeah, Arnie comes from
champion show lines.
He was a show dog.
Arnie, this dog, is a show dog.
I personally think
the only way forward
for the breed, if
we think that we
need to keep the French Bulldog
breed around, is to outcross.
They basically been bred
into a corner genetically.
I don't think that there's
any way forward for these dogs
as is.
Particularly in the US, until
the '60s, it was actually really
commonplace to outcross.
So when a breed started
to get problems,
they would just put
another breed into it,
breed back three
generations, and then that
would be accepted as
back to being a pedigree.
Just to use a different
breed, example,
Dalmatians have an
inherited genetic problem
that makes them have crystals
and stones in their bladders.
Someone a long time
ago now took a pointer.
And after three or
four generations,
show judges couldn't tell the
difference between a pointer
cross and a Dalmatian.
You add in the new genes.
You breed them back
to the other dog.
And within a few
generations, you
get something that looks like
the dog you had to start with.
RICHARD TALLARICO: And
outcrossing, I think,
becomes necessary when you
cannot correct the breed
deficiency, and you need to
bring in another breed line
to reverse that.
But there's plenty of
healthy French Bulldogs.
For those that outcross, I mean,
they have good reasons for it.
And, you know, as long as
you're making healthy dogs,
I mean purebred, not purebred.
We grew up with mutts.
And these dogs were
great family members.
If we stick to our standard
and we do things correctly,
we like the structure
and the look
and the personality
of a French Bulldog,
so we're not gonna change that.
I happen to have
this because I used
to work in cats for 15 years.
This is a Persian cat skull.
And if you look at
it from the side,
right, so you have this
significant underbite
because here's the brachycephaly
where the bone doesn't
grow at that point.
This is the opposite extreme.
This is an Oriental Shorthair,
so it has a long snout
where these are extended.
This is an F1 cross
in one generation.
So this is a cross, not between
these two specific cats,
but how this works out, we've
already got the underbite here.
But in doing this, so you
imagine brachycephalic animal
being crossed with something
who's got a longer face.
And you can actually extend
that out pretty rapidly.
But there's always gonna
be somebody who says, yeah,
but the genes in there
aren't all dalmatian.
And the genes in there
aren't all French Bulldog.
There's Boston Terrier,
there's whatever
you choose to outcross to.
It's a cross.
Tough to get them
to buy into that.
We're just gonna bring
the puppies down to Cornell
just to make sure that they're
OK, because sometimes, little
puppies, like, even though
they just have like,
not a good immune system,
they can just get sick
by the simplest things.
And then they can
deteriorate quickly
just because they're so little.
So Cornell's just gonna
take a look at them
and see how they are,
because they haven't really
gained weight,
and see if there's
anything we can do to just make
sure they get over this hump
and make sure everything's OK.
[CAR BEEPING]
Last time we went, with each
puppy, it was $2,000 a puppy.
Yeah, it was five puppies.
The bill came to when
everything was said and done
because some puppies, like,
passed away quicker or whatever.
It came to like $11,000.
I don't know.
That's a good question.
Most people don't
do it like this.
So I guess that, you know,
it's a different the way
you practice.
Like, probably people who
have puppies like this,
they don't have the
means, they don't
have the hospital
and things like that,
so they just-- you know, they
do best management care at home.
And if the puppy passes,
the puppy passes.
And once they're here, then
it's definitely worth it
because it's not like I'm
gonna just give up on them.
All right.
Are we telling people
what we're doing?
OK, hi!
Here we are,
Cornell's parking lot.
We are in somewhat good shape
because the puppies are not
too sick to be in there
right this minute.
So since it is
their feeding time,
they provided us
with some puppy milk.
Right?
And I'm gonna
use the cameraman
to help me here,
feed these puppies.
[LAUGHS] So it's
what we're gonna do.
Come here, little baby boy.
Come here.
We'll do this side first.
OK.
All right, babes.
So I'm gonna have you
hold them like this
because I have to measure this.
So we measure it by putting it
right after the xiphoid process,
which is right about there.
And then up and around his ear
and to his mouth right here.
So can you just hold the puppy?
I'm gonna get you better.
Yeah, get you better.
OK.
Who thought of this idea?
Right?
Who thought of this craziest
idea in the whole world
to feed in the car?
No way.
OK, let's go.
You did it.
You did it.
Thanks.
Oh.
Oh, we don't know.
I really feel for the families
and for the breeders that
rely on this as their
primary source of income
because I think
that's when it starts
to get really complex
with the decision making.
So if you have
financial reserves,
you can make
decisions, like spaying
dogs that are very valuable
or not breeding or skipping
a breeding.
I don't know.
Where's our break even?
How many litters a year do
we need to have to have?
Probably at least eight.
It's not as easy as you think.
It's not at all what you think.
It's over $60,000, and that
is just in vet bills and some
medication.
This is an
anti-inflammatory medicine
to help keep his airways open.
Allergy medicine.
This is his painkiller.
It's Lyrica.
Cerenia.
[LAUGHS] And this is
actually pretty light
because he's doing
well right now.
We were living in
Minneapolis, Minnesota,
and the weather there
changes quite frequently.
And you get a lot of
snowstorms and stuff like that.
Climate obviously
affects the conditions.
So we started looking
into moving to the desert.
In large part because of
Arnie, because it's not like
I can put him to sleep.
I mean, someday, I'll
have to but not yet.
[TENSE MUSIC]
I honestly don't
know what happened.
She just started this, like--
kind of like this crying.
And her breathing has just
gotten a little worse,
which, um--
is just what happened last
time with the puppies.
They had difficulty breathing,
and they would cry a little,
and just didn't go in
the right direction.
So it makes me nervous.
I'm not really
sure what happened
or why it would have
happened to her.
She's the biggest puppy
out of the litter.
She seems to be gaining weight
and was doing really good,
so I'm not really sure
what went wrong here.
I've been giving her a
neb treatments antibiotic.
I actually put a
little tube in rectally
to see if like, it
was real constipation
and something was backed up.
But her belly is real soft.
See?
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
The nebs, done, the antibiotics.
The only thing I haven't
done is given her fluids.
But that's because I didn't
want her to third space
if it's her lungs.
No.
Yeah, I just don't
know what to do, Rich.
I'm exhausted from this.
See now, she's
making this noise--
[SQUEAKING]
--and gasping.
She looks like the
purple puppy did.
[SQUEAKING]
All right.
I'll talk to you after.
I love you, too.
Goodbye.
Love you, too.
[SQUEAKING]
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
I think there are some
people that criticize breeders
because I think they have
the wrong impression of what
breeding is, and that
it's a puppy mill.
And you're there to
make money, and you
don't care about the dogs.
OK, eliminate all that.
We know that's not us.
So is what we're doing--
is this good for us?
is it good for the family?
is it good for
the Frenchie moms?
Is it good in any
way, shape, or form?
And is it too hard on us?
And is it something we
want to be going through?
It's just-- it's the hardest
part, and it leaves doubt.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I wanted to be a vet
since I was about six.
And I worked super
hard to achieve that.
And seeing dogs like this is the
reason that I left that career.
Creating life is
something special.
And just because
there's been life lost
doesn't mean that the
lives that were created
are of any less value.
And so let's say we end up
with just four out of seven.
Is it better to have the four
or to never have had any at all?
We have 12 beautiful
puppies downstairs.
So from that standpoint,
we're creating life.
And these French Bulldogs
make people very, very happy.
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
Hey, buddy.
Come on in!
We say we're a village here.
We're not just a
regular coffee shop.
We're trying to give a cup
of happy and some puppy love.
All right, buddy, here you go.
Have a cup of happy.
It's really crazy.
I didn't want a dog, OK?
We went to look at this puppy.
He's in the corner, and he's
in a, like a little playpen,
and he's got his
ears all taped up.
And all the other puppies
are running around, bouncing,
going all over the yard.
But Broken was in the corner,
and he was all by himself.
He was the runt.
And they weren't sure his
ears were gonna stand up.
They just-- they never
had one like that before.
And I said, well, how
much for the broken one?
I was gone for a while.
I've been going through
a lot of, like, drama
with my relationship.
I thought I had cancer.
I have a farm, so I was out.
When I came back
from the vacation,
I came back with Broken.
And my life started getting
better from the day I got him.
You guys are silly.
I thought in the shop, you
know, having a mascot in here
would be nice for the customers
because he's tough enough,
like a big dog.
But then he's in
a small dog body.
And now I get to see him give
that love out to everybody.
I wake him up every morning,
and I'm like, come on, Broken.
You got to go to work now.
You got to go give
love to everybody.
He got his certificate.
He is North Myrtle Beach's
village therapy dog.
I feel like it was some internal
power sending me with this dog,
even though I didn't
want him at first.
And now I love him, and I pretty
much think he saved my life,
you know?
He's got such a sweet,
friendly, kooky personality.
It's definitely made
me warmer towards them.
I think to me, they were
kind of just this concept
for a long time of--
and everyone kind of
has this on their mind,
I think, at some point where
it's like, we've taken wolves,
and we've made them this
big, snoot pushed in,
and kind of goofy looking.
But at the same time,
like, it's so interesting
to see such a tiny little being
turn someone's life around.
Is he looking cute,
hugging the Jesus tree?
Yes, it was the
runt, and they had
to bottle feed it, and
get the baby going to eat.
And that was a lot
of long nights.
But I guess, the
breeder was good enough
to put in those long nights.
So that's the kind of breeder
I guess you want to find,
is somebody that will put
in the long nights that
will feed the puppy if the
mother's not feeding the puppy.
There's all kinds of people that
are good and bad in this world,
you know?
You're just gonna have
to find the good people.
Hey, Michael, I'm gonna
do sort of a video update,
because I think it's overdue.
I haven't been looking
forward to giving you
some of the information.
Sad news to report to
you that Felix passed.
Wasn't looking forward
to telling you that.
I know he was one of your--
he was your favorite.
So with the Lottie pups,
we're losing one by one.
And when you look
at the difference
in Mootsie and Lottie,
Mootsie's puppies are thriving.
And if we just had
Mootsie puppies,
this would seem like
a very easy gig.
But Lottie's really
given us a challenge.
But I wanted to keep you posted.
I'm also gonna share with you
a link that is very timely,
that was posted
on Facebook today
by a well-known
breeder who just goes
through the woes of
breeding and cautions.
Those were the faint
of heart about trying
to breed French Bulldogs, and
she shares openly and honestly
all the hardships she's seen.
And there are over
100 comments that I
hope you have the
opportunity to go through.
Pet owners have no
idea what goes into it.
I know it's been
eye opening for you.
And on top of all this,
Nia is in heat now,
and she's supposed to go down.
Amy has scheduled
to go down tomorrow
to find out when she gets bred.
So I thought, do we really
want to go through this?
Is it worth it?
You know, that's
an ongoing process.
That's a decision
I'm not prepared
or a statement I'm not prepared
to give you a definitive answer
on at this minute.
But it would be unrealistic
for me to ever say
that I have so much strength,
inner strength that I never
doubt.
EMMA MILNE: Anywhere
that we've pushed dogs
to the limits of their bodies,
you can't have a good breeder.
Because even if you
tried to do your best,
if you want a dog to look
like a modern French Bulldog,
you are breeding
a diseased animal.
RICHARD TALLARICO:
Bad breeding practices
have led to the French
Bulldogs' health problems.
But unfortunately,
what has been done now
has to be reversed, and
it's just gonna take time.
If you look at the
whole, there's definitely
good puppies out there.
And our mission is to make those
really good, healthy puppies
for families.
Hey, Lyla, this way!
[LAUGHS]
I did a North Twin with her.
And there's three river
crossings on North Twin,
depending on the time of season.
And so, like, I have
photos of me carrying her,
like, through a river.
I, like, affectionately
call her my, like, 4x4 Jeep,
basically because she's
like an all terrain--
all terrain dog.
Lyla.
Hey, Lyla, come here!
She's not-- she's definitely
not going to come.
Lyla, come here.
And this is Lyla.
She's two years old, and,
uh-- well, just about
to turn two in October.
And she's my active
little Frenchie.
I think a lot of people see them
as like, money opportunities
or like, I'm gonna get a
French Bulldog and breed them.
And I think that's where you
see a lot of the degradation
of quality is that people are
doing it for the wrong reasons.
And I have run into
those people who
are like, oh, I bought this
French Bulldog because I
want to breed them.
We're gonna sell their
puppies for a lot of money
and that sort of thing.
And that's just not
what Amy and her--
what she does.
It's very clear that that's
just not her motive at all.
PATTI RUEFF: Louis died of
degenerative disk disease.
It just broke our hearts because
he was such a little love.
And we said we're never
getting another dog.
Well, that lasted
about six months.
But the Frenchy thing
really was scary.
And so we started to research.
And my friend Kim, who
lives in upstate New York,
sent me Amy's name.
And she had read about
them in the paper.
When I had my first
conversation with Amy
and she talked about how
they did all genetic testing,
and they made the
bloodlines and all
that, I don't think a lot
of breeders were doing that.
AMY TALLARICO: We did
a study with Cornell.
And all the puppies
born over 8 ounces,
we've had 98 success rate
for them to go to their homes
and live happy, healthy lives.
Of course, the
hardships still occur.
So when we say all the
puppies that have been born
are over 8 ounces
have done great,
there's certainly been litters--
AMY TALLARICO: --a
couple litters where--
you know, less than that.
But working with
Cornell, it's really
helped me stay grounded
in the way that like,
I feel like I am doing the
right thing by the breed.
The things that I've done and
will continue to do differently
is if I notice a mom
doesn't have a great litter
and we'll just spay
her and have her
become one of our family pets.
So I think that's the biggest
thing I've learned when
I looked at a lot of this data.
As the moms do really well, the
puppies tend to do really well.
So now we have lines, and their
lineage continues to do well.
For example, Nia has always done
great and not lost any puppies.
Now Greta has done great,
not lost any puppies.
And we're gonna keep
two of Greta's puppies
to add to our program.
I am not gonna get
another French Bulldog.
I will only get a normal
dog with a nose and a tail.
I'm not gonna get any
more brachycephalic dogs.
I can't go through it again.
It's heartbreaking.
Every little snort grates on
my nerves now because I'm like,
I'm so sorry you can't breathe.
And I'm so sorry that
I was part of this.
You take Louis versus Theo,
who's Theo's three now--
PATTI RUEFF: Once a year, we go
to the doctor for his vaccine.
--healthy as can be.
PATTI RUEFF: Theo will
fetch as long as you throw.
If we threw the ball one
time with Louis, he was done.
Her longest hike was 12 miles.
It was a 4,000-footer,
that was North Twin.
Her longest uninterrupted
run was like a four-mile run
at an 840 pace, which is like,
pretty good for her size.
She's like, never snorted
or snored or anything
of that nature ever.
I've had no health
problems with her.
And pretty quickly, I knew that
I could take her out anywhere.
And she would be totally
happy, whether it
was swimming or running or
hiking or something like that.
Howdy, enjoy the run.
But it is funny going on trail
and seeing like, people's
reactions when we're on trail.
And people are like, that's not
a dog I expect to be 4,000 feet
up.
You know, I think she's been
kind of like the best thing that
ever happened to me personally.
EMMA MILNE: Over the years,
lots of people have said to me,
oh, you hate French
Bulldogs, you hate Bulldogs,
you hate these breeds.
I love dogs.
And the best way
I can describe it
is that I see a dog
as a little entity
that we've put into
different bodies.
I love that little
entity that we've
created that looks after
us and is our best friend.
But to put that into a body
that doesn't work isn't fair.
We shouldn't care
what they look like.
We need healthy,
well-tempered family pets.
LOU CIARLA: I really
didn't know, you know,
how French Bulldogs were bred.
And I was taken back
really by how much work
that goes into French Bulldogs.
LORI CIARLA: I'm a CPA.
I'm just like,
adding everything up.
And I'm like, there's
no way they're
making any money on this.
I don't know that I'd be
able to do what she does.
What's the payoff at the end?
[LAUGHING]
This right here.
PATTI RUEFF: We had a
friend that just visited.
We hadn't seen in
two years, and she
was playing with him
Thursday night all night.
And she said, what a difference.
She said, you had such a bad
experience your first time,
that I'm so happy that you
decided to go for it again,
to see what it's really
like to have a pet.
And meanwhile, we got
pet insurance on him too,
and I never use it.
[LAUGHING]
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
EMMA MILNE: For the Frenchies
and all the dogs that
are suffering at the moment,
the other branches as well,
and the other breeds, we
have to look after them
as well as we can.
And this is the
dilemma that lots
of vets face around the world,
is that if someone presents us
with a dog that
can't breathe and we
have the capability to make it
breathe better, then we do that.
If a dog can't give birth,
then we do a cesarean section.
That's our job.
We took an oath to
do those things.
So all the animals
that are already there.
We want to carry on
looking after them.
That's without question.
But we just have to get people
to stop making more of them.
Look, I get the
legitimacy of the argument
because as I said earlier,
there are bad breeders.
But that doesn't mean
that you should just say,
well, they shouldn't
have that breed.
I think we also have
a responsibility
as dog owners, especially
these breeds that
are very popular, to
be looking for quality
and to point out when
you don't see it.
HEATHER HANNAH: I don't
personally know any puppy mill
breeders or backyard breeders.
I have known show breeders,
and they'd probably
be considered reputable
and really good breeders.
I think they love their dogs.
I think they're very
passionate about what they do.
I think that they
have blinders on.
They're not willing to accept
severe health problems.
They might be typical with the
breed, but it's not normal.
There's nothing normal
about struggling for air.
I think we, as a
society, have this tendency
to try to put things
in a little neat box,
and the boxes are not
that neat sometimes.
I think Frenchies have many,
many wonderful qualities, fun
and comfort for so many people.
Is it sad to have
health problems?
Of course, in any--
you know, in any dog,
it's sad to have
health problems.
And anyone who breeds
dogs should do so
with the goal of minimizing
that and eliminating that.
I think it's an important
part of being a breeder.
And I think if you're
not willing to do
that, you shouldn't be
breeding any breed, not just
French Bulldogs.
The breeders who
think they're doing
everything they can need to seek
different veterinary opinions.
And I think we need to be
much more honest about it
in our profession as
well, because we need
to be more frank with breeders.
We need to say to them,
look, this isn't right.
RICHARD TALLARICO: The stigma
around the French Bulldogs
exists because there are
unhealthy French Bulldogs
out there, and they're
being bred that way.
So how do we get
to a point where
we are setting a new
standard so that there's
an expectation that these
dogs are genetically
tested and healthy and that
we're breeding healthy dogs?
EMMA MILNE: We should be
prioritizing the species, not
the breeds.
The breeds to me don't matter.
We've got a species that have
evolved alongside us to be
our best friends, and
we ought to start acting
like a good friend as well.
[PENSIVE MUSIC]
RICHARD TALLARICO:
We'd like people
to understand what
happens behind the scenes
and how much energy
and effort it takes
to bring a French
Bulldog to life,
and that there are committed
people who are trying to do it
the right way, and
that the French Bulldog
breed is worth it.
[THEME MUSIC]
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Whelp (2025)
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