French Bulldog That low, buzzing snore rattling out of the couch cushions at two in the morning is a sound most Frenchie owners learn to sleep straight through.
Sometimes it’s just a snore.
Sometimes it’s a symptom that got a head start on you, and nobody in the house noticed because the dog seemed perfectly happy about it.
Frenchies are unbelievably good at hiding trouble. They wiggle, they snort, they roll over for a belly rub while something quietly progresses in a spine or an airway or a pair of stubby little ears.
That’s the whole argument for screening. Not because your dog is fragile, but because early information is cheap and late information is expensive, in dollars and in stress and in the kind of 11 p.m. emergency drive nobody wants to make.
Here are five screenings worth putting on the calendar, what they actually involve, and roughly when to ask for them.
1. A Brachycephalic Airway Assessment
Every Frenchie breathes loudly. That much is true. What is not true is the old line that noisy breathing is just part of the package and nothing to investigate.
A proper airway assessment (often called BOAS grading) sorts the normal snorters from the dogs whose anatomy is genuinely working against them.
What the vet is actually checking
Your vet will look at nostril shape, listen to your dog at rest, and then listen again after a short bout of exercise. Some clinics use a standardized walk or trot test to hear how quickly breathing recovers.
They’re checking for pinched nostrils, an elongated soft palate, a narrowed windpipe, and how much effort your dog spends just moving air on a normal day.
A sedated exam gives the clearest picture, since the throat can only be fully visualized when the dog is relaxed.
When to book it
Ideally before your dog turns two, and again any time you notice a change: louder breathing, gagging after meals, sleeping with the neck stretched out, or heat sensitivity that seems worse than last summer.
A screening is not a diagnosis. It is a baseline. Baselines are the only reason anyone can tell the difference between "he’s always sounded like that" and "he sounds worse than he did in April."
2. Spinal Imaging for Hemivertebrae
The screw tail everybody finds adorable is, anatomically speaking, a malformed vertebra. Cute? Absolutely. Also a hint.
Hemivertebrae are wedge shaped vertebrae that can show up elsewhere along the spine, and in some dogs they press on the spinal cord as the dog grows.
Why this one gets skipped
Because most affected dogs never show a single sign. The malformation sits there doing nothing for years, which makes it easy to assume it isn’t there at all.
The dogs who do develop problems tend to show them young, usually between four months and a year. Wobbly back legs, a dragging toe, reluctance to jump, or sudden incontinence are the signs that send owners running.
What the imaging involves
A set of spinal radiographs is the standard starting point and takes very little time. If something looks concerning, advanced imaging gives your vet the detail needed to decide whether anything should be done.
For breeding dogs this screening is non negotiable. For pet dogs, it’s a smart baseline to have on file before you ever need it in a hurry.
3. A Complete Eye Exam
Those enormous dark eyes sit in shallow sockets, close to the ground, and slightly more exposed than nature probably intended.
A quick peek during a routine visit is not the same thing as an actual ophthalmic exam.
The usual suspects
Cherry eye is the one most owners recognize, that pink bulge in the inner corner when the tear gland slips out of place. It’s common in the breed and it often shows up before the first birthday.
Distichiasis is sneakier: extra eyelashes growing where they shouldn’t, scraping the surface of the eye with every blink. Dogs compensate quietly for a long time.
Corneal ulcers come with the territory for any flat faced breed. A dog who blinks oddly, squints in bright light, or paws at one side of the face deserves a same week appointment, not a wait and see.
How often to screen
Once a year with your regular vet is a reasonable floor. A formal exam with a veterinary ophthalmologist is worth it if your dog has already had one eye issue, because the second one rarely announces itself politely.
Dry eye also belongs on this list, and testing for it takes about a minute with a small paper strip tucked under the lid.
4. Cardiac Screening
Frenchies carry a higher than average risk of congenital heart defects, and pulmonic stenosis is the headline one.
Here’s the uncomfortable part: a dog can have a significant defect and still look like the happiest, springiest little tank on the block.
Starting with the stethoscope
Most cardiac screening begins with a murmur check. Puppies sometimes have innocent murmurs that fade by four months, which is why timing matters so much.
A murmur that persists past that window needs a real answer, not a shrug.
Going further when needed
An echocardiogram performed by a cardiologist is the gold standard. It shows structure, flow, and pressure, and it separates "minor and manageable" from "we need a plan."
Waiting to see if a heart murmur resolves on its own is a fine strategy at ten weeks old. At ten months old, it is just waiting.
An annual listen at your regular checkup covers the acquired stuff that develops later in life. Ask specifically for it; don’t assume it happened while you were distracted by the scale.
5. Skin, Ear, and Allergy Evaluation
If your Frenchie has spent the last three summers chewing his feet raw, that is not a personality quirk. That’s a medical pattern with a cause.
Allergies are wildly common in this breed, and they show up through the skin far more often than through sneezing.
Where the trouble hides
Those gorgeous face folds trap moisture, debris, and yeast. So does the tail pocket, which many owners don’t discover until something starts to smell.
Ears are the other hotspot. Narrow canals plus inflammation equals infections that recur, and recurring ear infections are almost always downstream of something bigger.
What a real workup looks like
Your vet should take samples from the skin and ears and actually look at them under a microscope, because yeast, bacteria, and mites all get treated differently.
From there, a structured food trial or allergy testing helps identify triggers. Food trials require real discipline for eight to twelve weeks, no cheating, no pill pockets, no crumbs off the toddler’s high chair.
Bloodwork belongs in this conversation too, especially if the itching arrives with weight gain, a dull coat, or unusual lethargy.
The goal is never a perfect dog with zero issues. The goal is knowing which issues your particular dog has, before they decide to introduce themselves at full volume.
Building the habit
Pick one month a year and make it your screening month. Same time every year, same clinic, same running list of questions.
Keep a folder with every result, every radiograph report, every note about what the vet heard. Ten minutes of filing now saves a frantic search later, and a new vet can get up to speed on your dog in about ninety seconds instead of starting from scratch.
Then go back to ignoring the snoring, because some of it really is just snoring.