Coat, Ears & Tail

AKC Non-Sporting Group · No. 1 in 2025

How to identify a French Bulldog

The French Bulldog is a small, muscular companion and the No. 1 breed in the AKC’s 2025 ranking. The giveaway is the bat ear: broad at the base, long and round at the top, carried erect. The face is extremely short, and the back rises over the loin.

Photo of a French Bulldog
Photo: Ildar Sagdejev (Specious) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Field marks

These four marks are the ones the game gives you as clues. They paraphrase or briefly quote the AKC French Bulldog standard.

  1. “Bat ear, broad at the base, elongated, with round top,” carried erect
  2. Large, square head with a soft roll of wrinkles over an “extremely short nose”
  3. “Roach back,” with the loin higher than the shoulder
  4. White, cream, or fawn, with brindle or piebald patterns; never black, blue, or merle

Tell them apart

French Bulldog or Boston Terrier?

Check the ears and the markings. A French Bulldog has large bat ears with round tops and is white, cream or fawn, often brindle or piebald, but never black. A Boston Terrier has small erect ears and is brindle, seal or black with required white on the muzzle, between the eyes and on the chest.

French Bulldog

French Bulldog

  1. “Bat ear, broad at the base, elongated, with round top,” carried erect
  2. Large, square head with a soft roll of wrinkles over an “extremely short nose”
  3. “Roach back,” with the loin higher than the shoulder
  4. White, cream, or fawn, with brindle or piebald patterns; never black, blue, or merle
Boston Terrier

Boston Terrier

  1. Brindle, seal, or black, “evenly marked with white”
  2. Required white muzzle band, white blaze between the eyes, and white forechest
  3. Square, flat-topped skull; short, square muzzle; small, erect ears
  4. Tail “short, fine and tapering,” straight or screw, never docked

French Bulldog or Bulldog?

Check the ears. A French Bulldog’s bat ears stand up, while a Bulldog’s small rose ears fold over. The Bulldog is also heavier, lower and wider at the shoulder, with an undershot jaw and deeper wrinkles.

French Bulldog

French Bulldog

  1. “Bat ear, broad at the base, elongated, with round top,” carried erect
  2. Large, square head with a soft roll of wrinkles over an “extremely short nose”
  3. “Roach back,” with the loin higher than the shoulder
  4. White, cream, or fawn, with brindle or piebald patterns; never black, blue, or merle
Bulldog

Bulldog

  1. “Heavy, thick-set, low-swung” body with wide shoulders and a rolling gait
  2. Extremely short face, undershot jaw, and heavy wrinkles
  3. Small, thin “rose” ears folding inward at the back
  4. Short, low tail, straight or “screwed,” carried down

French Bulldog or Pug?

Check the ears and the tail. A Pug has small, soft, black velvet ears and a tail curled tightly over the hip. A Frenchie has large, erect bat ears and a short tail. Pugs are only fawn or black, while Frenchies are never black.

French Bulldog

French Bulldog

  1. “Bat ear, broad at the base, elongated, with round top,” carried erect
  2. Large, square head with a soft roll of wrinkles over an “extremely short nose”
  3. “Roach back,” with the loin higher than the shoulder
  4. White, cream, or fawn, with brindle or piebald patterns; never black, blue, or merle
Pug

Pug

  1. “Large and deep” wrinkles above a “short, blunt, square” muzzle
  2. Tail “curled as tightly as possible over the hip”; “the double curl is perfection”
  3. Fawn or black only; fawns show a black mask, ears and a black “trace” down the back
  4. “Square and cobby” body; small, soft ears “like black velvet” and very large, round eyes

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