Most Frenchie owners know the grooming drill: ears, toes, bath, and brush, but many Frenchie owners don’t realize they are missing an important part of the Frenchie grooming ritual: the tail!
Those cute French Bulldog tails, they come in all shapes and sizes. Long tails, short tails, stump tails, button tails, screw tails (like a corkscrew or pig’s). Some tails are so hidden you can hardly see them; this type is often called a tail pocket and makes you think of a turtle hiding in his shell. All these tail types need a little extra attention or havoc can ensue, and in extreme cases, surgery may even be required.
A Frenchie tail, pre-grooming.
So what important step have you been missing? It’s called deadheading. Some Frenchie tails have deep folds and creases, especially underneath, where old hair gets trapped and can’t fall out. You want to make sure this trapped dead hair is removed on a regular basis. While the rest of the body’s shedding process is helped along by friction from petting, bathing, and roughhousing, this stubby, but adorable, Frenchie part often doesn’t get more than a passing sniff from a dog friend.
How to deadhead? For most Frenchies it’s simply a matter of manually plucking dead hair out of the tail. Depending on how squeamish you are (You own a Frenchie, right? Are you over being squeamish yet?) use your bare hands, a tissue, or don latex gloves. First, grasp the hair, then gently tug or pluck. Because this is loose, dead hair it’s not going to hurt your Frenchie. After a few tries you’ll get an idea of how much he or she will tolerate. Some dogs really like this process and some don’t. And don’t be surprised if it takes several rounds of plucking before the loose hair stops coming out.
Grabbing loose hair...
If this is the first time to deadhead, or it’s been awhile, you may get clumps of hair held together with gooky roots. That’s old skin cells, dirt, probably a good bit of bacteria, and anything else trapped in there. Ick! This is the reason you are deadheading. You want to clear this stuff out and off your Frenchie. Not only is dead hair unattractive, it traps bacteria and dirt, can cause infection and keeps healthy new hair from growing in. As you make deadheading part of your Frenchie’s grooming ritual, clumps should be rare. Deadheading will mainly be small tufts of individual hairs, similar to the photos.
Fur can really fly when deadheading and you may prefer to take your dog––and fur cloud––outside. For a skittish Frenchie, wait until he or she is relaxed or asleep to sneak in some subterfuge tail grooming. A distracting tummy rub often gets a Frenchie in the mood to be groomed. (Owners often do this maneuver for nail trimming, too.) If possible, slip a blanket or towel underneath your dog before you start. This will help with clean up later.
Voila! Dead hair removed.
Some unfortunate Frenchies have very tight tail folds making it difficult or impossible to remove hair or gook using only your fingers. In these cases, grab a mild astringent and cotton swabs to clean out folds and creases. (Sea Breeze for Sensitive Skin works for us.)
Cotton swabs soaked in astringent helps clean out deeper creases.
Avoid using straight rubbing or isopropyl alcohol as this can dry out and irritate the skin. Hydrogen peroxide would work, but has the annoying side effect of bleaching hair. (Your brindle Frenchie might not appreciate a blonde tail with dark roots. So 80s!) Tails with super tight folds are the ones to keep vigilantly clean because infection can set in. An infected tail is a pain in the kiester for both you and your Frenchie because along with a tender tushie, it requires an expensive trip to the vet for treatment and antibiotics. If the infection becomes chronic, your dog may require surgery to remove the tail. Here is a link to photos of a Frenchie who had this surgery. A good motivator to keep that tail scrupulously clean!
Now that you know just a few extra couple of minutes is the way to maintain a perfect Frenchie posterior, how ’bout finishing up with a little Frenchie tail history?
History of the French Bulldog tail at the Swedish site FriskaFrallor. (If you land in the middle of the page, scroll up.)
Note: The site refers to the UK and French standard, which differs from the American standard.
From the current American French Bulldog breed standard:
The tail is either straight or screwed (but not curly), short, hung low, thick root and fine tip; carried low in repose.
