Bichon Frise

All you need to know about the breed

Bichon Frisé or Bichon Frise? While the world can agree that this is one playful, open and affable breed, it can’t always agree on the breed’s name, spelling or pronunciation. Their French name, Bichon à poil frisé, or curly-haired little dog, has the accent on the last letter; but in English-speaking countries, the breed is known as the Bichon Frise, accent-free in both writing and pronunciation. That’s okay, these confident dogs know who they are.

Adaptable and full of energy, the breed is well-suited to city life due to their compact size and easy-going nature. As has been said, there are no strangers to the Bichon Frisé, just humans they haven’t met yet. As such, they are known to form incredibly strong bonds with their human families. Have owner, will follow.

Equally known for their silky, powder puff coat, the Bichon Frisé does require near daily brushing to keep them looking their best. They will most likely be sitting in your lap much of the time anyway so just keep the brush nearby.

The Bichon Frisé breed comes in varying shades of white, extra-white, and even a slightly apricot-tinged white. If you were thinking that the Bichon looks a lot like the Maltese, Havanese or Bolognese, you have a good eye, they are not so distantly related.

While the Bichon Frisé can take a little longer to housetrain, their intelligence means they respond well to positive reward-based training overall. They just want to please you, basically.

The Bichon Frisé’s history is long and as interesting as the breed itself. Typically and rightfully associated with France, the breed is believed to have originally descended from Spanish sailing dogs in the Canary Islands, keeping sailors company during long voyages. The Tenerife Bichon, as they were known, is thought to be one of the Bichon Frisé’s forebears.

By the 13th century, they were housed in royal courts all over Spain, Italy and France. It was the latter who bred the lapdog we know and love today, probably around the time of the French Renaissance in the 16th century. Beloved by nobility, the Bichon Frisé had a grand old time of it. However, when the French Revolution began, their royal owners were sent to the guillotines, leaving Bichon Frisés to fend for themselves. Saved by the reign of Napoleon III, the breed was in the royal court once again, adored, pampered and dressed to the nines, the inspiration behind a new French verb: bichonner, meaning “to pamper.”

Throughout their history, fanciers would swoop in and keep the Bichon Frisé going as their fame ebbed and flowed and ebbed again. They didn’t appear in America until 1955. The Bichon Frise Club of America was formed in 1964 – note the Americanisation of the name – with the breed finally recognised by the American Kennel Club in 1971.