Welcome to Busy Bee Frenchies!
We are a small French Bulldog breeder located in Western Kentucky and have over 20 years’ experience breeding, showing, and raising dogs. While our family has owned French Bulldogs since 2016, and we have been breeding and showing in the years since, that is not where our story begins. Click on the tabs below to learn more.
Where it Began: Cane Corsi
Our family started out raising and breeding the Cane Corso breed because my grandfather, Anthony Tantillo, knew Corsi from when he lived in Sicily. My grandfather came to the USA, became a citizen, and served in WWII. He stormed the beaches of Normandy, saving lives. He built a church and played in a New York Jazz Band.
We bred Corsi until my grandfather passed away at age 101, making him one of the oldest WWII veterans at the time of his death. In appreciation of both his service and our love of the United States, we offer a 5% discount to veterans.
We loved raising the Cane Corso breed, and we met many amazing people worldwide through buying, selling, showing and championing our dogs through AKC. I am still great friends with many of the families that bought puppies from us, and the breeders I met all over the world. We won regional and national awards for our breed with an 18 month old bitch. We also boar hunted with our dogs, sold many who later served as police detection dogs, and were published in magazines and books for the breed. We learned so much about dogs in general during those years.
Why Frenchies?
Our son, Gary, led us into French Bulldog ownership. Gary wanted a smaller dog “just his size”, and so my husband and I started searching for a dog that would work. We settled on the French Bulldog because it was so similar to the Cane Corso. Both the French Bulldog and Cane Corso have short coats, love to be with their owner, can be protective, are brachycephalic, and are normally quiet. We brought home Fenton and Gary was thrilled. They ran our farm together and Gary was truly in his element. The rest of us all loved the breed as well!
We added Bumblebee to our family a year later. After my grandfather died, I could no longer breed Corsi. We sat a year or so without breeding and I became agitated. I love breeding dogs because I like the science behind breeding, the people I meet through breeding and the competition in showing. I called Bumblebee’s breeder to see if I could upgrade my contract and she agreed. That was the start of our breeding program and where the name Busy Bee French Bulldogs comes from.
Our Breeding Program
Our family shows in AKC, and both of our children, Gary and Clara, hold junior showmanship numbers. We love spending time with our dogs. We take them kayaking and camping with us. Pretty much, we always have a Frenchie friend in tow, wherever we may go. We love the individual personalities, the quirkiness, and I personally love the challenge this breed offers in creating healthy lines. My veterinarian thought I was nuts, but he knows I am persistent and do diligent research. He said “If anyone can do it, it would be you.” He has helped me assess the health of every dog we bring into our program. I could not do this without a trusted and excellent veterinarian. We health test through Embark and our vet checks their patella’s prior to breeding.
We take breeding very seriously and we understand you are putting your faith in us to breed you a healthy dog. That is why we like to stay in touch with you as you raise your puppy from us. After all, if we do not keep up with our puppies how can we breed better? The answer is we can not because we will not know if we are actually creating healthy lineage. We have a Facebook page, Busy Bee French Bulldogs, where we can keep up with our families. We love that the families that buy from us can meet one another on this group page, and we can keep up with our puppies easier. Please feel free to join us! We are always open for questions and concerns as well. Thank you for taking the time to visit us here.