Marketed as 'hypoallergenic' and easy, but that curly coat needs professional grooming roughly every four weeks for the dog's entire life or it mats painfully down to the skin, and the breed carries a real, well-documented risk of luxating kneecaps and lifelong dental crowding that small-dog buyers routinely underestimate.
12.5years, median
About the same as the all-dog median of 12.5 years.
Measured, not estimated: the middle age at death across 584,734 UK dogs, 284,734 of them deceased. Based on 8,802 dogs of this breed. 95% confidence interval 12.3 to 12.7 years. Half lived longer than this, half did not. UK dogs, so treat it as the best available figure rather than a promise about yours.
In the same study, small breeds as a group had a median of 12.7 years and medium-muzzled breeds 12.8. This breed is small and medium-muzzled.
McMillan et al. 2024, Scientific Reports 14:531 — open access · CC BY 4.0Health tests to ask the breeder for
Bichon Frise Club of America sets the tests a Bichon Frise needs for a CHIC number in the OFA's open database. A CHIC number means the tests were done and the results are public. It does not mean the dog passed them: ask for the results for both parents, or look them up yourself on ofa.org.
- Hip Dysplasia (OFA Evaluation or PennHIP Evaluation)
- Patellar Luxation (OFA Evaluation)
- Eye Examination by a boarded ACVO Ophthalmologist
When to spay or neuter: the guidelines split at 45 pounds grown, five to six months under it and after growth is complete over it, and the UC Davis study gives a guideline by breed for 35 breeds. The spay and neuter page has both, and the two weeks after.
- Legg-Calve-Perthes (OFA radiographic evaluation)
- Cardiac Evaluation
- Dentition
- Autoimmune Thyroiditis (OFA evaluation)
- Urinalysis
- Serum bile acid test (liver shunt)
- Standard blood panel
Test names as the club lists them; checked September 2026. OFA CHIC breed page. How to use this at the breeder: check a breeder.
Adopt a Bichon Frise near you
Shelters and rescues list Bichon Frises and Bichon Frise mixes on Petfinder. Enter a ZIP code to see who is waiting within 100 miles.
Listings come from Petfinder and open there. Petipedia does not take part in adoptions and earns nothing from them.
Living with a Bichon Frise
The cheerful, people-focused temperament makes Bichons genuinely easy to live with day to day, but the coat is not: daily brushing at home plus a monthly professional groom is the real minimum to avoid mats, and skipping it for even a few weeks can mean a shave-down. They're not the yappy, fragile lapdog stereotype — they're playful and reasonably sturdy for their size — but dental care has to be proactive from puppyhood, not reactive once problems show up.
Health you should know about
- Patellar luxation — a kneecap that slips out of its groove, a very common inherited orthopedic issue in small breeds including the Bichon.
- Dental disease — small, crowded jaws make periodontal disease and early tooth loss common without regular home and professional dental care.
- Cataracts and corneal dystrophy — inherited eye conditions that can appear as young as a few months to a couple of years old.
- Bladder stones (urolithiasis) — a recognized health concern in the breed, sometimes requiring surgery or a prescription diet to manage.
Read the full Dog Care Guide first — costs, daily time, and everything a dog needs before you choose a breed.
Naming a Bichon Frise? French dog and cat names, 89 of them, with what they mean.
Sources — 4 references
Last reviewed October 2026. 4 sources listed below. Written and maintained by Petdeals.io. General care information, not veterinary advice — for a sick animal, call a vet.