French Bulldogs

[AveryandAudrey]

Hey, i'm going to be getting a french bulldog soon, well hopefully soon, within the year for sure. I've been doing research but I'd like to hear from actual owners. Is there anything you can tell me? Training ideas? Are they difficult to housebreak? She will be on the raw diet by the way, and I want a female. I'd love to hear anything about the breed/advice/anything please!

[Scarlett_O']

Hey, i'm going to be getting a french bulldog soon, well hopefully soon, within the year for sure. I've been doing research but I'd like to hear from actual owners. Is there anything you can tell me? Training ideas? Are they difficult to housebreak? She will be on the raw diet by the way, and I want a female. I'd love to hear anything about the breed/advice/anything please!

Im not an owner, but my Mum and Dad have 2, and I helped housebreak, train and raise Hub(Dad's 3 year old) and have been active in helping with Jazzy(Mum's 7 month old) from a distance.

Lets see...what can I say.....They are stubborn, strong willed, head strong, loyal...when they want to be, and can be moody as hell!!LOL
Hubbers wasnt hard to house break at all....Jazzy has been...well a challenge. Hubbers was raised in a RV where we could just hop right outside and have him somewhere that he could go potty at...My parents, with Jazzy, are in an upstairs apartment, it takes them about 5 min to get them to the pet area. So she is potty broke to potty-pads...she, NOW, does VERY well on them....but it took her to be about 4.5months old! ;-) (But in my experience most boys are easier to house break no matter the breed!)
As far as training....you have to make it fun, while still keeping them focused...meaning it needs to be fun without being TOO fun!!LOL But while that IS VERY much so the case...well you have to make it their idea to work! ;-) Jazzy has been, by FAR, easier to train then Hubbers...he was quick to learn until he was about 6 months old...then he got bored and stopped wanting to learn at all(YES, that WAS mostly my Dad and Brother's faults for spoiling him...but also his personality!) Jazzy on the other hand is ALWAYS willing to learn...she ADORES my Mum and will do ANYTHING for her and I! :-D

I have noticed that they ARE definitely one people dogs...they can like/love others......but they have that ONE special person that they ADORE who is THEIR person!! Hubber's is my Dad(even though he was bought for my Mum) and Jazzy's is my Mum, Hub is also very much so a person's dog, while Jazzy can be happy with other dogs as much as with people! :-)

And of course.......now for the pictures!!!:-D

Jazzy:


Me and Hubbers:


Jazzy:


The 2 of them:


Mr. Man:



I love my little sister!!



He REALLY wanted my cookie dough!!LOL (Did NOT get it though!hehe)



LOVE HER!!



She loves her Rhett!!






BAHAHHA...and sorry for the over load of pictures....I love my little brother and sister!!LOL

And Im sure Ill have more to add...but I cant remember it all right now!

[CoverTune]

I can't offer much, as I'm not an owner and haven't ever trained any.. but I did live with a pair of Frenchies for several months and I fell in love with them! They are absolute comedians and had me laughing out loud almost daily. They can be pretty high-energy.. and I hope you don't mind snoring. :)

[Scarlett_O']

I can't offer much, as I'm not an owner and haven't ever trained any.. but I did live with a pair of Frenchies for several months and I fell in love with them! They are absolute comedians and had me laughing out loud almost daily. They can be pretty high-energy.. and I hope you don't mind snoring. :)

Yes, the snoring can get to some!!LOL
My dad will complain about it if/when he hears them, my Mum and I laugh....cause he is a SUPER loud snorer!!!LOL

And as far as high energy....some yes, some no not at all!haha. Jazzy is TOTALLY a bouncy rubber ball full of energy....Hubbers, hmmmm.....well he is more of a concrete chunk!!hahahhaha

[Dude and Bucks Mamma]

Talk to Meggels and Frogdog. They both own frenchies :)

[AveryandAudrey]

Thank you guys for the input. And those pics are too cute! Thanks for the tip dude and bucks mama.

[meggels]

It tends to vary from dog to dog, as I can see in this thread already lol.

I think in my experience, females tend to be higher energy than males, who tend to be more laid back and chill.

Murph isn't really a one person dog at all, he is a social whore. I've seen maybe a FEW small examples of where he showed he was somewhat attached to me as his person LOL. They are very friendly dogs, total comedians, cuddle bugs, life of the party. He is a local celebrity at this point, because he goes to stores (dog and cat boutiques) to work with me, and people know him and flock to him.

They tend to be good with kids. You NEED to socialize them early in life and A LOT. No such thing as too much. Otherwise they can become dog aggressive.

They are stubborn, thick headed little bastards. Murph is not very obedient, but he makes up for it by being so well behaved naturally. I've worked on furthering his training, it's a work in progress at 2.5 years old. He just stares at the treat and sigh's while I'm asking him to do things.


You need to be very careful in heat and humidity, they overheat SO easily. It can happen within minutes. I've seen it happen first hand and have had to rush dogs to the emergency vet in wet towels, and it is terrifying. I think better safe than sorry, and Murph spends the majority of his time in the AC in the summer, which seems to be fine by him, he's not much of an outside dog. Some do love the outdoors. I showed one named Irma who was a complete spitfire. One time in the spring I brought her and my hound to the dog park and she was haulin ass around this HUGE enclosed park with all the big dogs chasin after her, she had a huge frenchie smile on her face. Murph on the other hand had no use for the dog park, and in social settings, he hits up the owners of dogs rather than wanting to socialize with other dogs. He is a dream with kids, he sits so politely while they just pet him.

They are BIG dogs in little bodies, and they have no idea there's a difference. They are rarely afraid of anyone or anything, Murph has tried to start crap with a 100lb german shepherd, and he bosses around my mom's 70lb boxer who is usually very dominant.



They are not an easy breed to own. They are high maintenance and you need to be careful with their health. But, I love Murph so much, and he brings so much joy and so many smiles to my life on a daily basis.

[barneysmom2510]

My brother has a male frenchie he is 8 months old and he is so adorable. My brother has not really struggled housebreaking him and he loves my dog Barney. IMHO his dog is a bit overweight I cannot even feel his ribs at all. He also was warned about exercising them to much especially in the warm weather. I know it was recommended that he has to have surgery because he has a very smooshed nose in comparison to other frenchies. I think he is a joy to be around I love when you pick him up he lays on his back and his lips form the silliest grin.

[meggels]

Where are you located? I know a lot of great breeders on the east coast and would be happy to recommend some to you if you are over this way :)



And for fun, my friend who breeds and shows frenchies (well, I have several in the frenchie world lol), posted this pic the other day. Both dogs are actually puppies, but the little fawn is only 8 weeks old, that's why the brindle looks huge. But this picture makes me giggle whenever I look at it.

I feel like this also describes frenchies in so many ways, a picture is worth a 1000 words lol...

[magicre]

the smush faced dogs snore...

however, you can get them examined by a vet and if the nares are too narrow, they can easily be roto rootered....my pug, who is similar to a frenchie.....had nostrils that barely got air into him, so consequently, he is barrel chested.....

anyway, simple inexpensive surgery fixes it and slows down the snoring.

also helps with ability to exercise.