Training your French Bulldog

4 training tips to make your stubborn French Bulldog obedient

French Bulldogs display strong unwillingness for training, making exercise stressful and frustrating for the them and the human at times. While they are playful and gentle, their stubbornness is on another level compared to other dog breeds and can be challenging to train at times.

There are ways of getting your Frenchie to learn to obey your commands. Here are simple strategies to train your adorable Bulldog.

1.  Start Frenchie puppy Potty Training early

Start as soon as you get your Frenchie home. Breeders usually re-home their Frenchie Bulldog as early as 8 weeks old. Immediately after bringing your French Bulldog home start with potty training your puppy.

Designate a special potty area and stick to it. Take your puppy every 2 hours as Frenchie puppies cant hold their needs for longer than that when they are that young.

You want the dog to start learning potty manners as early as possible to prevent future problems. Show your French bulldog the spot you want him/her to defecate until they becomes familiar with the place and connect it with toilet affairs.

If you allow your Frenchie to do their needs elsewhere it will complicate matters for you later. Frenchies are extremely intelligent and will resort to their own way of doing things if not trained otherwise.

2.  Your French Bulldog needs positive Reinforcements through Verbal and Physical Rewards

French Bulldogs are highly emotional and can become sad when scolded. These dogs were bred to please, so any negative feedback hits them hard. To prevent your dog from becoming sulky, make sure to reward him/her with plenty of verbal and physical compliments such as praises, pets and treats.

Whenever the dog does the right thing without your guidance, reward your Frenchie bountifully. When things don’t go as planned, don’t shout or scold your Frenchie. Stay positive always to build a trustworthy and positive relationship.

3.  Socialize your Frenchie with other dogs

You want your pup to become fully integrated with your family as quickly as possible. Start integrating the dog into your household from the day of arrival. Let him/her be desensitized to the touch of family members and allow interaction freely with your household. Frenchies love noise and activity, so let them play around and explore. On the same token it is crucial that your dog socialize with other dogs early on. You want your Frenchie to be able to play and be around dogs without aggression or issues that might come later in adulthood if not properly socialized.

4.  Use the proper Frenchie training tools

Frenchies are brachycephalic dogs and this predisposes them to respiratory disorders. We would never recommend a training collar for this reason. Walking a brachy breed with a collar can disrupt airflow and even make the dogs eyes pop out of their socket or potentially cause other trachea injuries.

According to the Humane Society of the US it is the safest to use a harness to restrain your Frenchie. A harness allows the dog to breath freely with little or no obstructions. Our Health Harness was designed for brachycephalic dogs. It makes for a great training tool without the dangers found in common pet accessories.

The Health Harness is designed with dual D rings and double zink alloy buckles to provide a safe, no-choke, no-pull walk. The front D ring makes it ideal for training dogs that like to pull, along with those that have aggression and dominance issues.

If you want your pooch to have a comfortable life, a quality Frenchie harness is an excellent investment. Train your dog how to walk besides you early on to avoid frustration in the future. Even if your dog is full grown our specialty designed Health Harness can make all the difference in the world.

Frenchies are one of the most popular dog breeds on the planet. Miniature yet with giant characters, these adorable pooches are playful, intelligent, yet extremely stubborn. We believe that if you follow these 4 simple tips of training your Frenchie you can lead a healthy and positive relationship with your pooch.

How to deal with an aggressive and dominant Frenchie? Tips and advice

We received the following email asking for our advice in regards to an aggressive and dominant French Bulldog

We adopted our Frenchie (ex-breeder Mom) almost 5 years ago. She was originally intended to be a gift for my daughter but that didn’t pan out so she was a welcome addition to our little family of 3 dogs, 2 females and one male (who won’t tolerate another male dog within 2 feet).

My question/concern stems from the chaos that sometimes results in our house since we adopted Dixie.  For example: Before Dixie, our two females rarely fought. And my pug would at least occasionally let me hold her.

Now she tries to jump down immediately or else my bully will attempt to jump up on whoever holds her and attack her. Before Dixie, all three dogs would get along, happy pack/siblings but now Dixie seems to have become the alpha and insists on being first out the door, growls at the others when she wants something first, like water.

Dixie also often growls when being pet and loved on, whereas any other dog would eat up the attention. And she seems to hate feet. Whenever we sit together on the couch/bed if we move or wiggle our toes at all, she lunges and growls at our feet, making it impossible to snuggle for very long.

Just wondered if you had any tips or suggestions at all. We’ve owned different breeds all of our lives from chows to pugs, bulldogs (2 currently) to labs, Rottweilers and Elkhounds. When we picked Dixie up from rescue she was sweet and timid, compliant and cuddly.

While some of the unique frenchie characteristics (as described in your “deaf” article) are similar, she has changed over the past three years and her behaviors affect the overall cohesiveness of our “fur clan” so any tips or suggestions would be welcomed!!


Hi Lorrie:

From reading your question there are a few key points you already know and are pointing out in your question which I would like to re-affirm:  Dixie wants to be the alpha and the boss, wants to control the environment and the situation. Whoever is not in line with how she wants them to behave she will show aggression.

First and foremost I would like you to ensure there is nothing medically or physically wrong with Dixie that will make her hostile or change her in anyways. The following tips will be given on the assumption that there is nothing wrong medically and her behavior changed over time due to her taking a certain role in the household that she feels is lacking.

It is important to go back to the beginning and ask in what way you introduced her to the pack. It seems like the introduction was immediate and without much adjustment time. You say that she was originally going to be your daughter's dog and that didn't work out.

This fact alone gives me an insight into the situation. Since things didn't work out the way they were planned I'm sure you were a bit puzzled and that rubbed off on Dixie. It seems that when she was added to the rest of the dogs in your household that created imbalance.

From Dixie point of view she has taken the role of the mom and leader in the household and whoever is out of line she "disciplines" them by putting them in their place.  It also seems like you are scared of her reaction and avoid doing certain things that will upset Dixie which is not helping the problem.

We have a few recommendations to help this situation and they will all start and end with the one concept of you becoming the alpha and leader of the pack. 

When leaving your home with a hostile Frenchie

You need to be the first leaving out of the door not any of the other dogs. Open the door slightly just for you to be able to stand in the opening, exercise standing there in front of your dogs while your dogs are still in the house for 1 minute increase by 1 minute daily until your dogs understand and wait patiently for 3 minutes without trying to trip you or escape first.

This exercise will be hard to do at first but your dogs will soon learn you are the boss. In time you will be able to open the door wider and wider without them trying to be out of the door first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking with an aggressive Frenchie

Do not allow any of your dogs lead you during your walks, traditional dog harnesses encourage the dogs to pull like sled dogs with the back D ring attachment.

It is a great idea to invest in a harness that will support the emotional well being of your Frenchie. We offer the best Frenchie Dual D Ring Health Harness that allows a front leash attachment to help pullers and dogs with dominance issues. We also offer satisfaction guarantee so you can purchase with ease. 

Additionally we recommend pairing your Frenchiestore Health Harness with the Multiple Configurations Health Leash for additional control points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feeding a dominant Frenchie

Is one of the most important aspect of introducing a dog to the rest of the pack. Dixie will have to re-learn feeding manners and respect the other Frenchies in your household.

When feeding the dogs you need to make Dixie wait until all the other dogs are fed in order to create a balanced situation. When starting that for the first few times you will see aggression, it is best to have Dixie nearby and able to see the others are fed before her but not completely in their space in order to keep everyone safe.

Slowly start introducing her to the pack and feeding her right before the other dogs finish and work your way up to feeding at the same time. Use treats and toys to distract her away from aggression until she gets her food.

If Dixie shows any aggression remove her from the situation and go back to step one of the feeding until she is able to be fed together with the pack without any aggression.

If you are unable to do the above method because of lack of time or any other reason we would recommend you feeding Dixie away from the others until this behavior can be corrected.

We also highly suggest the following once Dixie is able to be fed at the same time as the other dogs:

• Create a "ritual" with your Frenchie around mealtime - have the food ready in her bowl make Dixie sit and look at you. When making eye contact with Dixie say OK and let her eat. This will ensure no issues will arise in mealtime. Do this with each dog in your household and work your way up to feeding all your dogs harmoniously at the same time.

• Affection - You can't avoid giving affection - dogs need that to feel safe and secure especially a French Bulldog who is a very emotional and affection driven breed.  Is she treat or toy motivated? Have treats or toys associated with affection. Pet and every time she reacts in a good manner to your hand petting give her a treat or the toy for a few seconds. Work up to her being able to sit on you and reward her. Remember she is a rescue, it is possible that Dixie associated affection with a negative experience in the past. Be patient and never be afraid to give her love. Bonding and affection is a big part of a good relationship with your French Bulldog.

• Frenchie Feet attacks - Every time Dixie attacks your feet you have to correct the behavior and let her know she did something wrong such as look into her eyes and firmly say no. Tell her sit or lay down or remove her from the situation and make sure she knows you mean business. Again I believe she associated feet with something negative early on before she even knew you. Put treats nearby your feet so she gets used to being around them without attacking and try to introduce games with your feet such as kicking a ball for her instead of the traditional fetch with hands. Let her lay on your feet (when she gets to that point, which will probably take weeks or months) The point of all the above exercises are to make new memories and associations so she remembers feet in a positive way not negative.

It would also be helpful to work with a trainer specializing in French Bulldogs to build a stronger leadership with your Frenchie. When working with a trainer he/she can see what is triggering Dixie and making her become aggressive at times.

You also have to identify what she is doing prior to the episodes in order to address the issue and correct it. We hope the above suggestions make a positive impact in your life, please let us know if you have any more questions.