French Bulldog Raising Tips and FunTraining Ideas
4. Are Rawhide Treats Good for Your French Bulldog?
By all means, give your dog some rawhide treats! They are good for them, and dogs love them! Rawhide is great for cleaning your dog's teeth, and it also gives your French Bulldog something to chew on, besides your couch or favorite pair of shoes!
When looking at rawhide, try to find the biggest pieces, because you don't want the smaller bone fragments that break off the smaller ones for your French Bulldog. You would be smart to ask your vet, or shop around for the best quality rawhide you can find. It comes in many different styles, and even fun filled treats inside some of them, to keep your French Bulldog entertained!
It is best to supervise your dog with a rawhide chew, as it could come apart and get lodged in the dog's throat, but that is extremely rare, but still could happen. Just as any toy or treat you give your pet, should be supervised. When your dog has chewed on a big piece of rawhide, and it is soft and gooey, take it away, and give them a new one. Let the old one harden up again, and you can give it back to them later.
The good thing about rawhide is it is good for your French Bulldog's stress level. A bored French Bulldog will have more stress, because he or she is bored, and a rawhide treat will keep them more occupied and entertained! It is hard to tell if good rawhide comes from the United States, or other countries, so it is best to get the best quality you can find.
5. How to Crate Train Your French Bulldog
If you were a new French Bulldog puppy, wouldn't you want your new home to be warm, comfortable, secure and inviting! Sure you would, and your new French Bulldog puppy, or even a full grown older dog, loves a nice secure home to sleep in!
You want your French Bulldog puppy or dog to have a secure place to rest and go to, when you want them to be in a secure place while you're away.
To begin with a new puppy, you would want to have a good size crate, one they can stand up and lie down in, and turn around comfortably, but not to big either.
You would want to leave the door open in the beginning, and just get your French Bulldog used to the crate. You would put a treat at the opening of the crate, and let your puppy or dog go and eat it. You would continue until you are putting the treats in the back of the crate, and your French Bulldog feels comfortable going inside.
You want them to get used to getting a treat for going inside, and then later turn it into a praise. This will be their home. You would put their food and water inside, and with training, it will become their own little den, a place they like to sleep.
After you have your French Bulldog going inside, it is time to shut the door jut for a very short period of time, 1 to 2 minutes. You would give your French Bulldog a treat while inside, and praise, then open the door back up. You never want to use the crate as punishment. Don't put them in the crate when they have been bad. They will associate that with being put in the crate, and you want them to feel good and secure in their spot.
Put their crate out of the way, but not totally out of the way. Somewhere in a room the family shares, but in his or her own little corner, make it a nice home for them.
If you are going to be gone, and have to leave your French Bulldog in his crate for a long period of time, try to get them their favorite toys. A toy with a snack inside, that takes time to get out, so they are occupied for a while, because you want them to associate going into their crate, as a fun place to go.
6. When Your French Bulldog Makes Potty Mistakes
Too many dogs have been abandoned at animal shelters, just for the sole purpose of the dog making potty mistakes in the wrong places, and not being properly trained.
French Bulldog's sometimes might go potty in response to fear, excitement, separation anxiety, marking territory, and sometimes medical problems. It is best to start with your vet about any medical problems, before you move forward. Some dogs may have a urinary infection. Spayed females may have some small leaking at times where they lie down or sleep.
One of the most common symptoms is separation anxiety. If the dog has gone thru some new changes, or there has been a change in the household, it could be affecting your French Bulldog.
Another problem might be submissive urination, which occurs when your dog first sees you when you come home. They may exhibit uncontrollable urinating and submissive behavior, like rolling on his or her back.
One way to help remedy this, is to immediately take your French Bulldog outside right when you get home, and try to stay calm and low beat when just greeting your dog, to help him or her get less excited.
Some dogs will perform a marking behavior by lifting their hind leg and urinating. This is most common in unneutered male dogs that have not been neutered. If a male dog is neutered around 6 months of age, this will usually cure this behavior. A male dog should be neutered if he is not intended for breeding, or there is a medical reason while your dog should not be neutered.
If you see your French Bulldog getting ready to go potty, immediately clap your hands together, or use another device to get their attention, and immediately take them outside.
A dog is not considered housebroken until he or she has not had an accident for around 45 days in a row. You can easily train your young French Bulldog to go outside; When you notice that he or she is sniffing around like they want to go. After they just ate, had a bath, just woke up, or just your gut instinct that your French Bulldog might go potty inside.
If you need to be gone from your French Bulldog for an extended period of time, you should keep him or her in a crate or cage. Make sure you do not give them an over size crate or cage, or they will use that space to go potty.
If you need to train an adult French Bulldog, do it just like you would a puppy! Give them the right guidance, and train them just like you would a puppy. An adult dog needs to urinate roughly 3 to 4 times a day, and defecate once or twice daily.
When your puppy or adult French Bulldog does a bad thing inside, in a firm and stern voice, say "Bad Dog", and then take then outside where you would like them to go, and tell them "Good Dog." Give praise when your French Bulldog goes outside.
To potty train a puppy or adult dog, you must lay down newspapers, and bring the puppy to the newspapers, and say "Good Dog" at that spot. When you catch your puppy starting to go, get them if you still can, and tell them "Bad Dog", and then put them on the newspaper, and tell them "Good Dog", and after they go, give them praise.
You would start out with a wide section of newspapers on the floor in the beginning, and then slowly you can decrease the size to a manageable spot. Give your French Bulldog a little time to get used to this. They will learn to go on the newspapers when they get praise. Use a stern voice when they go in the wrong spot, they would rather have praise, and will learn to go on the newspapers!