French bulldog advice

[Dollybird86]

Hi I'm currently 5 months+ pregnant & thinking about getting a French bulldog dh thinks we should wait until after baby is here & we're more settled does anyone have one & can tell me how to they get on with small children? The internet would lead me to believe that they are very child friendly but would like some RL advice. Thanks

[pinguwings]

Real life advice?

Do not get a dog when you are five months pregnant.

[idirdog]

Absolutely do NOT get a dog when you are pregnant. Having a baby is a major life change getting a dog is another. There are so many threads on here from people who can not cope with getting a dog when they have young dc's.

I am fostering a 5 month beautiful collie pup that a pregnant women got when she was 8 months, the dog lasted 3 months and is completely untrained. He is a delight no trouble at all to me but I do not have a newborn or a toddler.

When you do decide to get a dog think very carefully about a French bulldog. Do you really want to encourage the breeding of a dog that has many health issues. You will need a large purse to deal with the health issues that YOU will get.

Do a few searches in the Doghouse and see all the people that thought they could manage a dog and a newborn or young child. Search for the puppy threads and the trauma people are having.


Please enjoy your pregnancy and give 100% of your time and love to your newborn they deserve it. Then in a few years think of getting a dog.

[mrslaughan]

Your DH is right, do not do it. I have a 3 1/2year old and 8 yr old . We got a dog when my youngest started nursery , and still it is very hard work.

Do not do it with a baby on the way, training a dog is an on-going commitment and very intensive in the first 18months (at a guess), you will have no time to do training in the first 6 months of you babies life..... You'll be lucky to get a shower, let alone be able to train a puppy.

Listen to your DH and don't do it.

[pugoff]

To add a realistic portion of advice from someone in the know. We have 2 pugs, both under 3 years and a 2 month old son. I would never, ever get rid of my dogs, they are part of my family...but have I thought about it at my darkest moments? yes.

It it without doubt THE hardest thing for me - having dogs that need attention, training, company, walks when you are alresdy giving everything you have to your baby. Forget the sleepless nights, breast feeding etc! Maybe yr DH will do the large portion of the work. Mine said he would but realistically, I do nearly everything. I feel guilty a lot of the time either as my dogs need walking but I'm feeding baby or vice versa because my baby wil be sick if I put him down but I have to, to let dogs out.

Frenchies are v like pugs in that they need company and thrive on being with u, all the time. But they also need training and can be v v stubborn and a pain with toilet training. I have 2 dogs which obviously is harder work but still...phew. that said I love the interaction and my oldest pug just lives the new baby (and wants to lick his ears!)

Please re think if u want to give your baby and future puppy the best deal. Think how hard it could be walking a dog and newborn in the bleak months of Nov - march (or May as it was this spring!!). If u want any specific advice on logistics of it all let me know as it'd hard factoring in things like month pregnancy fat ankles and dog walks, and going to baby classes around giving dogs company / time etc.

Right, baby is asleep but unfort I have to get up and wake him so I can walk dogs, then take baby to docs as he's poorly. I feel like actual superwoman sometimes!!

[pugoff]

Oh and money wise they are costly to buy, insure, feed. I love my boys and we are lucky they are v v healthy for the breed but we are at the vets every other month for minor ailments such as kennel cough, a uti or stupidity such as leaving chocolate cake on dining table where gazelle like youngest pug clambered up there and troughed the lot, the fatty

[idirdog]

The difference with your situation Pugoff is that you had the dogs pretty established when you had your baby. The pugs would have been over 2 the OP is thinking of getting a puppy and having a newborn

[monkeyfacegrace]

I have 3 Pugs.

And 2 kids.

Bloody nightmare. You will NEVER have a house that isnt full of hair, dribble, splashed water, and Im afraid Frenchies are stubborn bastards too so the chance of you getting one 100% clean inside is very slim.

You wont just be able to let the baby lie on the grass, as chances are there will be dog shit there. Unless of course you scour the garden every time dog has been out.

Tbf, mine are now 6, 12 and 13, and Im sick to the back teeth of them. I love them and they are with me for life, but Id never, ever do this again whilst having kids too.

Dogs are a great idea in principle.

[MultumInParvo]

Yes I have 2 pugs and they are like frenchies. My youngest pug is 5 months old and even without young kids its hard work. He is a devil dog indeed. I can seriously think of nothing worse than a baby dog and a baby human at the same time

[Dollybird86]

Thank you all so much for the reality check! I will be holding off on getting a puppy for the foreseeable future! Pugoff I love the idea of this tiny dog munching a chocolate cake thank you

[pugoff]

Dolly, good decision. When u have a bad night or day with baby - and we all have - you will be so grateful a dog hasn't added to the misery. But perhaps when child is a bit older then you could rethink.

Pug + chocolate cake = emergency vet at midnight day before Xmas eve and £250 bill. DH dido not want to snuggle their beautiful faces that night, I can tell u. They were nearly on eBay I reckon.

[pugoff]

Multum - our youngest is a devil dog. He is an 18 month old black pug. I always joke that people have multiple pugs, but no one has more than 1 black pug!! He is worse than having a newborn. It's all low level, vaguely amusing naughtiness, but naughtiness none the less!! He Is the brain of the operation with my older fawn being the brawn who is tricked into the wickedness. Such fun...

[MultumInParvo]

Oh no pug ours is black too!! He is a rescue puppy and didn't have the best start so I assumed he would turn into my lovely quiet fawn. Not so then?!

[monkeyfacegrace]

Blacks are the worst Im afraid

[pugoff]

I didn't believe it until we brought our monkey home. He is the opposite to our fawn. Needy, intelligent, a screamer, did I mention needy. He's a permanent puppy. DD1 after a nice long walk takes a nap, MonkeyD2 wants to play fetch!! But he is good in other ways. His neediness and desperation to be with me means he's wonderful off lead, whereas DD1 wanders off without listening with seemingly v little going on in his head. DD2 just loves so hard and with such ferocity its hard work and admirable at the same time. He is wonderfully different, but ill never get a black pug again I don't think. I prefer my simple Forest Gump like fawn, esp now with children.