At my wits end with puppy

[nonononononnoon39382920]

Sorry, long. Right. So I'll start by saying that I am tired, exhausted and having constant fights with my family because I brought this puppy into this house.

He's a 7 month old french bulldog who has severe (people and dog behaviourists seem to think is normal puppy behaviour, whereas I DON'T) behavioural problems. Please trust me when I say I love him to bits. I need to mention that he's doing classes with a behaviourist, he's taking him out for walks to teach him how to properly walk on a leash with his head up, and when he's gonna be stable enough(is that going to happen I wonder?!) we're gonna do sessions together.

Now please have a look at my issues.

1. He BITES! Mostly at night, this behaviour has improved, it's been much worse when he's been younger. But when we go into bed at night he JUMPS at us, BITES (when I say bites I'm not joking) and won't be calmed down. This happens sometimes during the day, not so often. At night it happens regularly, the second we get into bed.

1. He drags us everywhere when in leash, walking. He's been doing puppy classes, no improvement, still working with a behaviourist. With him walks just fine, with us not really. Also his head is always on the ground, never walks with his head up, and eats a shitload of crap from the ground.

1. Fussy eater. Always needs something mixed in his dog food (like carrot, beef meat), and even then sometimes he won't eat.

1. His behaviour is so crap even at the vet, he'll have to sedate him so he can have a look at his ears (a bit of otitis we suspect, waiting for results)

1. He knows basic commands like sit, etc, but only does them if you have food in your hands and he sees that.

I am at my wits end. I am the one who's blamed all the time. I have done the best I could. Walked him 5-6 times a day (bear in mind I have a full time job), mainly he goes potty outside but accidents have happened in the house as well (not bothered about that, I do realise he's a puppy). I am exhausted and don't know what to do...

Please, help. And if you can't help, please give me a hug

Here's my vile creature!!
His name is Bertie but we used to call him " Bitey"
I genuinely hated him at times (shhhhhhhhhh)

@Hoppinggreen awwwww!!!! ❤❤❤

OP, just skim read replies, will read again later when have more time.

Walking 5 times a day sounds a bit excessive... do you not have a garden? Is he going out for walks then to toilet, as you don't have a garden for him to roam free in?

I don't think he sounds a particularly good behaviourist. I don't understand why he is training him without you? You are the one that is going to be walking him etc. in the future. You maybe aren't being firm enough with him, but then again how will you know how is best to handle him if you aren't there at the training? Your both need to be trained.

I have a 3 month old Lab at the moment, so I do understand a lot of what you have mentioned. But he is still a puppy and he must learn what is and isn't acceptable. None of my dogs (have a 2.5 year old and the new pup) are allowed in the bedrooms. My little pup already knows this. Its not something I taught him specifically, it's just not giving in, not once....as then you start from scratch again. He will sit at the door and wait for me, even if its ajar. (I am quite proud of him, as its only the past few days really). If I invited him in, then he would think its ok for next time. (reason is because when we first got him, the two dogs did come in and they destroyed the base of my bed)

So, he has his sleeping space, which isn't the same as yours. You are the boss... do not let him think he is...

Are you clicker training? Dogs can be clicker trained to be compliant at the vet. Personally I'd do a lot of reading on dog behaviour and (I wouldn't nornally advocate this) ditch the trainer because you need to be working on this with the puppy and not involving you is odd. Given you have a choice of one trainer presumably you weren't able to choose them based on whether you are comfortable with their methods etc. In Defence of Dogs and Culture Clash would be two great books to start with.

We have an almost 12 wk old pup and she gets bitey at bedtime too. She sleeps in a crate next to my bed and is super sweet, especially with me, but when we go up to bed and let her on the bed she gets very nippy after a minute or two of cuddles, because she is tired! I put her straight in her bed in the crate and she settles very happily, last night she chewed and played with a cuddly toy for about 20 minutes before falling asleep. Agree give him his own space - whether that is in your bedroom or kitchen is up to you. If kitchen you may need to gradually move the crate from your room further and further away.

@murphys don t have a garden, we live in a flat atm, we're in tbe process of buying a house. Thanks for all your advice!

@witwootoodleoo will buy those just now, rhank you!

UPDATE- have discussed with behaviourist today. As of tomorrow I will be participating actively in absolutely ALL the walking sessions, with me holding the leash. He agreed, though he seemed surprised (wtf). I am giving him one month tops to see if he's able to help or not.

Do you have any other tips for this? Thanks! X

Sounds awful but is totally normal!

I have the same breed and went through all of this, must say does seem excessive exercise though which could result in more energy.

will be like this until 18 months then start to chill out

OP good call with the behaviourist but it's a shame there isn't another one as they are there to train YOU to train and manage your dog. My trainer shows me how then watches how I interact with the dog and corrects me.

@user1489402865 thanks a lot. Glad to hear I'm not crazy yet...😃

@BiteyShark I hope he will do the same, as I asked. We shall see. Your contribution to this thread have been much appreciated

Thanks everyone, will keep posted on wed when we have first session together zxx

We were told by our vet to walk puppy for 1 minute for every week of life so 7 months would be approx. 31 minutes a day. This was for a Labrador (can have joint problems in later life).

@nonononononnoon39382920 trust me they're a real handful but amazing once they've burnt off the puppy stage - we also went down the behaviourist route and found it frustrating. i think they're a new popular breed and some trainers don't know how to handle them yet.

Advice - get a Kong as they will destroy something else instead
Good diet, scrap the high protein based commercial brands and look for something with more nutrients and less grain - Lillys Kitchen is my preferred choice
try and socialise with dogs of different sizes so they learn how to play

@user1489402865 thank you! Our food is qualitative as well: taste of the wild, which is grain free and has little protein (27%), when they're adults their food should ideally have less than 25% protein

@orzal that's really interesting! Thankies❤

A halti harness that controls from the back stopped my dog pulling immediately..I found a routine of breakfast walk..dinner walk...just a play in the garden in the afternoon...worked well.puppies need sleep to..possibly to much walking,and definitely leave him downstairs when you sleep.we put a stair gate on to keep ours downstairs,no real need for dogs in bedrooms

UPDATE: your advice has been so useful. Been for a session today: me, puppy, behaviourist. I understood a lot! He corrected me and now I mainly know what to change. After that, we've been on a walk just the puppy and myself and it's been better! Definitely a lot of work to do but now I know where to start. Next session tomorrow!

Bought a crate. When he bites at night he ends up in there. After that I let him come back to bed and he sleeps all night long. I'm shocked. I didn't really want to let him sleep alone because when he sleeps with us we know exactly when he wakes up so we can take him out quickly before he pees/poops in the house, if that makes sense.

& to all of yous!❤

OP that's a wonderful update and so glad things are improving. Training is hard but when you start to see results it is so motivating

Yay! Pleased to hear things are moving in the right direction