Who knows about French Bulldogs?

[sugarplumfairy28]

So a little bit of background. I have had dogs before, a Westie and a miniature Dachshund. My sausage was a typical sausage, stubborn, difficult to train, high prey drive, took forever to toilet train him, in comparison my Westie was easy. My Westie died nearly 4 years ago, and my sausage died last year. Aged 13 and 14 respectively.

We do have cats, and children, and our daughter has special needs. I miss having the dogs, and I feel like I have fallen into a depression without them. I feel stupid going for a walk alone, I don't like talking to myself and I miss that unconditional love. The dogs were my escape, my 'excuse' for me time.

We did a huge amount of research for a new dog, something friendly, trainable, good with other animals, family dog. We came up with a Bernese Mountain Dog. We found a breeder who said all the right things, and we went and got him. Honestly it was a nightmare. This poor puppy had never lived around people, never lived inside, and he was so incredibly stressed. He was biting us and not in a playful way, bit our daughters face twice, would grab her hair and not let go, he was incredibly destructive, the only time he was happy was outside in a kennel on his own, he became aggressive towards my husband and was snarling at him. The only thing we could do was return him to the breeder, which was heart breaking.

Now, we still want a dog but are still taken aback by what happened earlier this year. Our first instinct is to go back to a smaller dog, and we have done a ton of research and a French Bulldog keeps coming out on top. Family dogs, low grooming needs, smart enough for basic training, good with kids and other animals and affectionate. Does anyone have any real life experience? Can anyone give me an insight on what reality looks like with a Frenchie? I know about the health risks, but in a practical sense what do you look for?

It sounds like you need a Staffordshire bull terrier. A good, solid, loyal family dog.

Low grooming needs, happy to be walked or lie being cuddled, naturally people focussed, intelligent and easily trained. Cheaply insured and not usually prone to medical issues.

They do need good dog socialisation early on as they’re so human focused.

I know about the health risks, but in a practical sense what do you look for?

A different breed?

I've got a frenchie, he's 2. He's bonkers but in a loving way. He loves us so much, like too much sometimes. You give him a stroke and he'll want to lick your face and lie on top of you. He's brilliant with my son who is 4, they run around together endlessly and he is really kind and gentle with him. He gets the zoomies ALOT, loves charging about like a lunatic. Would walk forever if he could but he gets two walks a day, at least 30mins each, longer most of the time though. It's been pretty easy to keep him slim which is very important. He hasn't had any health issues yet 🤞and we've got good insurance for him too. He does well being left for a few hours when we go out, he just sleeps. He is obedient but we've had to be very strict cause he will push the boundaries and is still stubborn. But he does generally do as he's told, he can be recalled and will leave things when we tell him. Super friendly with other dogs, just wants to be best friends with everyone.

Poor berner.. did you not think to also research that breed as well?

The males are guarding dogs and need very good training, they tend to be nervous, not the side people tend to show on Instagram! Note all the puppy berners rarely do pope let you know that can be a giant pain in the bum.

Based on that experience why don't you do borrow my doggy and just borrow other dogs?

Or stick with a westie?

Average life expectancy of 4 or 5 I believe

This was the only was I looking at doing this. I know the guidelines and standards have changed to reduce the massive list of health risks, flat faces etc but ultimately you are at the mercy of the breeder being honest. After what happened before I just wanted a reality check, are people actually getting these healthy dogs or is it too soon.

I would consider a Staffie but we live in Germany and unfortunately they are a banned breed here.

My parents have 2 young frenchies. They are lovable, funny, energetic and generally sweet to be around!
BUT and it's a big but, in the past 2 years (both dogs aged under3) they have spent thousands on vet care. They both have skin allergies, one lost tiny patches of hair all over the body, one lost all the hair on the underside of the body. One had to have a knee operation (luxating patella?), one had to have multiple ear operations due to ongoing, reoccurring infections. One had a reaction to a new food and had to be hospitalized due to vomiting and other symptoms.

I'm in the minority (I know) I currently have 3. Never ever had any problems with any of them. My last one passed away age 15. I only ever had one issue with her eye once and that was it.
I did many many searches looking for them that were breed well.
They are absolutely fabulous with kids and people. My eldest frenchie is rather timid of other dogs other than his pack mates

Frenchie owner here. I've got a gorgeous, friendly, loving dog who can breathe with no issues and we go on walks for upto 90 mins/2 hours at a time with no problems. She does have some skin issues but plenty of other dogs do too. As for stubborn to train, mine was completely house trained by 4 months and has been really easy. X

@sugarplumfairy28 That’s a shame , a staffie would have ticked all your criteria.

We did do a lot of research, easy going, very trainable, good with children if they are raised right, in a family home, exposed to these things early on, and we were told that this had happened, when in fact it hadn't happened. It was only after the problems started the breeder said he must be like his father, aka aggressive, before we took him home apparently both parents were incredibly laid back and no issues.

Westies are terriers and do like to chase things, I know I was lucky and she was very good, but its not always the case.

I have just spotted that you are not in The UK
It May be that they aren’t as overbred in Germany so worth a look?

Golden Retriever has been on every list, every recommendation I have seen. My aunt was in fact a puppy walker and has lots of experience with them. I'm not against a larger dog, and I'm not settled on a breed at this stage. I think the problems we had this year has maybe made me wary of bigger dogs, I feel more confident with a smaller one, but Goldies are meant to be incredible dogs...

Neighbours had two. They chewed a huge hole through an internal wall when left!

What a shame, you do get aggressive berners, I hope the breeders managed to train him.

Good luck with your hunting!

For every 'I have a healthy Frenchie' there's research showing that owners of brachycephalic dogs have a poor perception of the health problems their dogs experience and do not understand the seriousness of the dog's conformational issues.

God no. Absolutely not.

I would never get a flat faced breed. It's cruel and they should not be allowed to breed such deformed unhealthy animals. Poor things . The health issues these types of dogs have are awful.

Just get another terrier. I've got a jack russell she's 17 now. Great with kids and a hardy and healthy little thing. She's been to the vets twice in her whole life.

I've also got a 1 year old rescue cocker - absolutely gorgeous boy. Not as energetic as I expected a spaniel to be, but we are an active family so I assume we meet his exercise needs.

Labs and retrievers are also a good choice or a good old mongrel

My son's girlfriend has a four year old Frenchie. He is a lovely affectionate dog in the house and very sweet. He carries a toy around in his mouth in the house. It's lovely to see. He is very attractive. We see lots of other Frenchies that are weird looking and I suppose that is down to indiscriminate breeding.
He has horrible back problems from jumping around like a nutter when he is outdoors. She is constantly at the vet with him for painkillers.
No breathing problems at all.
He attacks other dogs for no reason when out so has to be kept on a lead
The brother from the same litter died suddenly recently.
I love this little dog but would not want him for my own under any circumstances, for one thing - I want to enjoy my walks. When we go out together with my dogs we are always having to watch him in case another dog passes by so we can put him on the lead.
I suppose you have to be armed with the knowledge and then make up your own mind if you like the breed but there are too many cons and not enough pros for me

Goldies are the best

but ultimately you are at the mercy of the breeder being honest

There's lots more you can do other than rely on the breeder being honest, i.e. visiting and witnessing pups in a home environment with mum. You'd have soon found out if a pup had never lived inside.

There’s a really good reason they’re so popular, they’re pretty much perfect.

I have a flattie, but they’d probably be too bouncy for a child with additional needs, but when we can’t manage the energy of flatties we’ll move on to goldies.

At first they refused to take him back because 'the father is so aggressive, he wouldn't accept him back', they told us they would look for a new home and only then we could return him. We took him back on the condition they actually took him inside the house and saw what we were talking about, they said they would keep him for a few days to reduce stress and look for problems. We travelled 4 hours to get home after taking him back and by time we were home the breeder messaged me to tell me he had already gone to a new owner and was 'fine'. They literally lied every step of the way.

All I know is that it’s cruel and immoral to breed and make money from the poor things. They may look cute but they have miserable lives as they can’t breathe properly. Breeding of them and similar flat faced dogs should be banned.