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?

I have to admit when I got my Westie I was young, didn't do any research just got her based on a friends dog and the general idea Westies are good dogs, I also got my sausage as it was my Dad's dream dog and I got kind of got him 'for' Dad. My Westie was my dog, and sausage turned into Dad's dog. Personally I do very much like the appeal of a smaller dog, easier to travel with, especially space wise for holidays etc, wouldn't mind them sleeping on the bed. For most smaller breeds there seems to be a high proportion that were bred to chase and I can't get my head around that right now. One of the reasons I landed on the Frenchie was so many descriptions suggested that cats were not as much of a problem.

I do like how Goldies seem to be fairly bullet proof, solid dogs, global breed standards, I think one would be great for DD

I know someone who paid quite a bit of money for a rescue Frenchie. The poor dog didn't know how to play or socialise but from what I know he's doing OK now. Within weeks they had a vet's bill of £1000 for various ailments.

When I'm in the park I feel sad hearing all those flat-nosed breeds snuffling

My sister's Frenchie shed everywhere, constantly. She was forever vacuuming but the hair was still all over the place, you couldn't escape it. I'd go for a poodle cross - low shed, easily trained.

Are Frenchies classified as dogs??!!!!

My experience with French Bulldog ….

Sweetest nature when matured, an absolute nightmare as a puppy.

Near on impossible to train. Little going on between the ears and incredibly stubborn. Most difficult dog I’ve ever had to train (in fact I didn’t manage it, I couldn’t even house train him)

Highly neurotic, very destructive, ate his way through two kitchen doors, tore a sofa to pieces, pissed on every bed he ever had before ripping it up, couldn’t be left alone for 5 minutes before tearing something up.

Never again.

I echo what a lot of people have said on this thread.

Did you know that many can’t actually give birth and need to have c-sections? They also have to be artificially inseminated.

It’s sad, but they’re an extremely immoral breed.

I absolutely adore my frenchie. I think we have been lucky to get a decent breeder, he was born naturally, no health issues so far. We do feed him on a raw diet and have done since a puppy.

He’s so loving. I would totally admit that he was a gremlin in his puppy stage but easy to house train & he’s fairly obedient. Perfect lap dog imo.

@sugarplumfairy28 OP I don't know where you are but attached photo is a pup from Heathlands (a rescue in north Herts) Half Bernese cross, all dogs are fostered before adoption so are usually in family homes.
Hope this post is allowed, I'm not advertising for them but I got our lovely old boy from then and couldn't fault them.

Thanks so much for thinking of us, unfortunately we are in Germany.

Rescues are full of aggressive French bulldogs who have complex health issues. The breed has colapsed due to overbreeding. My vet has started a petition to stop them being bred as she puts so many of them down. My rescue frenchie is going to be put down for multiple complex health problems at 4. Heart ripped out and kids distraught. It’s not just the breathing op. It’s the eyes, joints, skin, colitis, discs. Please don’t buy one. What you are reading about them is now very out of date.

This is one reason we don't want a rescue. I am all for rescues, but we're not personally in a position to be able to deal with the massive uncertainty in behaviour. I know that it's not just the flat face, but I know that breeders are under pressure to breed out these qualities it just seems that's not happening yet. The temperament and the personality is what interested me, at least on paper. In reality there really isn't too many examples of actual healthy Frenchies, and I don't like the attitude of 'you are going to face serious problems'. We're looking at other breeds.