The French Bulldog ?Training Techniques

Have those large and dramatic eyes gotten your heart all aflutter? Perhaps it was the slightly mischievous, "more animated than a cartoon character" demeanor that caught your attention. Whatever it is about the French Bulldog that causes you to swoon, you'd hardly be alone. One of the most popular breeds in the United States, your "Frenchie" has been winning people the world over for the last 100 years.

Before you bring one into your home and promise to care for him for the entirety of his life, which you should anticipate being about 10-12 years, you will want to know some basic things about your beloved French Bulldog.

The French Bulldog's personality, albeit funny and sweet is willful. As such, training your French Bulldog is going to be a challenge. But train him you must, lest you want him to think he is the Prince of the house. Princes have an uncanny way of being spoiled, out of control, a tendency toward inappropriate elimination and think they're in charge. Indeed those are traits that can describe any celebrity or member of royalty, imagine how they'll manifest themselves in a dog!

Unwanted behavior in dogs that training will mitigate:

Bored barking ?barking than for no other reason than to hear himself talk. Some do this because they've not exercised and there's no better place for this pent up energy to go.

Snapping at you if you don't pet him when HE wants or if you start vacuuming ?both are signs that he feels that he's running the show. The reality is that you are the boss of him not the other way around.

Barking at your guests ?This is a huge no no! You decide who can enter your home, not your dog.

Jumping on you or your friends ?Although you think this is cute and a sign that he loves you, it is yet another sign that he is dominating you. It is never appropriate for your dogs to jump on you. If you are playing and he jumps toward you to catch a ball, this is of course different.

Snapping at you because you moved his food dish or attempted to take something he shouldn't be eating.

For many breeds, training can be as simple as a few lessons, both on and off leash, with or without treats (depending upon the method) and each new thing introduced can take a few times for them to sink in. Indeed all dogs need refreshers and the most trained can get distracted if they're in that zone ?which can happen say to a hunting dog who sees a rabbit, a mongoose, etc. Instinct trumps training.

For a variety of reasons, most of them to do with selective breeding for specific traits, Frenchies are notoriously difficult to train. When introducing a new lesson, it's important to be consistent, don't give up and if you need to, use treats to reinforce your needs.

Never punish any dog but in particular a Frenchie. For all his willfulness, he's extremely sensitive. Always praise when he "gets it" and reinforce when he doesn't. Use a high-pitched voice to show pleasure and a cool, calm and collected stern voice ?as deep as you can muster ?when he's being willful.

It will take longer to train your Frenchie than it does nearly all other breeds, but there will be a break through and both he and you will be infinitely happier once he's trained.