Hello. Need some puppy advice! :) Meet Frankie

[Jodie Richardson]

Good Afternoon all,

im picking my French Bulldog up on the 16th July as the breeder can not hold her any longer, problem is im going away to cornwall for the week. so we have no choice but to take her, or dont have her

now has anyone else took a puppy away this young before? some people have told me she will love it, others have said they wouldn't.
All advice is welcome X

 

[JudyN]

How old will she be then? Do you know what socialisation she's had so far? Also, what will the set-up in Cornwall be - will it be a big gathering with lots of liveliness and noise, or something more peaceful? Are you happy to adjust your holiday activities, such as never leaving her on her own if necessary, and leaving gatherings/outings early if she's had enough? Given the breed's breathing problems, are you prepared to stay in with her the whole time if it's too hot to take her out?

Will there be a suitable area for toileting, including in the middle of the night?

You might also want to check out some of the health risks associated with Frenchies here: French Bulldogs: What's Good About 'Em? What's Bad About 'Em? If you weren't fully aware of these, you might even want to reconsider whether this is the right breed for you.

 

[JoanneF]

It is certainly possible but as well as all the considerations @JudyN mentions, you might have to restrict what you had planned to do. As long as you are happy to be home or in the garden you would be ok but you couldn't go away for the day (or even the morning). Your puppy will need to be taken out to toilet every 45 minutes or so. There may be places you can take her in a carrier but don't rely on everywhere accepting dogs. I actually am disappointed in the breeder, most would be happy to keep the puppy for another week so that raises a little bit of a red flag for me. Did the breeder show you the sire and dam's test results for hip dysplasia and eye disease?

 

[Jodie Richardson]

How old will she be then? Do you know what socialisation she's had so far? Also, what will the set-up in Cornwall be - will it be a big gathering with lots of liveliness and noise, or something more peaceful? Are you happy to adjust your holiday activities, such as never leaving her on her own if necessary, and leaving gatherings/outings early if she's had enough? Given the breed's breathing problems, are you prepared to stay in with her the whole time if it's too hot to take her out?

Will there be a suitable area for toileting, including in the middle of the night?

You might also want to check out some of the health risks associated with Frenchies here: French Bulldogs: What's Good About 'Em? What's Bad About 'Em? If you weren't fully aware of these, you might even want to reconsider whether this is the right breed for you.

she is 8 weeks on the day we collect her, also the day we travel to cornwal. shes been living with children and her sister and 2 other dogs (her mum being one) so shes very socialised and jumped on me as soon as we met her.
the trip to cornwal will be just me, my partner and my daugher who is 7. so she will have plenty of people around her but not hetic at night time as we wont be out late. im worried about the fact that shes too young to walk yet so ill be carrying her alot of the day, how will i now when she needs to wee/poo?

i have alwats wanted this breed and done alot of research so im happy with that part. just fell on a difficult time.

 

[Jodie Richardson]

It is certainly possible but as well as all the considerations @JudyN mentions, you might have to restrict what you had planned to do. As long as you are happy to be home or in the garden you would be ok but you couldn't go away for the day (or even the morning). Your puppy will need to be taken out to toilet every 45 minutes or so. There may be places you can take her in a carrier but don't rely on everywhere accepting dogs. I actually am disappointed in the breeder, most would be happy to keep the puppy for another week so that raises a little bit of a red flag for me. Did the breeder show you the sire and dam's test results for hip dysplasia and eye disease?

i think your right in restrictions, and being careful where i take her. shes currently using puppy pads very well so ill need to pop one of these down every 45 mins or so when out? well the breeder is due for an operation on the tuesday 17th so she wouldnt have anyone to watch the puppies. the other is due to leave on the 16th too.
no i havent seen any of these tests? when are they done? she is KC registered.

 

[JoanneF]

KC registration is just her ancestry, nothing to do with her health. The parents should have been tested under general anaesthetic for hip dysplasia before breeding, and annually for hereditary cataracts. If the breeder has not done this I would question their ethics. Sadly, because French Bulldogs are so popular they have become targeted by puppy farms (who, I'm afraid, often sell from a "front" which looks like a family home). The fact they wont keep her another week is another pointer in that direction. How are her nostrils - if they look like slits rather than the round nostrils most dogs have, she may need surgery to open them. Also, the face shape means her soft palate may be a problem - does she grunt or snort? If the answer to any of these is yes, either walk away now or get a very good health insurance for her.

 

[JoanneF]

Oh, and the puppy pads - I would be enormously surprised if what they say is true, 7 week old puppies are not realistically house trained. Puppy pads actually slow house training - they give mixed messages about whether indoor toileting is allowed or not and create confusion.

 

[Jodie Richardson]

Oh, and the puppy pads - I would be enormously surprised if what they say is true, 7 week old puppies are not realistically house trained. Puppy pads actually slow house training - they give mixed messages about whether indoor toileting is allowed or not and create confusion.

Thank you for your advice, i appreciate it, we are going to see the breeder again tomorrow so i will raise this with her.
i have looked and her nose does look fine and her breathing seemed fine when i met her, her mother has never had any problems with her breathing either. ( see attached picture )
also in regards to the puppy pads, would you recommend letting her into the garden to go toilet then and not use the pads? even before shes had her last lot of jabs?

 

[JoanneF]

Mum's nostrils don't look too bad.

The risk to puppies before 2nd vaccination is from unneutered dogs and the urine and faeces of rats. So a garden is generally an acceptable risk.

Toilet training happens when two things come together - the ABILITY to hold the toilet, along with the DESIRE to hold it in order to earn the reward for doing so.

Ideally you want her to not be in a position where she needs to toilet before you have her outdoors, so that every toilet is outside - as far as possible, there will be accidents! So set her up to succeed by taking her out even more than she needs and waiting with her; for example every 45 minutes to an hour and always after sleeping, eating, playing. The time between a puppy realising they need to toilet, and being unable to hold that toilet, is zero. So your aim is to have her outside before she can't help herself. When she toilets outdoors make a huge fuss (never mind the neighbours, act like outdoor toileting is the best thing you have ever seen) and reward her with a high value treat. Do that immediately, don't make her come to you for the treat so she is clear that it's for toileting and not for coming to you. The idea is that she wants to earn the treat enough to hold the toilet until she is outside - once she is physically able to control her toileting obviously. If she has an accident inside don't react at all. If you get annoyed she may learn to fear your reaction and avoid you if she needs to toilet - the opposite of what you want. Just clean the area with an enzymatic cleaner to remove any trace of smell that might attract her back to the spot. As she is actually performing the toilet you can introduce words she can associate with it (like 'do weewee' and 'busy busy') that later when she is reliably trained you can use these to tell her when you want her to toilet.

Indoors if you see her circling or scratching the floor, that can sometimes precede toileting so get her out fast.

Overnight she is unlikely to be able to control her toilet as her little bladder and bowel are underdeveloped and not strong enough to hold all night so set your alarm to take her out at least once if not twice during the night.

 

[Jodie Richardson]

Mum's nostrils don't look too bad.

The risk to puppies before 2nd vaccination is from unneutered dogs and the urine and faeces of rats. So a garden is generally an acceptable risk.

Toilet training happens when two things come together - the ABILITY to hold the toilet, along with the DESIRE to hold it in order to earn the reward for doing so.

Ideally you want her to not be in a position where she needs to toilet before you have her outdoors, so that every toilet is outside - as far as possible, there will be accidents! So set her up to succeed by taking her out even more than she needs and waiting with her; for example every 45 minutes to an hour and always after sleeping, eating, playing. The time between a puppy realising they need to toilet, and being unable to hold that toilet, is zero. So your aim is to have her outside before she can't help herself. When she toilets outdoors make a huge fuss (never mind the neighbours, act like outdoor toileting is the best thing you have ever seen) and reward her with a high value treat. Do that immediately, don't make her come to you for the treat so she is clear that it's for toileting and not for coming to you. The idea is that she wants to earn the treat enough to hold the toilet until she is outside - once she is physically able to control her toileting obviously. If she has an accident inside don't react at all. If you get annoyed she may learn to fear your reaction and avoid you if she needs to toilet - the opposite of what you want. Just clean the area with an enzymatic cleaner to remove any trace of smell that might attract her back to the spot. As she is actually performing the toilet you can introduce words she can associate with it (like 'do weewee' and 'busy busy') that later when she is reliably trained you can use these to tell her when you want her to toilet.

Indoors if you see her circling or scratching the floor, that can sometimes precede toileting so get her out fast.

Overnight she is unlikely to be able to control her toilet as her little bladder and bowel are underdeveloped and not strong enough to hold all night so set your alarm to take her out at least once if not twice during the night.

This advice is brilliant! thank you every so much it really helps when you can get advice first hand else i would be searching through the net for hours.
i will 100% try with getting her to go outside as much as i can and treat her like you say. hopefully this will work.

Thanks again!

 

[JudyN]

Good luck - enjoy your holiday, and don't forget to take some holiday photos of the pup for us to go gooey over!