Adopting 1 year old! Tips?

Hi guys, so I'm getting a 1 year old Frenchie in a few days...I'm so excited!

I'm starting to over thinking everything and make sure I'm prepared for everything, so I wanted to see if you guys had any tips. I'm told she is crate trained, which is great, but not housetrained. I know with younger puppies you're supposed to bring them out (or to a pad) super frequently, but is that necessary for a 1 year old?

Also, should I be crating her periodically throughout the day, just to establish my role as the alpha? Or how exactly should I go about that?

I'm also a little nervous about the fact that she's from the country side, goes on very nature-driven and picturesque walks and swims in a creek, and my area is a pretty normal neighborhood....anything special I should do to help her adjust?

I was wondering why she is not house trained already, unless they kept her outside, which isn't a good thing. Pretty much treat her like a puppy. When she wakes up from a nap, take her out. Before she eats and after she eats, take her out. Pretty much every several hours, take her out. When she goes potty outside give her plenty of praise. If she makes a mistake in the house don't punish her, unless you catch her in the act, then tell her NO, then take her outside. Tell her go potty when she is outside, after a while she will finally get it. As far as crating her, if you leave the house crate her, at night when you go to bed, crate her. We even will crate ours during the day when we are home for a few hours for their nap. They get on a routine and expect it. The crate is her house, so don't use it to punish her, it's her safe place. I would just take her on walks either in the morning of late afternoon, depending on how hot it is outside. They can not take the hot weather for very long, so a long walk when it is hot is a bad idea. Plus some people think restricting water at night will help with potty training, that is a myth. Have plenty of water available 24/7.

Ptmac415 said:

Hi guys, so I'm getting a 1 year old Frenchie in a few days...I'm so excited!

I'm starting to over thinking everything and make sure I'm prepared for everything, so I wanted to see if you guys had any tips. I'm told she is crate trained, which is great, but not housetrained. I know with younger puppies you're supposed to bring them out (or to a pad) super frequently, but is that necessary for a 1 year old?

Also, should I be crating her periodically throughout the day, just to establish my role as the alpha? Or how exactly should I go about that?

I'm also a little nervous about the fact that she's from the country side, goes on very nature-driven and picturesque walks and swims in a creek, and my area is a pretty normal neighborhood....anything special I should do to help her adjust?

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Hi and welcome,

I adopted my female Frenchie when she was just over a year old from a woman who no longer wanted her. Even though she was a year old, I brought her home and she INSTANTLY went potty on a rug in my house, so back to the basics we went!! I treated her as though she was a 10 week old pup coming home for the first time. We went out after she woke up, a half hour after eating, after a play session, after being crated, etc...I used a high value treat (something she NEVER gets except for when she goes potty outside). Mine is extremely food motivated so it worked like a charm. It was basically a full time job for the first two weeks of doing this but oh did it pay off. She goes on command now and that is from repeated practice, taking her to the same spot to go potty and repeating the same words "go potty." It comes in handy when it is cold and/or rainy. Even if you were getting her totally housetrained it would not hurt to do a refresher because some Frenchies can be stubborn and have accidents well into adulthood.

If she is already crate trained, that is awesome! If she enjoys her time in the crate and considers it a resting/safe spot, please make sure you never use it for punishment. Not sure if I understand what you mean about your role as the alpha?? I can't stress enough how difficult it is to retrain a dog that is fearful of the crate. I would crate her at first until you know whether she can be trusted in your house and not get into dangerous things. And even then you may still opt to crate her when you are gone.

Give her patience and grace - I can only assume she will be as confused as mine was when strangers took her home and she was suddenly with a different set of people. It took her a little bit to really come out of her shell. I'm sure once she does she will enjoy playing with you and going on walks around your neighborhood and exploring what her new home has to offer. Best of luck!

Welcome!

Great advice provided; keep us posted on how things are progressing.

FroxerMom said:

Not sure if I understand what you mean about your role as the alpha??

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Not so much about the crate alone, but I've read about how they sometimes like to test boundaries and limits, basically an obedience thing. Was wondering if there's anything specific I should or shouldn't do to keep it on the right track for obedience!

Welcome to FBN! Wow -- great info from the gang! Look up 'nothing in life is free', I think it is a stick thread in out training section, it will help with getting her in line and understand you are her 'boss'.
As for replacing the swim.... buy a small baby pool or a sprinkler and let her play in the water for a period of time, our female bulldog LOVED it, our Frenchie = HATES water, he is like a cat that way