How well trained is your Frenchie?

Cbrugs · Nov 26, 2013

mhuinker said:
I went into this Frenchie ownership wanting to make sure I have a well behaved dog and even thought I would take obedience classes as well, which I still might, but I have to say, they are stubborn with a capital S T U B B O R N! Which, of course, I knew, but man o man! Leo knows his name..... when he wants to know it. Sometimes he will come when I call, sometimes, yeah, not so much! Anyway, my point to this is, I'm still struggling with his peeing in his crate. It's not consistent, it's very sporadic, so I'm not sure why he is doing it. I'm hoping the old snip-snip (which happens tomorrow) will help with this issue..... just not so sure. Once I figure out how to get that habit under control, we will work on other things. I'm not the most consistent trainer either. Leo knows sit I think, unless he just happens to sit on his own because he is tired of standing, or he is actually listening to me, I don't know. I've tried to teach him shake which I thought would be the next easiest trick..... no luck yet. He is a work in progress! But I love him no matter what.

So funny you say he knows his name when he wants to. Jax is the same way. At the beginning, I actually started thinking that he was deaf because I would be saying his name loudly and he would ignore me like he didn't hear anything. And that was exactly what he was doing...ignoring me! I knew this breed was known for being stubborn but man, they are BEYOND stubborn.

trishkidd24 · Nov 26, 2013

Cbrugs said:
We were all for not letting Jax on the bed or couch but that didn't last long at all! He has been sleeping in the bed with us since the end of August and if he is napping in the living room, he is on the couch. I LOVE sleeping and cuddling with him though cause he is such a love bug!

Ha yes, all 3 of our dogs (which is a combined weight of 150 pounds of dog) all sleep in bed with us. It wasn't bad with one dog, then we had two and it was alright, now with three dogs and a husband ha I have no room! LOL But I love them all, and when my husband works midnight shift, they all keep me company in bed. I really don't think I would ever be able to enforce the "no dogs on the furniture" rule.. even though it would be nice to not have dog hair on everything I own ha.

Julie Stevenson · Nov 26, 2013

trishkidd24 said:
Ha yes, all 3 of our dogs (which is a combined weight of 150 pounds of dog) all sleep in bed with us. It wasn't bad with one dog, then we had two and it was alright, now with three dogs and a husband ha I have no room! LOL But I love them all, and when my husband works midnight shift, they all keep me company in bed. I really don't think I would ever be able to enforce the "no dogs on the furniture" rule.. even though it would be nice to not have dog hair on everything I own ha.

I had the hair problem too until I invested in leather couch.

Cbrugs · Nov 26, 2013

trishkidd24 said:
Ha yes, all 3 of our dogs (which is a combined weight of 150 pounds of dog) all sleep in bed with us. It wasn't bad with one dog, then we had two and it was alright, now with three dogs and a husband ha I have no room! LOL But I love them all, and when my husband works midnight shift, they all keep me company in bed. I really don't think I would ever be able to enforce the "no dogs on the furniture" rule.. even though it would be nice to not have dog hair on everything I own ha.

I hope you have a big bed! We have a king size bed and we joke that we need a twin size to push up to ours just for Jax. I sleep on the right side and Jax loves to sleep to the right of me so I get stuck in the middle, laying sideways with no blankets sometimes cause Jax is comfortable and I don't want to disturb him...ha ha...how bad is that? He also loves to use my pillows too. But I wouldn't have it any other way!

Cbrugs · Nov 26, 2013

Julie Stevenson said:
I had the hair problem too until I invested in leather couch.

Thank god I only have Jax with his short hair and now that we have switched his food, he doesn't shed as much. For awhile, his little hairs were all over the couch and our clothes!

mhuinker · Nov 26, 2013

Julie Stevenson said:
Sometime neutering them does help. How old is Leo again? I'm sure you have told me or I have read it, but my memory sucks! LOL When he does pee in the crate how long has he been in there? Could it be he just can't hold it anymore or maybe he didn't pee before he went in the crate? Ollie peed and pooped in the crate as a puppy and would only cry AFTER he made a mess....like hey I'm in here with my MESS COME CLEAN THIS UP. I used to get so frustrated with him. He was not supposed to pee or poop where he sleeps. But put him on the bed and that all stopped. WEIRD....My boy is strange, but I'm happier with him in bed with me for sure. He's a cuddle bug, after WILD MAN TIME is complete. WE have a routine where as soon as we get into bed he wants to play and play rough! The hubby plays hard with him and likes to smack him in the face, but I keep yelling at him cut that out! Get his toy and play with him, don't teach him to bite your hands dork! My man doesen't always get it.....

Hi Julie - Leo is 3 years old. Old enough he should know better. What is weird is he will hold his bladder all day while I'm at work, 98% of the time, he has not peed in his crate, or anywhere else in the bathroom during the day. However, the past several nights, I have woken up to take him out for his AM potties and he has peed in his crate, either overnight, or early in the morning. It's frustrating. Unfortunately, the hubby does not want doggies sleeping in the bed with us (that was my compromise because I would have him up there in a heartbeat). Sooooooo....... not sure where to go from here.

mhuinker · Nov 26, 2013

Julie Stevenson said:
I had the hair problem too until I invested in leather couch.

Yeah, leather is nice for that...... except for that 1 inch around the bottom of the furniture that hair sometimes sticks to because of static electricity!

Julie Stevenson · Nov 26, 2013

mhuinker said:
Hi Julie - Leo is 3 years old. Old enough he should know better. What is weird is he will hold his bladder all day while I'm at work, 98% of the time, he has not peed in his crate, or anywhere else in the bathroom during the day. However, the past several nights, I have woken up to take him out for his AM potties and he has peed in his crate, either overnight, or early in the morning. It's frustrating. Unfortunately, the hubby does not want doggies sleeping in the bed with us (that was my compromise because I would have him up there in a heartbeat). Sooooooo....... not sure where to go from here.

Hmm that is a tough one. If he's been holding it for years and now is not, sounds like something I would ask your vet. Odd. I understand I really didn't want Ollie in the bed with us. I didn't want my bed smelling like dog and I prefer to have him in his bed next to mine, but after 3 weeks of broken sleep 2X a night I gave in and put him in bed with us. You might try setting the alarm maybe an hour eariler (try a weekend when you can go back to bed) and see if the crate is dry? If so, then maybe he's just not able to hold it anymore all the time? I assume you take him out potty right before bed right? If not, I would definately start that routine. You could also pick up the water a couple hours before bed time. That could help too!

mhuinker · Nov 26, 2013

Julie Stevenson said:
Hmm that is a tough one. If he's been holding it for years and now is not, sounds like something I would ask your vet. Odd. I understand I really didn't want Ollie in the bed with us. I didn't want my bed smelling like dog and I prefer to have him in his bed next to mine, but after 3 weeks of broken sleep 2X a night I gave in and put him in bed with us. You might try setting the alarm maybe an hour eariler (try a weekend when you can go back to bed) and see if the crate is dry? If so, then maybe he's just not able to hold it anymore all the time? I assume you take him out potty right before bed right? If not, I would definately start that routine. You could also pick up the water a couple hours before bed time. That could help too!

I don't know if he's been holding it for years. We just adopted him. He is retired from a breeder. He probably wasn't real disciplined in the first place, I can imagine it would be hard for a breeder to house train so many Frenchies.

Yes, we take him out right before bedtime. But what I don't understand is how he can hold it all day (8 hrs), but not all night (usually less than 8 hrs)....

Julie Stevenson · Nov 26, 2013

Cbrugs said:
Thank god I only have Jax with his short hair and now that we have switched his food, he doesn't shed as much. For awhile, his little hairs were all over the couch and our clothes!

Funny you say that - when I was switching Ollie over to Blue Buffallo he was sheading A LOT....but now hardly at all.

Julie Stevenson · Nov 26, 2013

mhuinker said:
I don't know if he's been holding it for years. We just adopted him. He is retired from a breeder. He probably wasn't real disciplined in the first place, I can imagine it would be hard for a breeder to house train so many Frenchies.

Yes, we take him out right before bedtime. But what I don't understand is how he can hold it all day (8 hrs), but not all night (usually less than 8 hrs)....

It could be that beacuse he's holding it all day that he's not able to hold it all night too. Or maybe something else is going on. Try picking up the water a couple hours before bed and see if that helps and since your going to be at the vets office i could go ahead and ask the question. Let me know if that helps.