Getting a french bulldog puppy in the fall. I have a few novice questions before we bring her home.

b0chatma · Aug 22, 2016

Hi All,

My wife and I are getting a french bulldog puppy in the fall. The breeder will hold onto the puppies until they are 3 months old before we can take them home.

Since both my wife and I work between the hours of 7:30am - 5:45pm should we take off some time immediately once we get the puppy so that everyone get's acclimated to the new process or should we just keep to our routine and immediately implement daily dog walks? I've heard both suggestions so I just want to get clarity.

Also, since my wife and I both work during the day do you recommend keeping the puppy in a crate all day except for when the dog walker takes her out for a bathroom break or would you suggest having a penned in area in our kitchen that will allow her to have more space. I would prefer to give her more space but I didn't know if that interferes with any training.

What do you recommend to keep a puppy entertained throughout the day. Anything specific that we could do to prevent her from getting bored and acting out?

I live in a high rise building and we plan to get a porch potty. Have anyone used this for their french bulldog? If so, what's your experience? Does it cause issues when training her on the porch potty, pee pads, and taken out for walks?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

hannah · Aug 22, 2016

Hi! I think if you can take time off do it! Why not right? I did when we got banksy and aiko both. I loved being at home with them when they first got here!!! I think it really helped with the training and helped them adjust to their new home.

I had both my puppies in an x pen with the crate inside and it worked wonderfully.

Get a bunch of toys for the puppy... chew safe puppy ones are the best at that age, teething keys were both of mines faves

My friend had a porch potty and it worked well. she lives in a house now and it was no problem transitioning into pottying in the yard

SO excited for youuuuuu

Jakeyjake · Aug 22, 2016

Congrats. on getting a new frenchie. We used an xpen with the crate inside and it worked fine. The pup will sleep in the crate and get used to it. Just make sure to get an xpen that is tall enough so the pup can't jump out. Taking time off would be nice to have some bonding time and for the pup to transition to it's new home. We like Kong and Nylabone toys. The teething keys were a favorite when they were puppies.

davidh · Aug 22, 2016

Congrats on your new pup. I would take a few days off so the pup can get used to everything. Feed him three times a day also until he is about 6 or 7 months of age. Crate train him, and I would put an X-pen attached to his crate so he can go out of his crate and potty. We use the cotten washable puppy pads, you can buy them online. Never give your Frenchie rawhides, pig eats, or things like that, they can kill them. We give Nylabones, Kongs, and those types of chew toys. If you have someone that can come a couple times a day and let him out, that would be great. As far as the patio potty, there is someone here that uses one with good success.

b0chatma · Aug 23, 2016

Thanks all for the recommendations. This is very helpful!

turbodave · Aug 24, 2016

The crate inside the x pen is s great idea!
Here's how we did ours.
We zip tied the x pen to the crate because she could push the pen around at will. You'll also notice I zip tied a couple yard sticks on the long sides of the pen so she wouldn't push those sides off the pee pads. The odd shape was to keep the pen sized to the pee pads we were using.
BTW, we use adult human pee pads from wal-mart. Much much cheaper than puppy pads.

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Joeturbo26 · Aug 24, 2016

First, congrats!!!! Secondly, I can only offer advice from my own experience, as I also live in a high rise building, and still a fairly new puppy parent... Lol.

I think it really depends on what your end goals are as far as potty training are... For me personally, I absolutely hated the thought of a pad, and was willing to do anything possible to avoid using them. I felt like the more my puppy knew to use a pad, the less likely and harder it would be to eventually teach him to only go outdoors.

Since you didn't use the words "wee or poo" and didn't spell anything with a "U", I'm guessing you live in the states.... Haha. I say this because I highly recommend the babies r us brand play yard, as a playpen... When Rico was smaller, one gate was perfect—you can use it to partition a room and you can also use it to create a closed octagon. Best part is, you can expand it with another set... Which is what I have currently done to allow for a sizable "dog run" when I can't supervise him.

I also recommend getting a wifi cam, I recommend the Nest Cam. Aside from the "cuteness" to watch your dog from anywhere... It has really given me peace of mind to be able to leave him for extended periods of time unsupervised, knowing if he needs to go out etc.

I really like TurboDaves setup! I did it a little different, because I wasn't using pads... So I actually put the crate inside the closed playpen area.

Again, not knowing your housebreaking goals and where you live climate wise... It's hard to recommend a housebreaking routine... Will cold weather and snow be an issue? Will you ultimately use the patio potty solely?

If someone asked me what my greatest new puppy advice would be... I'd say it is "scheduling, routine, and consistency". Just pick a plan and stick to it—it pays off tenfold. I am nearly 5 months in, and I am happy to say I'd consider Rico to be 90% housebroken and at this point any accidents he has (which has only been 1!) have been my fault in falling off schedule.

Best of luck!!! And CONGRATS again!!! Stick around here... These people are so amazing and helpful!