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Henry's fast breathing - help :(

Pagan

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Hi everyone,
I am new to this forum so please bare with me.
My names Pagan, and me and my partner have just purchased a 10 week old French Bulldog - his name is Henry :)

He is the most beautiful little thing I have ever seen.

I did a lot of research before buying him and it has taken 8+ months to find the perfect one for us.

We have noticed his breathing is quick especially when he sleeps and because I've never had a Frenchie before It makes me a little nervous!

I have heard this is completely normal but how fast is normal?

He is fully KC registered and vet checked - the vet says he is doing great!

But you don't notice his breathing until he's sleeping.

I may just be worrying over nothing but if anyone has advice or anything I would be very happy.

Another thing he seems to struggle with is actually going to the toilet when we go outside. He does go eventually but he just seems to follow me and stand on my feet.

I've tried turning away and ignoring him and that works but only after about 10-15 mins of standing outside!

Thank you in advance.
Pagan :D
 
I wouldn't worry about the breathing. He's just a puppy and they tend to breathe fast.

Frenchies are stubborn little dogs so potty training takes a ton of patience. There are a bunch of tips on this forum if you use the search key. Good luck!
 
I agree with Squishy Walnuts. If he is otherwise active and playful, should be normal puppy thing.

Frenchies tend to follow their people everywhere, so he is most likely just hanging out with you and potty-time comes as a side activity.
Remember to make it feel like a party after he actually does his things. Positive reinforcement worked well with us...and lots of patience and running out after each play session, straight after drinking and eating. We remained neutral when accident happened indoors, just cleaned up and took him straight outside.

Good luck with your puppy, Henry is gorgeous! You will have such a great time with him :)
 
I agree with the breathing. Frenchies tend to have narrow nostrils so their breathing is more difficult. I would just keep an eye on him to see if his breathing gets worse.

And Frenchies are stubborn so potty training can be difficult. Just be consistent and give positive reinforcement when he does go potty outside.
 
Thank you,
He is a really good puppy, he isn't naughty & he is good in his crate at night (a little noise but nothing compared to other dogs I have had in the past) we have only had him a day so I'm hoping once he has a routine he will be ok :)

Thanks for the advice.
I'm naturally a worrier :fie:
 
Frenchie's are human lovers and will be your shadow when you are at home......

:welcome3:
 
It's natural to worry. I am a worrier also. Everything you mentioned sounds perfectly normal to me. :)
 
Henry may be dreaming, too, that could speed up his breathing. Congratulations, Henry is a beauty!
 
Thank you everyone!! :)
I love him so much, he is adored by everyone.
I'm happier knowing it's completely normal so thanks again everyone.

Last night was a bit challenging when it came to putting him in his crate. Part of me wants to scoop him up and put him in bed with me but I don't want him to get into bad habits.

Does anyone have any advice? He was ok the first night but last night he didn't like it at all.

I put a blanket over his crate and leave a little light on. I leave the door open during the day and I have read if you put his food and water bowl in it during the day he will get used to it.

I read online that if you ignore him and only take him out of his crate when he is quiet he will soon get used to it but I don't like his little cries :(

Any advice would be greatly received! :) :) :)
 
Thank you everyone!! :)
I love him so much, he is adored by everyone.
I'm happier knowing it's completely normal so thanks again everyone.

Last night was a bit challenging when it came to putting him in his crate. Part of me wants to scoop him up and put him in bed with me but I don't want him to get into bad habits.

Does anyone have any advice? He was ok the first night but last night he didn't like it at all.

I put a blanket over his crate and leave a little light on. I leave the door open during the day and I have read if you put his food and water bowl in it during the day he will get used to it.

I read online that if you ignore him and only take him out of his crate when he is quiet he will soon get used to it but I don't like his little cries :(

Any advice would be greatly received! :) :) :)

I did it a bit differently than most I think but it worked for me. With both dogs when they were wee pups I had them in their crates at night but the crate was on a small table right by me so if they woke up they would see me there and hopefully would be more calm. If they whined I just clapped my hands and said 'no noise' and then I ignored them (the hardest part for sure!). I also set my alarm to let them out for a potty break in the middle of the night instead of waiting for them to wake me up. After a few weeks the crate went on the floor, and a few weeks after that it was in the corner of our room. Eventually I just kept the crate door open but our bedroom door was closed so they couldn't wander around the house.
 
Thank you everyone!! :)
I love him so much, he is adored by everyone.
I'm happier knowing it's completely normal so thanks again everyone.

Last night was a bit challenging when it came to putting him in his crate. Part of me wants to scoop him up and put him in bed with me but I don't want him to get into bad habits.

Does anyone have any advice? He was ok the first night but last night he didn't like it at all.

I put a blanket over his crate and leave a little light on. I leave the door open during the day and I have read if you put his food and water bowl in it during the day he will get used to it.

I read online that if you ignore him and only take him out of his crate when he is quiet he will soon get used to it but I don't like his little cries :(

Any advice would be greatly received! :) :) :)

Unfortunately, I don't have any advice for crate training as I totally failed at it. Jax would cry and give me his puppy dog eyes so I always took him out. He sleeps in the bed with us at night and when he's home alone, he is confined to the kitchen.
 
I did it a bit differently than most I think but it worked for me. With both dogs when they were wee pups I had them in their crates at night but the crate was on a small table right by me so if they woke up they would see me there and hopefully would be more calm. If they whined I just clapped my hands and said 'no noise' and then I ignored them (the hardest part for sure!). I also set my alarm to let them out for a potty break in the middle of the night instead of waiting for them to wake me up. After a few weeks the crate went on the floor, and a few weeks after that it was in the corner of our room. Eventually I just kept the crate door open but our bedroom door was closed so they couldn't wander around the house.


I have read about doing it this way, the only thing that worries me is leaving him on his own if we pop out and him not seeing us. At 5:30am we ended up giving in and putting him in our bed but this isn't ideal at all.

I need to toughen up a bit I think :)
I've been playing with him in his crate to show him it's ok and he is slowly getting more relaxed but I'm dreading bedtime tonight! :(

Thank you for the advice :)
 
Unfortunately, I don't have any advice for crate training as I totally failed at it. Jax would cry and give me his puppy dog eyes so I always took him out. He sleeps in the bed with us at night and when he's home alone, he is confined to the kitchen.


I just melt when he looks at me, he got in our bed at 5:30am this morning just because he was whining really high pitched.
I don't want to upset the neighbours.
I'm trying to get him used to the cage by playing with him in and around it but all he wants to do if cuddle and sleep on you.

As we speak he is laying on my chest snoring his head off!

I don't want him to hate his crate but at the same time I don't want him in bed with us :(

I can see why you gave in :)

In regards to keeping him in the kitchen, did he scratch at the doors etc? That's what I'm worried about :(

Thanks :) :) :)
 
Sadly, you have to be 'mean' and ignore him when he's whiny. If you dread bedtime he will sense it and will probably act up even more. If you act like it's a normal thing and don't get worked up about it then he should be more relaxed. It is very hard to not give in to those adorable puppy eyes. I was determined because I did not want the dogs on my bed. I have a hard enough time keeping my space with my husband. lol! Good luck!
 
:giggle: I can totally relate to your dilemma. When we got Mo, we were also determined that he will be sleeping in his own bed we had put next to ours...what happened is that after a week my bf lifted him to bed next to us and there he has stayed since :facepalm:
Luckily now when he is older he starts his sleep with us and then jumps off and comes back only for a morning cuddle. So no more of him kicking more space in the middle of the night :)
 
If you don't want Henry to eventually end up sleeping in bed with you, as hard as it is to resist, don't let him in at all. As others have suggested, you can put his crate near your bed so he can see you, but what worked for me was keeping the crate outside in the kitchen. When she was young, she was in her crate whenever we weren't able to watch her 100%. As she got older, she was allowed to stay in the kitchen when we weren't watching her. Eventually her space grew to the living room, then free roam. I don't know what others may thing (chime in if I'm wrong!) but I'd take the food and water out of his crate. Yes, it may make him more comfortable but it will fill his stomach and bladder and may increase accidents inside his crate.

Having a new puppy is exciting, but will be hard to manage for the first few weeks. You'll get into a rhythm and so will he, and it will all get easier over time! Enjoy your little one, he's sure a cutie!
 
We crate trained Jake by putting his crate in an exercise pen with the door open. Once he got used to it and felt comfortable in there we put the crate in our bedroom and would put a treat in the crate and close the door after him. Now he is in bed with us! Stella was never crate trained and was just kept in an exercise pen with her bed. She is also in bed with us now. If you don't want your pup to sleep in bed with you then I would never put him in the bed with you.
 
We crate trained Jake by putting his crate in an exercise pen with the door open. Once he got used to it and felt comfortable in there we put the crate in our bedroom and would put a treat in the crate and close the door after him. Now he is in bed with us! Stella was never crate trained and was just kept in an exercise pen with her bed. She is also in bed with us now. If you don't want your pup to sleep in bed with you then I would never put him in the bed with you.

I want mine to sleep with me but Titan WONT. He's crate trained to sleep in his crate to the max, and at night as soon as he's in his crate his konks out, try to bring him upstairs? He wrestles with you and wanders around and huffs and puffs. Guess we're not doing him any favors by inviting him into our king size bed, huh? [emoji6]

Isabelle slept with us since her first night home at 8 weeks old, and was crate trained during the day to avoid accidents instead. Worked out best for us since we like our doggies in bed with us, but like to crate them to be safe while we are away. So she will NOT sleep in her crate at night. She knows when bedtime is and will do the famous frenchie cry and yelp if we leave her at night (learned this when she had surgery and had to sleep in her crate. We made her tough it out so she eventually went to sleep... But it was a long few nights with her crying haha.
 
Thank you everyone, we are getting into a routine now. He had free roam of the kitchen with his crate door open when we are at work. He sleeps on our bedroom floor on his bed. He isn't in our bed anymore (thank god) he is getting a lot better but he does make a lot of mess while he's on his own. However when we have him on our bedroom floor he will happily sleep all night without having accidents on the floor.

He just loves attention and loves having company. He will get there eventually but it will just take time.

Thank you everyone :)
 
Sorry, I'm a bit late to respond on this one as I was out of the country on vacation. :)

I agree with everyone else on the fast breathing. Our Penelope breathed *fast* when she was a puppy and was sleeping. I had never seen anything like it (I had only owned pugs, and I don't ever remember them doing that). It slows down as they age. She's snoozing beside me now and breathes normally. It was weird and freaked me out, though.

Re: crate training, one good tip that our pug breeder gave us was that if you put them in and they whine, to WHACK the top of the crate and say "No!!". It sounds harsh, but it works. I've always crate trained my puppies, and have had to use this trick more than once. They get the message after a few times and then it's smooth sailing. They know that bedtime means it's time to go into the crate, and mine will actually go in without me having to say anything. They know the routine, they race into it knowing they get a treat, etc.

Our puppies (they're both just over 6 months now) can be destructive when we leave them alone during the day too. They just recently ripped off a plank of our engineered flooring in the kitchen, as the edge of it was sticking up a bit due to water getting underneath. From what I've read, other Frenchie owners have had to deal with their own versions of destruction in the house, so I'm not surprised. They're puppies... Puppies do these things! :D

Be patient, it takes time. Some days they'll be really good, and others just *rotten*. Hahaha!
 
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