How is your Frenchie with kids?

shortstuff · Jan 29, 2015

I stumbled on this article today that says that French Bulldogs are one of the worst breeds for small children. Here's what the article says:

This breed does have a clowny personality and loves to monkey around, but the dog also requires proper leadership.

Namely, the owner has to be calm and firm, but still gentle and patient when training the Frenchie.

This dog breed has to be corrected in an authoritative voice. Just because they are small and playful dogs doesn’t mean you should sweet talk them when they do something wrong. Clearly define the rules and make sure the Frenchie obeys them.

They are not a good choice for families with kids because they may develop the Small Dog Syndrome. Besides, small kids will treat the dog as their toy and will not be able to be pack leaders.

The French Bulldog enjoys spending time with their family and demands a lot of attention. Therefore, this breed is not a good option for people who aren’t able to spend a lot of time with them. The French Bulldog cannot be owned and ignored. The Frenchie also gets along well with other dogs and humans. However, if the dog becomes more dominant than the owner, they may become aggressive towards other dogs.

I totally agree with the article stating that Frenchies demand a lot of attention and cannot be owned and ignored, and I think that any dog needs to be corrected calmly and firmly in an authoritative voice, not just Frenchies! I'm just wondering if any of you agree, or what your experience is with your pups and kids. My fiance and I aren't planning on having kids so it wouldn't be a big deal if she wasn't good around kids, but I just know how much Bisou loves kids and how great she is with them. She doesn't have an aggressive bone in her body, and will sit lovingly by anyone who pays any attention to her, young and old. She spent more time with the kids at our New Years Eve party than with us!

Do you agree that French Bulldog are one of the worst breeds for small children? What is your Frenchie like with kids?

Squishy Walnuts · Jan 29, 2015

If you do the top 3 suggestions properly, plus other training methods, then any small dog will not have small dog syndrome, including a French Bulldog. Any small kid will need to be taught how to treat a dog properly, no matter the size of the dog. I find most dogs do not like to be ignored. I don't find this article to be French Bulldog specific at all.

I don't have kids and will never have kids so I don't have any experience with Wally and children on a daily basis but he loves all people, including children. Some kids are wary of him because he tends to go bananas and gets so excited but he's never aggressive with anyone.

2bullymama · Jan 29, 2015

as with all dogs and any breed... you have to be the leader and socialize the pup -- it is all about proper training for start to finish. Our EB, Banks was initially horrendous with children becasue she loved them so much she would not realize her size and bowl them over. We trained her to be patient and she eventually became a great playmate with them

Tgirl · Jan 29, 2015

The Frenchies I have met are fantastic with kids. I also think the fact that they are small but not tiny and extremely fragile like some little 4 or 5 pound dogs makes them a good family dog. Of course all dogs are individuals.

Brittany Ernst · Jan 29, 2015

We don't have kids yet but when we do I think Rootbeer might explode with happiness. He LOVES kids especially toddlers, they seem to be his favorite. Anytime theres kids at the dog park he chooses to play with them over the other dogs.

blushy · Jan 29, 2015

Isabelle and titan alike cling to my son. Isabelle even does her tricks when brody commands her! I think kids and dogs both need trained alike, and a firm voice is needed but not always necessary. I've also trained brody to use isabelles shaker cup if she starts jumping on him, and when he uses that I know she's getting too crazy and needs a break so I put her in her crate for a short amount of time to calm down

davidh · Jan 29, 2015

We don't have kids in the house, but I think it all boils down to training.

anns4boys · Jan 29, 2015

My kids aren't babies - I have teenagers, but I have had dogs, many different breeds, from the time they were born. I echo what has been said by the other members - training, both the dog and the kids are key. My children were taught to respect the dogs boundaries and my dogs were all obedience trained and learned their position in the pecking order of the pack. Those of you who have read my posts know that I adore my little Tallulah, and to say she is spoiled is an understatement BUT ... spoiled does not mean she does not have rules to follow and she is being taught to respect the pack. Although I am a first time frenchie owner and have only had her for 7 months, from what I have observed, they are very bright, very playful, love to be with their people, love to please their people, and are very,very loving. There is not a person or animal that she has met that she doesn't like. She adores them all, and wants the adoration from them too. I cannot agree that they are not a good fit for a family with kids.

eeturk · Jan 29, 2015

Hudson hasn't spent much time around kids, but he is fascinated by them. He loves any and all people and doesn't have an aggressive bone in his body, so I disagree with this article. The only reason I can think of frenchies not being good with kids is that they get sooo excited to see people and get over enthusiastic.

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Jakeyjake · Jan 29, 2015

We don't have young kids in the house, but spend a couple of days per week at an outdoor mall that has a koi pond, which is a very popular spot with moms and their toddlers. It's fun to observe babies petting a dog for the first time sometimes and learning how to extend their hand to let the dog smell them 1st. Stella will just lick their little hands to death and Jake is always game for a pet, but is more interested in checking out the fish in the pond! I can't agree that they are not good with kids and believe that training is key. They are a powerful compact breed and would have to learn their limits around a toddler so as not to knock them over, but I don't view them as aggressive at all.

shortstuff · Jan 29, 2015

I'm so glad I'm not alone in thinking this article is a load of manure!! Love hearing everyone's stories

CristianL · Jan 30, 2015

In my opinion they're a great breed for people with kids. They are goofy and love kids allot.
Pepper and my niece play for hours on end when they get together and they both go to sleep in seconds after playing with each other. When my niece comes to us Pepper is so excited to play that she can't stand still until she gets in...she runs, she jumps, she turns in every direction, she's like going to explode! Indeed she's not aware of her size and strength and sometimes jumps on her but there's no harm done cause my niece is 8 years old and she actually likes it and asks her to jump

One thing I noticed is that when Pepper plays with me she uses her teeth sometimes (play biting) but with my niece never once have I seen her doing it...her mouth goes nowhere near her skin...they just run, and jump, and chase each other, play fetch and what not.

Another story to confirm how gentle and attentive she is, happened this winter when we were out for our walk and a few kids were playing in the snow, building snow forts and making snowballs getting ready for a "white war". They were so caught up in what they were doing that they didn't see us coming, approaching from the back, as they were rolling snowballs. We got to one-two steps from them when they got startled and jumped up at the sight of the dog. Pepper immediately started "waging her tail"(actually her whole body), and laid down, belly up as to reassure them that she's not aggressive. She was wearing a Santa outfit at the time and immediately the kids calmed down and started calling her Santa Claus

She got a few belly rubs and we went on our way. So yeah, she likes children and she's good with them, and reacts to their needs and reactions in a very positive manner and I've never heard of an aggressive french bulldog towards people. Towards other dogs it's a topic for another thread

MamaAndi · Jan 30, 2015

I don't think it had anything to do with her breed but Stella always considered our kids her fellow dogs. It did cause some food related issues. I think a big part of it was that Stella was the only puppy that survived in her litter and didn't have mom long so she didn't really know how to be a dog. I don't buy the concept of a certain breed not being kid appropriate. All depends on the dogs personality to me.

blushy · Jan 30, 2015

MamaAndi said:
I don't think it had anything to do with her breed but Stella always considered our kids her fellow dogs. It did cause some food related issues. I think a big part of it was that Stella was the only puppy that survived in her litter and didn't have mom long so she didn't really know how to be a dog. I don't buy the concept of a certain breed not being kid appropriate. All depends on the dogs personality to me.

I agree with the above.
It's the individual dog, their temperament, their training, and the kids training from a young age to be respectful.

I never taught my son to ask if he could pet a dog, or if the dog bites, he always (from the time he could talk) asked himself.
He loses his boundaries with our Isabelle a bit because she is ours and he's been around her since she was 8 weeks old, which is why we also had to basically re-train Brody to respect her boundaries, and also train him to use the shaker cup for when she doesn't respect his (jumps, gets in faces, etc).

I see plenty of people who completely think all pitbulls are vicious killers, and then there are people with multiple pitbulls and also multiple children as well and everything runs smoothly. My personal opinion is that pitbulls can be unpredictible and shouldn't be around kids, seeing as ours attacked my son unprovoked, so I wouldn't own one with a child again, but would I own one if I didn't have kids, yes.

I've heard people say Boxers were a horrible breed for kids. Every boxer I've ever met was even a bigger snuggle bug than my Frenchies! Amazing around the kids, and even more than obviously played more gently than with us bigger kids

My husband's Sgt actually owned Frenchies, and when they had kids they re-homed them due to the fact "they aren't good with kids" and actually was trying to push the fact to us and that like him, we could get more once kids are older/gone... Definitely dismissed those underlying motives... My frenchies go no where.

I guess it's really all tossed up to personal opinion in the end.