Sweet Louie gets aggressive, barks, scratches, nips

[LouieLaBeau]

I've read several threads with situations similar to mine. My 9 1/2 month old Frenchie is generally very good and then really really difficult. First, let me describe my somewhat unique situation - My wife and I travel quite a bit in a 27' Travel trailer. We got the Frenchie because I read that the breed is one of if not the most desirable for this lifestyle. I was looking forward to having a 25 - 30 lb. lap dog/couch potato. Well Louie has turned out to be 42 lbs.!! He isn't fat at all - he's just VERY big for a Frenchie. His vet says he has perfect form for the breed and even recommended showing him. I digress. Overall he is a really good boy. He's totally housebroken and loves his crate. He travels with no issues - he just sleeps on the back seat and sometimes looks out of the window. He really hasn't damaged or destroyed much of anything to speak of - I understand that sometimes a puppy might get into something they're not supposed. So now the problem side. The barking, scratching and nipping are becoming aggressive, especially toward my wife. He is relentless. His bark is so loud that it gets painful. Then the jumping, scratching and nipping start. We try to ignore him in an effort to not give any attention to bad behavior but how does one sit on a couch and ignore a 42 lb. dog who is constantly barking, jumping and nipping? Even if I stand up, he continues. I can turn my back, fold my arms and not look at him. He just doesn't stop. It went nearly 2 hours once. In ignoring the dog, I also cannot do anything else because he will immediately be at me. I've been told to never use the crate as a punishment for bad behavior. Everything I read tells me to ignore the bad behavior and reward the good behavior. I guess I don't understand this. Am I to constantly feed him treats when he is NOT barking? I would go broke and he would get fat. Ignoring the bad behavior is killing us. The dog has drawn blood on my wife and she is starting to really dislike him. All he does is whine, bark, jump and nip when he's not being paid attention to. He gets plenty of toys and PLENTY of exercise. When we let him outside on his lead he mostly barks which we can't let happen because we are in a RV park. My wife never really wanted the dog. I selected the breed because i read and was told by several people how easy they are. I heard couch potato/low energy/easy to train several times. This being said, all dog care and training is solely mine. There have been times when I just need to stand over her as if to protect her from the dog as she sits and watches tv. Y'all need to respect this as she also has sever health issues and really doesn't want to deal with a difficult dog. I've read the 4 pinned threads. I feel like I need someone to help me start BEFORE. How do I get an out of control dog to stop let alone sit or stay?!?! MY GOD! Just as I write this my dog just attacken my wife for reaching for her phone. She's bleeding again and I had to pin the dog. HELP HELP HELP!

 

[Rusty’s Owner]

I've read several threads with situations similar to mine. My 9 1/2 month old Frenchie is generally very good and then really really difficult. First, let me describe my somewhat unique situation - My wife and I travel quite a bit in a 27' Travel trailer. We got the Frenchie because I read that the breed is one of if not the most desirable for this lifestyle. I was looking forward to having a 25 - 30 lb. lap dog/couch potato. Well Louie has turned out to be 42 lbs.!! He isn't fat at all - he's just VERY big for a Frenchie. His vet says he has perfect form for the breed and even recommended showing him. I digress. Overall he is a really good boy. He's totally housebroken and loves his crate. He travels with no issues - he just sleeps on the back seat and sometimes looks out of the window. He really hasn't damaged or destroyed much of anything to speak of - I understand that sometimes a puppy might get into something they're not supposed. So now the problem side. The barking, scratching and nipping are becoming aggressive, especially toward my wife. He is relentless. His bark is so loud that it gets painful. Then the jumping, scratching and nipping start. We try to ignore him in an effort to not give any attention to bad behavior but how does one sit on a couch and ignore a 42 lb. dog who is constantly barking, jumping and nipping? Even if I stand up, he continues. I can turn my back, fold my arms and not look at him. He just doesn't stop. It went nearly 2 hours once. In ignoring the dog, I also cannot do anything else because he will immediately be at me. I've been told to never use the crate as a punishment for bad behavior. Everything I read tells me to ignore the bad behavior and reward the good behavior. I guess I don't understand this. Am I to constantly feed him treats when he is NOT barking? I would go broke and he would get fat. Ignoring the bad behavior is killing us. The dog has drawn blood on my wife and she is starting to really dislike him. All he does is whine, bark, jump and nip when he's not being paid attention to. He gets plenty of toys and PLENTY of exercise. When we let him outside on his lead he mostly barks which we can't let happen because we are in a RV park. My wife never really wanted the dog. I selected the breed because i read and was told by several people how easy they are. I heard couch potato/low energy/easy to train several times. This being said, all dog care and training is solely mine. There have been times when I just need to stand over her as if to protect her from the dog as she sits and watches tv. Y'all need to respect this as she also has sever health issues and really doesn't want to deal with a difficult dog. I've read the 4 pinned threads. I feel like I need someone to help me start BEFORE. How do I get an out of control dog to stop let alone sit or stay?!?! MY GOD! Just as I write this my dog just attacken my wife for reaching for her phone. She's bleeding again and I had to pin the dog. HELP HELP HELP!

That sounds very difficult to deal with.

Yes they can be very stubborn to train sometimes, Rusty wasn’t too bad for being stubborn, but Rusty likes to bark when he wants to play, or is unsure, or gets scared of something(tape measure for example). If we are sitting down on the couch, he will bring me a toy and start barking and put the toy beside us to throw it for him, demanding playing, but we nipped that demanding barking for play with the big ‘NO barking’ and he knows now, only a few times and not so loud!

They are Very smart dogs, and learn quick.

Does he know the Sit command??

No giving him treats when he doesn’t bark isn’t needed, he won’t know why your giving treats for reward.

Can you tell him to go to his bed?

Can you redirect him and go find him a toy so if he is demanding play, he can go play with a toy??

When Rusty was stubborn for certain things, he HATES any water, so the vet told me to use a spray bottle with ONLY water in it, it’s NOT harmful to anyone by getting a spray bottle and put just water only in it, then have it with you.
If he starts biting or barking, spray him a couple times with the spray bottle as it’s only water, and say ‘NO’ or ‘NO BITE’ .
They are smart dogs, he will know going forward after a few times, if he bites or barks or aggressive he will get sprayed with water!

That’s what I would do, try the spray bottle and spray when he is being aggressive as you described.

Also yes, you can put him in the crate to calm down, this is not punishment, this is if he is overexcited for example or your busy, he can go to his crate until he is calm, ONLY let him out when he is calm.

I used Rusty’s excitement energy and how he barks for play and how he communicates as a example of why they would bark, but your situation is completely different than a typical frenchie asking for play.


If you try the spray bottle and put him in crate for calm, and no improvement, I would get a dog trainer.

He NEEDS to know YOU are boss, NOT him! He is thinking he is boss, which is very bad and the sooner you try these things to get this behaviour to stop the better(especially since he is super aggressive and making you bleed).

 

[2bullymama]

I've read several threads with situations similar to mine. My 9 1/2 month old Frenchie is generally very good and then really really difficult. First, let me describe my somewhat unique situation - My wife and I travel quite a bit in a 27' Travel trailer. We got the Frenchie because I read that the breed is one of if not the most desirable for this lifestyle. I was looking forward to having a 25 - 30 lb. lap dog/couch potato. Well Louie has turned out to be 42 lbs.!! He isn't fat at all - he's just VERY big for a Frenchie. His vet says he has perfect form for the breed and even recommended showing him. I digress. Overall he is a really good boy. He's totally housebroken and loves his crate. He travels with no issues - he just sleeps on the back seat and sometimes looks out of the window. He really hasn't damaged or destroyed much of anything to speak of - I understand that sometimes a puppy might get into something they're not supposed. So now the problem side. The barking, scratching and nipping are becoming aggressive, especially toward my wife. He is relentless. His bark is so loud that it gets painful. Then the jumping, scratching and nipping start. We try to ignore him in an effort to not give any attention to bad behavior but how does one sit on a couch and ignore a 42 lb. dog who is constantly barking, jumping and nipping? Even if I stand up, he continues. I can turn my back, fold my arms and not look at him. He just doesn't stop. It went nearly 2 hours once. In ignoring the dog, I also cannot do anything else because he will immediately be at me. I've been told to never use the crate as a punishment for bad behavior. Everything I read tells me to ignore the bad behavior and reward the good behavior. I guess I don't understand this. Am I to constantly feed him treats when he is NOT barking? I would go broke and he would get fat. Ignoring the bad behavior is killing us. The dog has drawn blood on my wife and she is starting to really dislike him. All he does is whine, bark, jump and nip when he's not being paid attention to. He gets plenty of toys and PLENTY of exercise. When we let him outside on his lead he mostly barks which we can't let happen because we are in a RV park. My wife never really wanted the dog. I selected the breed because i read and was told by several people how easy they are. I heard couch potato/low energy/easy to train several times. This being said, all dog care and training is solely mine. There have been times when I just need to stand over her as if to protect her from the dog as she sits and watches tv. Y'all need to respect this as she also has sever health issues and really doesn't want to deal with a difficult dog. I've read the 4 pinned threads. I feel like I need someone to help me start BEFORE. How do I get an out of control dog to stop let alone sit or stay?!?! MY GOD! Just as I write this my dog just attacken my wife for reaching for her phone. She's bleeding again and I had to pin the dog. HELP HELP HELP!

Since your wife is now fearful of you dog you need to bring in a trainer to help you get him back on track. All humans need to be on the same page with training and car because your dog knows and senses her fear and nervousness. He is coming up on the time when he will regress , as they all tend to do, around the 10-11 month of age. You can use a training technique, very easy to use, called "nothing in life is free" until you get a trainer in to help.

I'm sorry this is happening to you all, but Frenchie's are known to be stubborn, clowns, energetic but couch potatoes later in life, around 4 years of age. My guy is 11 years old, about to be 12 and still thinks he is an 11 month old puppy at times.