Methods for House Training a French Bulldog

Method 1 – The Crate Training Method

  1. One pup, one crate. Set your pup’s crate in a spot where you can keep an eye him/her. Add toys, a bed, and a water bowl and, of course, your pup.
  2. Timing. Set your timer, 30 minutes and then open the crate, take your dog out, put him on his leash, and take him to the area you wish for him to use as his potty.
  3. To go or not to go. That may be the question, but the answer lies in your pup’s paws. He may go and if he does praise him and give him a treat. If he doesn’t, take him back inside and put him back in his crate. Do not let them go play in the house!
  4. Set the timer. Reset the timer back to 30 minutes and start all over again. If at any time, your pup starts to fuss and whine like he needs to go potty, take him outside using a verbal cue, such as “potty time” and be sure to give him a treat and praise when he goes.
  5. Add more time. Start slowly and add time in five-minute increments to the timer until your pup can go for two hours without needing to go potty. You will need to wait until his bladder has fully developed for him to be able to hold for longer.
  6. Slowly give freedom. Start leaving the crate door open and keeping an eye on your pup. Stick to your schedule and if your pooch looks like he needs to go, be sure to take him out. In time, he will figure it all out and the number of messes you have to clean up will dwindle to none.

Method 2 – The Hawkeye Method

  1. Treats. You need a treat or at least your pup will when he goes potty outside where you want him to. Stock up on them and keep some in your pocket.
  2. Hawkeye. This is the point at which you need to be able to keep your eyes glued to your pup. If he starts whining, circling, sniffing/scratching at the floor, these are all indicators that he needs to go potty. When you see this, say “NO!” in a firm voice. Be loud enough to startle him, but do not use an angry voice.
  3. Hey, ho, let’s go. Pick your pup up and take him straight outside so he can go potty. When he does, be sure to praise him and give him a treat.
  4. Give him some time. Startling him may slow down his ability to go potty right away. Be sure to give him some time before you take him back inside.
  5. Stay vigilant. Now that your pup understands the basics, it’s all about timing. Keep an eye on him for signs of needed to go, but be sure to take him out at regular intervals as well. Most puppies can last up to an hour per month of their age between potty breaks. Gradually extend the time between trips outside. The more you practice, the easier it will be for him to wait longer to go potty. Keep working at it until he masters this skill.

Method 3 – The Pee on Schedule Method

  1. Clear your schedule. If you are going to successfully potty train your pup, you need to make sure you have enough time to do so. The one thing that will make the job go faster is consistency. The more you repeat the training, the easier it will be for your pup to figure it out.
  2. By the 20s. Set a timer for 20 minutes. When it goes off, hook your pup up to his leash and take him out to his “private potty,” better known as the one spot you want him to use in your yard.
  3. Ah, sweet relief. When your pup goes potty, be sure to give him lots of praise and a treat or two.
  4. Heck no, I won’t go. If he doesn’t go, take him back inside, reset the timer and wait.
  5. Wait 20 minutes. During the next 20 minutes, keep a close eye on your pup. If he looks like he might be getting ready to go potty, take him straight outside. When he goes, give him a treat and lots of praise.
  6. Repetition. The rest is all about repeating the training and extending the time between potty breaks. The more you work with your pup, the faster he will learn. Keep up the good work.

Method 4 – Czar Newborn Crate Method for Breeders

  1. Clear your schedule. If you are going to successfully potty train your litter for the first week during weaning. You need to make sure you have enough time to do so. The one thing that will make the job go faster is consistency. The more you repeat the training, the easier it will be for your litter to figure it out.
  2. Separate areas. Place the weaning litter in a puppy bed with sides, in their large crate or blocked off area. Make sure to keep area small at first until the litter gets the hang of going potty on the pads, on the other side of crate put wee wee pads down. Put their food and water bowl outside of the crate. Take puppies out to feed on a clean square or circle outside of crate. Feeding newborns is a bit messy, so keep their feet out of the pan and disinfect during every feeding. The puppies upon waking will go to potty on the pads if you keep area with two spaces, one for the bed and one for potty.
  3. Keep it clean. When your litter gets the hang of it after about three days start making the area a little bigger. Goal is to keep the areas clean, so they don’t get confused. If they poop in their bed immediately change it . Don’t wipe it off . Take the bedding out and wash it with an enzyme remover disinfectant and TIDE with bleach.
  4. Introduce the playpen. After they start keeping their bed clean then you can purchase a playpen, attach it to the crate and let them use the crate as their bedding area, use the puppy playpen as their play and potty area. Do not leave food and water in playpen until feeding time to keep food and water bowls clean.
  5. Widen the space. After about one week, they should be around 6 to 7 weeks old. Start giving them an entire room space half with wee wee pads and half with solid flooring. Put the food and water on the side with no pads. It’s very important to keep this area clean and in no time about 4 days in this step the pups have associated the wee wee pad as the potty place and the solid floor as the eating area, and the soft bedding in the crate as nap time or bedtime.
  6. Continue training. The rest is all about repeating the training and extending the time and space of feeding, cleaning up after them, and socializing them outside of their nursery space. The more you work with your litter, the faster they will learn. Keep up the good work. You will have very happy families that adopt a smart trained puppy!!!

Read more at: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-french-Bulldog-to-poop-outside. This was an article that I use for all my new families training choices.

In my opinion, the crate method is similar to my Czar method during weaning and training with the doggie door. Czar method is also included above to help small breeders train their French Bulldog puppies before they are adopted. This is done over the course of 3 to 6 weeks. Sometimes it needs to be repeated two times.

French Bulldog Obedience Training Techniques

The first attempt to get your French Bulldog Puppy obedience trained either by you or a professional should be when you first adopt them and bring them home. Take the preventive measure and start teaching immediately. “Here is a great resource on this link to help you train and connect with your new puppy for life.”

Your French Bulldog Puppy comes with a big heart, willing to please you, however, YOU CAN SPOIL THEM TOO MUCH. It’s a hard lesson because these Frenchies are the most adorable on the planet. They make you do things you would never do for another dog. Are they manipulative? Yep! They have the smooshed face of no wrongdoing and you will bend over backwards just to see them happy.

Here are the following Guidelines for the French Bulldog that has good manners and easy to love! Only spoil after they get these areas down, if you want a well-behaved Frenchie puppy.

Obedience Technique Guidelines

  1.  Attentive when you call them!
  2.  No jumping on furniture (not good for their joints either) if you get a step block and allow them on a certain couch or chair make that their designated spot.
  3.  Crate training and house training down well before giving free range to your home, especially carpet areas!
  4.  Has manners when they see other dogs or cats!
  5.  Doesn’t get pushy if they see you eating, waits their turn!
  6.  Barks only if you would bark if you were a dog in the same situation!
  7.  Doesn’t chew or scratch anything but their toys or their own stuff.
  8.  Likes to cuddle and relax too!
  9.  Shows a good demeanor in car rides.
  10.  Likes their vet and everyone!
  11.  Loves children, no excuses coming from a Frenchie.
  12.  Can walk with a harness by 4 months old.
  13.  No jumping on you also!
  14.  Likes to take a bubble bath, our Frenchies love bubbles!
  15.  Is ok with you cutting their nails. Start this ASAP!!! Or it will be a rough one to overcome!

Ok so how do you get this type of Frenchie? It first starts with a really good pedigree far away from the Boston Terrier lineage over 40 years ago but some puppy mills still breed the Boston 4 generations back they do this to get bigger litters and females that can free whelp.

So checking out the pedigree is step one, step two make sure you ask the breeder what training they do? Saying they have kids that socialize them doesn’t mean they are getting obedience trained, it means they can play and have fun! The breeder should be incorporating good behavior methods that start with a well-behaved mother, they also will take more time in the house training and verbal training techniques starting at about 4 to 5 weeks.

The nursery area should be free from dogs fighting or barking, this will automatically constitute a less behaved little Frenchie. They learn their actions through environmental factors and their bloodlines.

Finally, the part you play in the behaviors are two-fold, being aware of what to do to get certain positive reactions from your puppy, this will require you to research what methods you like best, or if you choose to get a licensed trainer to help you after you initially begin working with your French Bulldog Puppy at home. A Czar Frenchie will be well on their way to being a great Canine Obedience Puppy however you can continue the training by reinforcing the behaviors at home, taking positive steps in putting time into the follow through and the methods we have given you on the training series on our site. Training the French Bulldog (House/Crate) (Obedience) (Socialization) these blocks will give you and your French Bulldog puppy the best possible start together. Remember you are your puppy’s leader of the pack, it’s your job to teach, love and protect your puppy!

How to Socialize your French Bulldog

It is very important to have a well-behaved, socialized puppy. It can change their entire attitude and can make you love your Frenchie even more. To do this, you need to have a plan and know what you are going to do to socialize your Frenchie. French Bulldogs have a tendency to be very untrusting when you do not socialize them properly. When you go to pet them, they would fling their head back, and maybe even run and not even let you get close. Generally, this is from having a long period of time without a person, not being properly socialized, or having someone do something that will make the Frenchie not trust, an example is yelling or screaming. Socializing your puppy can also affect its behavior with other dogs. If a dog is unsocialized, it may still be good with other dogs. But, if your dog is not socialized, it is more likely to be aggressive with you or your other dogs. When you buy your puppy, its socialization lasts up to twelve weeks, but then your Frenchie will need to be worked with regularly.

Ways to socialize your Frenchie:

  • Taking your Frenchie on short car rides
  • Once your puppy has all its vaccine, carry your puppy around in public areas
  • Have your puppy accustomed to being bathed, having their nails cut, and getting groomed
  • Reward good behavior, but not bad behavior
  • Invite others to see your puppy once it has its vaccines
  • Allow other dogs to play with your puppy if you don’t have another. Make sure your puppy has all of its vaccines first though, for you do not want your puppy to get any illnesses.

You want to make sure all your puppies or dogs you are socializing are in a safe and non-threatening situation so that they see this as fun and good to be social, and do not think of fear when this subject comes up in their lives.

You want to make sure you are always giving your Frenchie their own personal attention, so they feel special and can trust you and others.

Socialization is very important for many reasons, but the main reason is your puppy’s behavior. You would not want a puppy that is running away from you when you try to pet it, or your friends cannot come over and play with your puppy or their dogs play with your puppy, for it will try to bite. Un-social behavior can cause your Frenchie to be very unhappy and try to bite and have immensely bad behavior. This is not typical for the breed but even Frenchies can show aggressive behaviors if not socialized at a young age.