Frenchie Temperment

[Sandi]

Hi - I have been on another Frenchie yahoo site for a week or so now and often hear Frenchie breeders talk about temperment. They seem to be of the thought that Frenchie's are aggressive or dominant dogs and often seem to sway people away from getting them. I have never seen that in my little guy and have never heard of Frenchie's being described in any other way than funny and sweet with the occasional stubborn mixed in. How do other people feel about the breed? Is it just my little guy that seems to like all other dogs and people? I would love to hear your opinions!
Sandi

[Pattie]

I think Roosje hit on a real key issue. Socialization is a big part of it. I have a feeling that Madison was never socialized. If he had brothers & sisters, I don't think he was able to play with them because of his palate issues. I have a feeling he was not at a stage to be part of the litter. I say this because he really does not know how to play with other dogs. He is not mean around other dogs & lets dogs sniff him, but he does not even know he is supposed to sniff back. His play with us can be aggressive & he also has moments where he can be aggressive if he does not like something. I think that this is due to his possibly being abused before we got him & to his not feeling well for so long. I notice that he will get aggressive when he is not feeling well, even now, He knows that we will not tolerate this & has calmed way down becasue he knows he will be ignored if he is not a gentleman. My dad's dog Katie is a very sweet Frenchie to us, but she is very protective of her territory & does not make friends with anyone who enters her turf. When she is on a lead for a walk or at the vet's, she is very docile, but on her turf she is the boss & will not let anyone near her humans. So I think that like people, Frenchie's come in many different temperments.

[April]

I have noticed that Little Bo is very agressive when playing "Toy" and is very adamant about not listening to the word "BAD". I have to use bad instead of no because no sounds like Bo. Anyway, if he has a rawhide and I try to take it away; he has snapped and snarled at me. This I do not like at all so I take the toy away and say BAD. I dont want him to agressive toward people like that so I have been making a habit of putting my hand in his mouth and petting him while he chews on things. Hopefully, then he wont feel threatened. He definitely fights back when i tell him he can't do something.

[Sandi]

Hi April - Yes I would definately enforce the rules when it comes to biting or growling. One thing is DO NOT play "tug o war" with him this just increases his aggression issues. There is a wonderful book called "Leader of the Pack" by Nancy Baer. It is a great book about setting boundries for your dog. It talks about things that we do without even knowing we do them. You just need to make sure that Bo knows you are the leader and that you are a strong leader. Such as leaders always eat first. Never feed Bo before you eat. You decide when play time is over and put away his toys. You always go through doors first etc... If you start doing all these things now you can probably nip it before it gets out of control. I would also take him to obedience classes. They are a great and fun thing that you two can do together and also reinforce who is the leader. Sorry, I have a certificate in dog training and can't help when it all comes spilling out! Sorry for the long E-Mail!!
Sandi

[April]

Thank you for the good tips. I was going to sign Little Bo up for obedience classes, in fact, starting this week. I do see improvement with a lot of issues, however, if I leave the room and he can't see me; he will persistently bark (like when I am upstairs getting ready for work in the morning). The barking will NOT cease until I come & get him. He is starting to go to the door to go out and getting on a eat/go out & do the biz schedule. I didnt know about tug of war. He totally loves that; I guess I will have to stop.

[Sandi]

I agree with you Roosie! It is mostly a problem with large dogs. Yes never let him win at this game. You can also teach him the "Give" command. Ask him to give and he has to let go when you say so. But if he continues to have dominance issues this is the first game I give up. I think that as puppies they are usually testing to see what they can get away with! Show him the rules now so he learns good manners.
Sandi
P.S. I just see alot of dogs that never learn the rules. Then it is much harder to Re-train than to learn the right way from the beginning. I think you and Bo will LOVE dog class though!

[Cafu]

Hi guys,

I have quite some experience with dogs, besides my frenchie, I have an AmStaff girl, my brother has two boxers, my father two german shepherds and mom has poodles. I've never heard anyone saying that tug of war increases agressivity. From my experience what is correct to say is that, if you play with the dog, you can not let him always win, and never it should keep the toy to himself. That has to do with dominance, your the alpha, you win, you take the toy away.
Some times you can let him win so that the dog builts confidence, if you're training a dog that is shy or fearfull, you should let him win at least half the times, that's very good in working the dog out of it's fear and lack of confidence (temperament problem). Tug of war is one of the best playing activity you have for training, specially with bulldog/mastiff types, they just love it! But if they have the toy available 24 hours a day, they won't be so eager to play, and so, not so willing to please you in training...

regards,

Nelson

[Kelly+Manja]

Yes socialization is very important starting from when the puppy is with its litter mates. I insisted on taking manja when he was 12 weeks rather than 14 (which is what the breeder wanted) because i had also learned that the period from 12-14 weeks is crucial bonding time. Its also when you want to be exposing the puppy to things like cars and children and other dogs (dogs that have been vaccinated of course). I could not in a million years imagine manja being aggressive towards anything. .I know you can never trust 100% but i really feel i can. My friends 1 year old daughter is always playing rough with manja. She once hit him on the head with a shovel and manja didnt do anything he just sort of looked shocked and then continued playing with her! Although it must have hurt! With all other types of dogs too manja is always keen to say hello and gives them a sniff. However his playing does vary from dog to dog. eg. he plays different with poodles than he would a staffy or a putbull. He can get more exitable with dogs the same size as himself.

[frogdog1]

Oh boy do I KNOW that site! I got told it was a bad idea for me to have a french bulldog because it would fight with my pug and boston and made it a big dominance issue. I have fixed the older dogs and when I say older I mean 1 year and 10 months old. Isabella my frenchie is only 4 months but the two older girls love her. They all sleep together play together. I think some of these people get carried away. They have seen too many things go wrong because they rescue, they don't take into account people who take the time to study different breeds, and dedicate themselves to their pets. Just because situations don't work sometimes does not mean they don't work!
Just my two cents
Nan

[franp]

Both Dot and Mo adore people and it is the same with all the Frenchies I know. Dot is a very sweet natured Frenchie and I am 99% sure that she will not show any aggression to any human or dog. In the beginning Mo could be catty with other dogs, but because of the intense socialization she had, she is now a social little Frenchie who gets along with all dogs. The unaltered male Frenchies I know can sometimes pick fights with other males, I find that the females are very social with all dogs. Every tuesday we walk with 6 Frenchies and they have so much fun, once in a while walks are organized by members of the Dutch FB forum, a wonderful sight http://80.126.213.52/~roos/dotkom/images/frenchies/hoorneboeg/index.html appicon

Maybe the French Bulldogs of breeders don't get the same socialization as Frenchies who live in a family. I know that Mo would be far less social if I had not put all that energy in her socialization. Dot's and Mo's breeder phoned me last weekend to tell me that Mirabelle, Mo's sister, did very well in a a\dogshow, but behaved very bad, reacting chagerine to other dogs who came to near. Mo and Mirabelle are very much like identical twins in looks and character.

Roosje
Breeders who do the raising of thier dogs PROPERLY do socialize.They are born and brought up in the home just like you did with Dot and Mo and me with Dari.
Remember when you went to get your dogs?They were in the house.Not in a kennel.That is part of what to look for in a breeder.

Many people do not realize that a pup's socializaiton starts the day it is born. The breeder starts handling it and talknig to it so that it LEARNS what a human is. And how to respond.

One of the reason puppy mill dogs are so timid is that they lack this initial training.They sit in the cage with thier mothers and no one teaches them how to be a dog.

By the time this pup gets to us , it is almost (and in many cases ) too late.The pup will always hold residual fear from the early lack of training.

And taking a pup too young is also detrimental; they learn from thier mothers about bite inhibition; how to play and where thier place is in the pack among other things.
There is a very good book by the Monks of New Skete that talks about this.

Frenchies are a dominant breed; this is VERY different than being aggressive. But dominance left uncontrolled can lead to aggression.

[franp]

Frenchies are companion animals first and foremost. Dari LOVES people , as she should and EVERY frenchie should.

As for other dogs; there are dogs she does not like. There are people we do not like.We can not expect them to like everyone else.There is not a breed of dog that likes every other breed.

Just like us , they have personalities.. But they MUST be people friendly.IMO, I tolerate NO dog , no matter what breed that is not people friendly, in a public situation.