One year old French Bulldog

[Flash1]

Thank you both so much 

[DogsAndTheMob]

I agree with the previous posters. Don’t take your dog to a dog park. Doing so gives him a chance to ‘rehearse’ anti-social behaviours before you’ve had time to instil the behaviours you want. It’s also dangerous; he could be badly injured in an instant if a large dog took exception to his behaviour, or started a fight even without provocation.

 

I’m not sure whether anybody has warned you about the dangers of heat and exercise for brachycephalic breeds. Here is a link.  It advises caution in temperatures above 80 degrees Fahrenheit  (26 degrees Celsius).

 

Talk to the chief instructor of the dog training club about his behaviour and your concerns. You may be wiser to spend a month or two training him at home before taking him into a class with other dogs. Also, In February it may still be too hot for you to train him safely outside.

 

I have seen dogs improve rapidly after learning the Look At That game. Practice the clicker first by teaching him some tricks before you introduce the Look At That game.

 

[Loving my Oldies]

On 1/5/2018 at 10:32 PM, Flash1 said:

Why is he doing this? 

He is a little dog, not some malevolent creature plotting and planning ways in which to make you unhappy.  Time to stop googling and time to start training with a live person.  

 

Good luck.     

[Scrappi&Monty]

Sending hugs, it’s really hard but you can power through it and you’ll both be happier soon. 

 

I might’ve already said, but I’d recommend you check out Grisha Stewart’s BAT 2.0 book. It was amazingly helpful for Monty and his socialisation and overcoming his reactivity. Now he walks loose leash/heel perfectly, pays attention to me on walks, and has come so far with his reaction to other dogs and lowering his anxiety. He’s still not 100%, but I’m proud of both of us, and you’ll be proud of both of you! 

 

As mentioned above TAKE IT SLOW! Don’t let him off leash at a dog park if he isn’t 100% with other dogs. Could get VERY messy, you don’t want to risk him starting a fight with a bigger dog and ending up very hurt, and you with legal consequences.  

 

Depending on where you live and your yard size, it might be good to find some alternative ways of excerise at this stage. As mentioned above, those ‘round robin recalls’ are a brilliant idea. Tires him out and practices obedience and responding to ALL of the family.  

Go on walks in places where there aren’t loads of dogs, you need to start out with minimal distractions and once he’s doing super well there, you can slowly increase the distractions a bit. Walk him on leash at a regular park (where dogs aren’t allowed off leash) etc. 

You could even ask the owners of the dogs that he is friends with if you could go for a puppy play date to their house or something, so he is spending supervised time with other dogs. 

 

Best of luck  

[persephone]

 Welcome to the Mind Of Dog!!

it can be very frustrating - wondering WHY ... especially as some dog body language /expressions  don't mean what we think  .
Your little dog has had 12 mths of life experiences.
That's a lot .
You do NOT know much of how he was housed/cared for /trained. 
You don't know if has been used at stud .
if he has ever been attacked by other dog/s
if he learned to respond a certain way because he was picking up atmosphere from someone who was with him ...

 

Quote

 

 as apprentely he didn't get on well with her 7 year old dog.  RED FLAG number 1 

She had no papers etc which was fine for us as we just want a pet.  RED FLAG number 2

 

My stresses are that he isn't trained, he isn't socialised with other dogs and he follows me EVERYWHERE and hes very stubborn and wont listen to commands the first, second or third time. NOT 'stubborn'  ;) "stubborn" is when a dog has been educated - can carry  out a task well ..and chooses not to. 

 

He seems to want to play with other dogs but becomes over enthusiastic to the point most dogs bark and want him to go away. When he is on his lead and sees another dog, he pulls and is desperate to get to them. He never barks. 

He wees whenever I open the front door and he sees someone new or someone who is willing to let him jump up and be all excited. I am working on this.  That is like  a puppy greeting ..a "OMG ..HUMANS!!  I am just SO excited ... (and probably haven't been toileted in the past hour or two ) ..I just Cannot help it ! 

You say you cannot afford a personal trainer's input. 
With this dog, and your experiences , you can't afford NOT TO 

 

 

[DogsAndTheMob]

On 28/12/2017 at 6:32 PM, Flash1 said:

 

My stresses are that he isn't trained, he isn't socialised with other dogs and he follows me EVERYWHERE and hes very stubborn and wont listen to commands the first, second or third time. 

 

He seems to want to play with other dogs but becomes over enthusiastic to the point most dogs bark and want him to go away. When he is on his lead and sees another dog, he pulls and is desperate to get to them. He never barks. 

He wees whenever I open the front door and he sees someone new or someone who is willing to let him jump up and be all excited. I am working on this. 

I heard that French Bulldogs are companion dogs, but if I am in the toilet, he cries outside the door. He follows me everywhere and he wont give my kids a look in. 

 

Do I have an anxtious unhappy dog? Is it too late to train a one year old Frenchy? PS. I have had him for 6 weeks.  

 

He’s an adolescent, which means he has poor impulse control. You need to set him up for success, and avoid situations where he can “practise” unwanted behaviours.

 

i have a dog about the same age. She has a lovely temperament and I’ve spent a lot of time training her (and competed successfully in obedience trials with her). But she’s still a youngster, so I plan ahead to avoid giving her opportunities for over-enthusiastic greetings with other dogs and people. I’m seeing consistent improvements in her steadiness and maturity; if you work with your dog, you should see similar improvements.

[KobiD]

6 minutes ago, DogsAndTheMob said:

He’s an adolescent, which means he has poor impulse control. You need to set him up for success, and avoid situations where he can “practise” unwanted behaviours.

 

i have a dog about the same age. She has a lovely temperament and I’ve spent a lot of time training her (and competed successfully in obedience trials with her). But she’s still a youngster, so I plan ahead to avoid giving her opportunities for over-enthusiastic greetings with other dogs and people. I’m seeing consistent improvements in her steadiness and maturity; if you work with your dog, you should see similar improvements.

Mine too!