Archive for the 'French Bulldog Breeding' Category

Ask the Trainer - Food Fighting Frenchies

gollygear March 11th, 2008

Food Fighting Frenchies

HI, I have two adult females that have grown up together from puppies but occasionally will get into fights, and they are hurting each other. It is always when we are around though, especially my husband, and the attention seems to be one trigger. Food is another and we feed in separate rooms and do not give treats when they are together. They can fight and then lick each other lovingly later. One female is more aggressive than the other and, yes - it is worse when one is near heat.

We are breeding them so, I do not want to neuter. What advice can you give?


Hope writes -

I don’t think you’re going to be happy with the advice I have for you -

Spay. Crate. Separate.

Firstly: I would recommend that you spay your dogs. Aggression is not a trait that should be perpetuated, or tolerated.

Secondly: how are you reacting when “the girls” start spatting? The correct response is to slam a heavy book or unbreakable object on the ground, yell “no,” and run in the other direction. When they’ve broken off their battle to see what the heck you’re up to - both should be crated for a “time out.”

If attention is the trigger - give the dog not getting direct attention something else to do, gnaw on a chew toy, fetch a toy, tug etc. Even practise obedience behaviors - “Down, Stay” is excellent.

Feed them in their crates - no interaction, no guarding, no battles. Remove their bowls in 10 minutes, if they haven’t finished, they’ll learn to be faster next time.

It sounds like your dogs are setting the rules in your house instead of obeying them. Everyone is happier when the humans are in charge. If you aren’t confident in your ability to train your dogs, do get some help. Get recommendations from friends, family, local veterinarians. Observe training classes, if you can, before signing up. Frenchies are best trained by positive reinforcement methods.

Separation may be your last remaining option. I know an excellent trainer who had to keep her intact females separated throughout their lives. When one was with the family, the other was crated. Keeping your girls intact may mean a lifetime of “crate juggling” for you and your family.

-Hope

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Pied to Pied breedings - any risks?

patpearce March 10th, 2008

Pied to Pied breedings - any risks?

Is there a problem breeding a pied female to a pied male, I love the pied and plan to possibly breed my only pied female one ore time and really want to make sure to have a pied puppy. Is there any problem with this? We bred her last time to a fawn male and all ended up being fawn.

Pat writes -

Well people breed pieds all the time… there are some considerations, as there are with any breeding. You want to make sure that the stud of choice has his health testing, and that he has a good temperament, and has good conformation (as you would with any male you were considering breeding your girl to)

If your girl is pied and you breed her to a pied you WILL get pied pups. The Pied gene is recessive, and in order for it to be evidenced - it has to be the only gene in that area… if you bred a fawn pied to a brindle pied - if he DOES NOT carry the fawn gene you will get brindle pieds (brindle is dominent over fawn) If he does carry fawn the you may get some fawn pied… but the odds are the same on each pup..

I think with pieds the most ideal are double hooded (meaning that both ears and sometimes eyes are within the color patchs on the head) - it creates a more pleasing look and there is less chance of a deaf dog if they have color around their ears. If both parents are double hooded there is a greater chance that the pups will be double hooded - does NOT guarantee that the pups will be double hooded. And it isn’t a big deal.

However - if both the dam and the sire are healthy dogs and the breeding complements your girl and there isn’t anything yucky in the background of the dogs, then there is nothing wrong with mating two pied dogs…

You should ask about other pups that this sire has produced so you can see that he has produced nice pups….

Good luck

Pat

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French Bulldog and toy breeds?

patpearce February 8th, 2008

French Bulldog and toy breeds? 

I was wondering how the temperment of French Bulldogs are toward toy breeds,
like the pomeranian???

 

Pat writes - 

Well it depends on the specific frenchie.  Most get along with other dogs very well.  It has been my personal experience that the frenchie LOVES big dogs - the bigger the better.

Some frenchies have a very high prey drive and yappy, fluffy, little dogs can bring that to the fore.

If you a thinking about a frenchie and have a pom or any other dog/breed - I would seek a frenchie from a knowledgeable French Bulldog breeder.  Explain that you have an existing dog and what the temperament and dominance level of the dog is.  A knowledgeable breeder will be able to help you match the best dog/pup available with your existing dog  or will be able to tell you that of the dogs available none are a good match with the existing dog.

This does require that you have knowledge of the temperament of your dog.  If you don’t know how your dog is with other dogs, you can go to an obedience class (talk to the instructor ahead of time) and ask for help in determining how your dog gets along with other dogs… If it is comfortable with a wide variety of dogs of differing dominance level and different genders - or if it takes exception to a really dominant dog or what ever.  The instructor will be able to help you determine what your dog is comfortable with and how well it understands dog language.  You can then talk with the breeder from a point of greater knowledge.

Anytime you are adding a dog to you ‘pack’ you would be wise to KNOW the temperaments and dominance levels of each of your existing dog(s).

In VERY general terms it is often better to match a male and a female together, the next best match is two males, and then the least desirable would be two females together.  Now having said that…..  individual temperaments are more important than the general rule.  If you have a dominant female (and females are most often the more dominant dog - the males often don’t care who is in charge as long as they have a warm bed and plenty of food)  then a very laid back girl would be a good choice, altho a laid back male might be better, depends on what is available.  If however you have a laid back male (or very laid back female) then most other dogs would be appropriate matches - knowing that the new dog may then be the dominant dog.  In the dog world, a laidback dog is happy to have a leader.  And of course the humans should be the true pack leaders, which makes the dogs happy and feel secure. The exact dominance levels are not as critical, IF the humans are the true leaders.

A knowledgeable breeder will know the temperament of her available pups/dogs.  And will be able to help you choose the best match for you.

You may want to choose an older pup or young adult which is easier to match up with an existing dog.  If you choose an older dog, then there are a number of things that you KNOW (or the breeder does), the exact temperament and dominance level, the size of the dog, and many times an older pup or young adult will be house trained, leash trained, and crate trained and has been on car rides.  And If you work and can’t get home at mid-day to exercise a puppy, an older pup or young adult just makes sense as the older dog will be able to ‘hold it’ for the day whereas a puppy will not.  Housetraining is almost impossible if you can’t be at home mid-day to take the baby out.

I know this is more than you asked, but this should help you to make a better decision about any dog, frenchie or other, that you may decide to bring home.  And of course any decision has to be taken with the idea that you are making a lifetime commitment to the dog - a time of 15 +/- years.

Good luck

Pat

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Where’s the ears?

patpearce February 8th, 2008

Where’s the ears?

My Frenchie is 4 months old and his ears are still not fully up in
“bat mode”.  When we did get him his ears were fully flopped over, now
they stand up and the tips curl forward.  

How long till his ears stand up completely?  

Some have said I need to wait out his teething as they
tend to fall in this stage.  Others have suggested having a vet post
them up.  I would really like to know your take on this.  Thank you.
Pat Writes -

Ahhhh…   the ear question…..  Ok the first question would be for your breeder -  Are the ears in the line large or long? If so it will take a little longer for them to come up.

Most ears are up by 3 months, however I recently had a girl whose ears were FINALLY up at 6 months..  and yes I was very nervous about it…

You should make sure the ears are clean, that there are no ear infections or a lot of dirt in the ear - if there is dirt, clean the ear with water that is barely warm and perhaps a bit of dandruff shampoo….  swish it all around for a couple of minutes, then flush 2 or 3 times with barely warm water…..

Teething, a growth spurt, food changes,  or an illness can affect the ears standing…  when you say the tips are curled forward - do you mean just the very end?  or half way down?  if is it just the tippy-tips I wouldn’t worry at all  - if it is halfway down, then I’d be a little more concerned..

Things to do…  You can add vitamin c- a childrens chewable - and calcium to the diet.  Yes in pill form..

And you can tape the ear….  use as little stuff as possble - you don’t want to weght the ear down….   the best is a bit of mole skin cut an oval about the size of the ball of your thumb (maybe a bit smaller - you are going to put it across the crease in the ear where it droops - for reinforcement),  Before you put it inside the ear, be sure to clean the ear thoroughly with alcohol - and dry, then add the moleskin.  THEN take a 1/2″ wide strip of tape - white surgical works well. - you will need enough to go around the base of the ear. put outer edges of the ear leather together or nearly together in an oval or circle and run the tape around the base and lap it over itself so it will stick. so the ear is standing even tho it is smaller than it will be when on it’s own.

Do be aware if you have more than one pup, the others will have the tape off in a nano-second.  So you will need to separate the ear pup for at least a couple of hours at time..  If it will stay on for 3 days or so that will usually be all you have to do.. If you have to do 2 hour sessions it may take a week or more.

Now my girl with the ear, it just finally came up after a number of false starts…   what a relief..  There should be no need for a vet to intervene unless there is an ear infection.

Good luck

Pat

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Should I show or breed my French Bulldog boy?

patpearce January 8th, 2008

I have an amazing male bred by ____ who has since died.

I have been begged to show him, how long would he be gone how involved is this
process he is my baby.

Also my neighbor has a little brindle girl they want to breed with him. He is fawn. What combo of puppies would we get?

I don’t think I’m interested in back yard breeding.

Thank you for your time.

Pat writes -

Showing is different in each and every case… If you can show him yourself, he can live at home and travel with you to the shows.. or if you live close to the handler or can meet him/her at the show, he can live at home… Or he could live at home most of the time and travel to the further shows with the handler…

Time could be as little as a few weeks, or much longer… depends on how nice he really is and how well trained, and how many people are showing in your area..

As far as breeding… You should have him fully tested before breeding… spinal x-rays, hips, ears & eyes at a minimum.. and you should as about testing of the bitch.

Colors…. well you could get all brindle - if the brindle girl does not carry a fawn or cream gene. If she does you could 50/50 fawn… and they cold both carry a pied gene - in which case you would could 25% of a pied…

Good luck

Pat

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