Hello, Iām new to the forum and also new to the frenchie and bully breed dogs. I adopted a Frenchie who was slated to be put down by a man who imports Frenchies from the Ukrain. While my question is behavioral, Iām going to give you a little background Incase any of it has clues that may help.
Bruno came to the states with double ear infections, pneumonia, eye infections, a bad case of demodex, and he has focused tremors. Iām not sure if he was born with the tremors or if they are due to the importer kicking him in the face, which fractured his skull. The vet that received him has been very generous in treating Bruno under their in-house insurance plan, costing me very little ($6.50/week) With the help of antibiotics, ear and eye drops, and breathing treatments, his infections are all cleared up. We are currently on week four of the demodex treatments, which consists of a mitaban dip, ivermectin vaccine, and 14 days of antibiotics for skin infections. The vet we have him at is worried about using bravecto to treat the demodex because of the tremors and apparently he had a dog go blind from it? Iām tempted to take Bruno elsewhere but if I stop the mitaban treatments and the bravecto doesnāt work, Iāll be left paying $70-$150/week if I go back. The mitaban makes Bruno very agitated and his fur is falling out and his skin gets very red at night. Where the fur has fallen out, his skin has started to become chapped.
Also because of the demodex, we are not able to get Brunoās puppy shots. We believe (from the importer) that Bruno had all but his 12-week shots before he was shipped overseas but we donāt have any official documentation proving this. Because of this, we are not able to socialize Bruno outside of our home. He is currently 18 weeks old, heāll be 30 weeks by the time he can have his vaccinations if the demodex treatment winds up going the full 16 weeks... then we decide if we do all the puppy shots or just the final ones that he should have had at 12 weeks. So itās going to be awhile until he can leave the house.
So on to the behavioral issues: Bruno seems to have become very attached to me, if my husband touches Bruno while He is on my lap or near me, Bruno growls and sometimes go on the attack to whoever is nearby, including my husband. That being said, we vegged out yesterday with me, my husband, and Bruno all on the sofa and Bruno was fine all day long, even snuggling up with husband most the day. Then this morning, he is back on the attack! If I am not near Bruno, he is fine with my husband and sister, although he is pretty nasty with anyone who comes through the door.
Whenever Bruno has an attitude with anyone, which includes the smallest growl, I have been throwing him off me, tell him āNaughty!ā (Iām not using āNoā as itās in his name and sounds confusing), and then I ignore him for 20-30 minutes.
If he is nasty towards people while not near me, we shake a can that has coins in it and tell him āNaughty!ā That seems to grab his attention and it works... for a few minutes and then he is back at it.
Iāve tried putting him in his crate but Iām not sure about this because I donāt like using the crate as a punishment and he barks the whole time he is in there, which also punished me.
What should I actually be doing to stop this behavior? How long will it take? Might it stop when the mitaban treatments are done? I do plan to neuter him soon as I can but I donāt know when that will be because of his weak immune system... not sure if that will help?
Thanks for any help! I am desperate as I canāt have a dog trying to attack everyone, if I canāt fix this I will have to rehome him
Bruno came to the states with double ear infections, pneumonia, eye infections, a bad case of demodex, and he has focused tremors. Iām not sure if he was born with the tremors or if they are due to the importer kicking him in the face, which fractured his skull. The vet that received him has been very generous in treating Bruno under their in-house insurance plan, costing me very little ($6.50/week) With the help of antibiotics, ear and eye drops, and breathing treatments, his infections are all cleared up. We are currently on week four of the demodex treatments, which consists of a mitaban dip, ivermectin vaccine, and 14 days of antibiotics for skin infections. The vet we have him at is worried about using bravecto to treat the demodex because of the tremors and apparently he had a dog go blind from it? Iām tempted to take Bruno elsewhere but if I stop the mitaban treatments and the bravecto doesnāt work, Iāll be left paying $70-$150/week if I go back. The mitaban makes Bruno very agitated and his fur is falling out and his skin gets very red at night. Where the fur has fallen out, his skin has started to become chapped.
Also because of the demodex, we are not able to get Brunoās puppy shots. We believe (from the importer) that Bruno had all but his 12-week shots before he was shipped overseas but we donāt have any official documentation proving this. Because of this, we are not able to socialize Bruno outside of our home. He is currently 18 weeks old, heāll be 30 weeks by the time he can have his vaccinations if the demodex treatment winds up going the full 16 weeks... then we decide if we do all the puppy shots or just the final ones that he should have had at 12 weeks. So itās going to be awhile until he can leave the house.
So on to the behavioral issues: Bruno seems to have become very attached to me, if my husband touches Bruno while He is on my lap or near me, Bruno growls and sometimes go on the attack to whoever is nearby, including my husband. That being said, we vegged out yesterday with me, my husband, and Bruno all on the sofa and Bruno was fine all day long, even snuggling up with husband most the day. Then this morning, he is back on the attack! If I am not near Bruno, he is fine with my husband and sister, although he is pretty nasty with anyone who comes through the door.
Whenever Bruno has an attitude with anyone, which includes the smallest growl, I have been throwing him off me, tell him āNaughty!ā (Iām not using āNoā as itās in his name and sounds confusing), and then I ignore him for 20-30 minutes.
If he is nasty towards people while not near me, we shake a can that has coins in it and tell him āNaughty!ā That seems to grab his attention and it works... for a few minutes and then he is back at it.
Iāve tried putting him in his crate but Iām not sure about this because I donāt like using the crate as a punishment and he barks the whole time he is in there, which also punished me.
What should I actually be doing to stop this behavior? How long will it take? Might it stop when the mitaban treatments are done? I do plan to neuter him soon as I can but I donāt know when that will be because of his weak immune system... not sure if that will help?
Thanks for any help! I am desperate as I canāt have a dog trying to attack everyone, if I canāt fix this I will have to rehome him
