I am new and soon to become the owner of a Frenchie!

[Tom Sheard]

First of all , I will start by saying a big HELLO! (UK).

I am looking to adopt my own little Frenchie within the new year. I have a couple of questions...

I and my partner work full time Monday - Friday however both have different shifts every week. Luckily we live literally 2 minutes away from our place of work... Is this acceptable for bringing a frenchie into our lives?

Been so close to work means I can come home every day to walk the dog etc on my lunch. This also means it gets 2 walks a day from both myself and my partner - Through the day. Not counting the evenings when we are both finished.:blush2:

The new dog will be left Monday to Friday within the house but within 2-3 hour intervals. What are your thoughts on the early stages of been a puppy and the training involved within this lifestyle.

Any help would be hugely appreciated! Thanks for your time!
Tom

 

[trishkidd24]

I personally had no problem with both my husband and I working full time and raising our puppy (she is now 5 months old)... He works a swing shift and I work a typical Monday-Friday day shift. I also work 2 minutes away from home, so on the days my husband and I both worked a day shift, I made sure to go home and spend time with the puppy.
When she was 10 weeks old when we first got her, I went home twice during an 8 hour shift. Once after 3 hours and then again after 3 hours, then we were home 2 hours later.
Now that she is 5 months old I only go home once a day, at lunch after 4 hours of being alone.
We kennel trained and highly highly recommend it. It gave our puppy good structure and security and also made potty training while we were away much easier.

Also just my opinion, but leaving a puppy for routine periods of time is a good thing. It teaches them structure and helps them be a little independent and less anxious about you leaving. Structure and routine is key!! Good Luck

 

[mhuinker]

Tom - Welcome! You will find this board very helpful and friendly. I have posed many questions, as I am about to become a first time Frenchie mom (with any luck). Unfortunately, I work 8 hour days and can only make the trip home during my lunch once, so you're little Frenchie is lucky that you work so close! I have posed the question about potty training a new puppy and working full time too, so I have that to contend with!
:welcome3:

 

[mhuinker]

I personally had no problem with both my husband and I working full time and raising our puppy (she is now 5 months old)... He works a swing shift and I work a typical Monday-Friday day shift. I also work 2 minutes away from home, so on the days my husband and I both worked a day shift, I made sure to go home and spend time with the puppy.
When she was 10 weeks old when we first got her, I went home twice during an 8 hour shift. Once after 3 hours and then again after 3 hours, then we were home 2 hours later.
Now that she is 5 months old I only go home once a day, at lunch after 4 hours of being alone.
We kennel trained and highly highly recommend it. It gave our puppy good structure and security and also made potty training while we were away much easier.

Also just my opinion, but leaving a puppy for routine periods of time is a good thing. It teaches them structure and helps them be a little independent and less anxious about you leaving. Structure and routine is key!! Good Luck

Trish - when you say "crate trained", did you leave the puppy in a closed crate with no potty pads, or did she have an x-pen as well with a puppy pad? I'm just trying to figure out what is going to work for me when I get a puppy!

 

[Kris Thomas LaBounty]

My husband is retired and I work from home so someone was always here for our boy who will turn 1 on Wednesday. He came to us by air when he was 9 weeks old from a very reputable breeder. Our boy is very smart as I assume most French Bulldogs are. It seems as though he's been house broken forever but we did take him out every 20-30 mins when he first came home so he knew where the potty was. Fortunately a male dog will squat and pee pee every time you take him out so they're pretty easy to house break. They do chew, LOTS. My pup destroys KONG toys like they are nothing. We spend lots of $ on good toys that boast "indestructible" but with my FBD they are anything but. If you will be leaving your FBD alone I suggest you crate train him/her. They could eat a couch to the frame in 3 hours and even if you don't care about the couch they can choke and die. The other thing I think every person should know about a FBD is that Animal Plant Dogs 101 didn't tell the whole story. I love my FBD and I am thankful we are financially able to care for him. He developed cherry eye as a young puppy. $1800 surgery. We neutered him early because he was showing aggression towards my husband. I had no problems with him but he thought he would show my husband who the Alpha male of the house was so after neutering, which didn't seem to do anything, we have the $750 personal trainer (worth every penny). He wore an E-collar after each surgery and developed an infection that we now know is a result of allergies. The normal bacteria on our skin turns into an infection when we have lots of inflammation such as with allergies. $400 dermatologist vet visit and he can't have bones or other animal product based toys and eats $114 a bag dog food. If we don't desensitize him the infection will just keep returning because of all his allergies so it's $800 to desensitize. I didn't know exactly how common allergies are with Frenchies until I owned one. Every rescue page I subscribe to has aggression and allergies given as the reason for them being surrendered. Some of the photos I have seen make me wonder WHY someone didn't see these dogs are sick. Some of these animals are in their 3rd "Forever" home. I think they should stop using the word "forever". I'm telling you about all the negatives because I think every prospective FBD owner should understand the commitment they are about to make. These dogs are expensive to buy and expensive to keep and can be stubborn. The good parts are they will love you like a child loves you. They are smart and fun to play with. They can't swim and are heat and cold sensitive but do like a good walk at appropriate times. I wish you luck if you proceed and hope you'll find a little guy or gal to warm your heart.

 

[Kris Thomas LaBounty]

Closed crate, they'll eat the puppy pads while you're gone and choke.

 

[Cosette Girl]

Congratulations , Tom. Frenchies are the best.

 

[trishkidd24]

No, we did not leave a potty pad in there with her. And (knock on wood) she has never had an accident in her kennel. They key was to make the kennel small enough that they cant pee on one side and walk over to the other to lay down. Just enough room to turn around basically...
Only think we left in there with her was her bed (which she never chewed) and food bowl (because we feed them in their kennels before we leave for work)...

 

[mhuinker]

No, we did not leave a potty pad in there with her. And (knock on wood) she has never had an accident in her kennel. They key was to make the kennel small enough that they cant pee on one side and walk over to the other to lay down. Just enough room to turn around basically...
Only think we left in there with her was her bed (which she never chewed) and food bowl (because we feed them in their kennels before we leave for work)...

Thank you! Good to know!

 

[winginit66]

Hi Tom! Sounds like you will do great. I'm sure a lot of us are envious that you can get home so quickly. Both my husband and I work FT, and our Frenchie just turned 1-yr last week. Extra full bath is where we keep her while we are away, w/ 2 baby gates in the door. Water dish and bed. Newspapers early on, but no need now. Keep us posted. Anne & Gidget.

 

[Spars]

Welcome to the board. Lot of helpful people here.

 

[Tom Sheard]

WOW... Thank you all so much for your incredible response!!! - Exactly the answers I was looking and hoping for!

Thank you so much, I will keep you updated.We are thinking of naming the little man Earl and giving him a collar with a bow tie. I don't know if you have seen frenchies with bow ties but its like they are made for them! ha - very "regal" looking dogs.

I cannot contain my excitement! Thank you all again so much, have a wonderful day!
I will be in touch

 

[2bullymama]

Hello and :welcome3: to FBN and the fantastic world of Frenchies!

The gang has given great advice... so I just wanted to say :hiya:

 

[Debra]

I am so excited for you!!!! You will love talking about frenchies! My tip....crate train from day 1

 

[davidh]

Welcome to the site and your schedule is just great since you can come home at lunch. Ours stay by themselves all day long. We have a 5 month old EB at home and we have a pet setter come by everyday around noon to let her out. But when we don't have a puppy at home, the adult bullies stay in their crates all day, and there is no problem. Good luck with getting your pup, and we can't wait to see pics.

 

[mhuinker]

Welcome to the site and your schedule is just great since you can come home at lunch. Ours stay by themselves all day long. We have a 5 month old EB at home and we have a pet setter come by everyday around noon to let her out. But when we don't have a puppy at home, the adult bullies stay in their crates all day, and there is no problem. Good luck with getting your pup, and we can't wait to see pics.

What!? You leave yours alone all day? They are going to develop horrible traits! JUST KIDDING! That's what a breeder told me anyway and that's why she won't sell her puppies to me, because I'm a horrible person who doesn't care about my dogs! Yeah!

I'm just venting! Sorry to hijack your post!

I'm glad I'm not the only one hear thinking about getting a Frenchie and continuing to work!