Caring for Your New Puppy:
If you have never lived with a puppy, or it has been a long time since you’ve shared your home with one, you may not realize or remember what a force of nature a growing dog can really be! Their boundless energy is only outpaced by their bottomless curiosity, a combination that can spell trouble in a big way unless you take the time to puppy proof your home.
Puppy Proof Your Home in Advance:
Take the attitude that you are bringing home a baby on four legs. Just as you would make sure that all the hazards have been removed from the house for an infant or toddler, do the same for your French Bulldog puppy. I promise, he will explore every nook and cranny, and he’ll try to chew on every “discovery” he unearths. Conduct a complete inventory of all potentially poisonous household items. Look in all the cabinets and on all the shelves. Dangers easily lurk in forgotten spaces.
Move everything out of your puppy’s reach and onto high shelves he’s can’t access, even as he gets bigger. Make sure you look for any and all cleaners and insecticides, as well as mothballs, fertilizers, and antifreeze.
A Puppy’s View:
As silly as it may sound, get down on the floor as close to puppy level as you can make it. For a French Bulldog puppy, you may need to lie down on your stomach and just raise your head and look around. What catches your attention?
Enticing electrical cords dangling all over the place? Drapery pulls? Loose strips of wallpaper? That old plastic bag wedged under the sofa? Don’t ignore any of it. You can bet your puppy won’t! Remove as many hazards as you can, and contain the ones that must remain.
Definitely put all those electrical cords and other cables in cord minders. Remember that cords and cables are both an electrocution danger and a “pull down” hazard. You’d be surprised how strong a little dog can be when he decides to pull on something — and the next thing you know, down comes the TV. Remove items like stuffed toys, pillows, enticing knickknacks, and even prized pieces of furniture. Puppies will chew on anything! Also stow things that might look like a toy to an inventive Frenchie, like TV remotes, your cell phone, and your iPod or tablet computer!
Household and Garden Plants A wide variety of household and garden plants present a toxic risk to dogs. You may have heard about the dangers of apricot and peach pits, but what about spinach and tomato vines? The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has created a large reference list of plants that runs to several pages. http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants
I strongly recommend you go through the list and remove any plants from your home that might make your puppy sick. Remember, your new baby will chew on everything! Bringing Your Puppy Home Purchase an appropriate travel crate to bring your French Bulldog puppy home. A plastic crate with a fastening wire door and a carry handle is your best option.
Since your puppy will be very small, you can start with a unit measuring 24” x 16.5” x 15” / 60.96 cm x 41.91 cm x 38.1 cm. That size will accommodate a dog in a weight range of 10 lbs to 20 lbs / 4.53 kg 9.07 kg. Expect to pay around $30 / £17.84. Put a couple of puppy safe chew toys and an article of clothing you’ve worn recently in the crate. This will help the puppy to get to “know” you and will make the crate seem more like a “den” or safe haven.
Place the puppy inside the crate and fasten the seatbelt over the crate to keep it secure on the drive home. Make sure that the puppy has not eaten recently and has taken care of its “business” before it goes in the crate. Discuss this in advance with the kennel owner and schedule a pick-up time in between feedings. Be prepared. The little dog will whine and cry, especially if the drive is long. If you have to drive a considerable distance, some breeders suggest mildly sedating the puppy. If you are not comfortable with this idea, take someone with you who can sit with the dog and comfort it on the way home.
Don’t take more than one other person with you, however, and leave the kids at home. Having too many people in the car for the transition from kennel to new home will stress and confuse the little dog. You want the trip to be a calm, quiet, and a positive experience for your new Frenchie. When you arrive home, let the puppy have a little time outside to relieve itself. Start reinforcing good elimination habits immediately.
Praise the puppy when it goes outside. Dogs like to please their owners, so associate going outside with being a “good dog.” The Frenchie will naturally be nervous and will miss its familiar surroundings in the beginning. Try to stick to the feeding schedule used at the kennel, and use the same kind of food if possible.
Put the puppy in its designated area in the house and let it explore, but make sure the dog isn’t isolated and can see you. Don’t pick the puppy up every time it cries.
You’ll be reinforcing that behavior and the next thing you know, you’ll be spending all your time holding the dog. Frenchies, no matter how young, are not above “working” their humans. Continue to give the puppy used pieces of clothing with your scent, play a radio softly in the room, and at night put a well-wrapped warm hot water bottle in the crate.
Go Slow with the Children:
If you have children, slowly introduce the puppy to them. This is not for the sake of the kids, but for the benefit of the puppy! Explain to your children, especially if they are very young, that the dog is away from its mother and the only home it has known for the first time and is scared. Limit the amount of playtime with the puppy and how much it is handled during the first days. Emphasize quiet, gentle, “getting to know each other” time with your children. In just a matter
of days, the puppy will be playing with them joyfully. Be sure that your children know how to safely handle and carry the puppy. Monitor the first few interactions. If your child has never been around a dog and seems slightly afraid, spend time with them and help them to get to know the puppy for the safety and comfort of all concerned.
Introductions with Other Pets:
Keep other pets away from your puppy for the first few days. Let the puppy smell the other pet’s bedding (and vice versa) or allow sniffing under the closed bathroom door — a tried and true method of negotiating such meetings. Carefully supervise the first face-to-face meeting. Other dogs should be on leashes and cats should be held until they are comfortable with even the sight of the new dog.
Gradually extend the period of exposure and calmly separate the animals at the first sign of aggression. Pets take their emotional cues from us. You must set the tone for first introductions. Remain calm. Don’t raise your voice. Praise good behavior. Do nothing to “punish” bad behavior beyond separating the animals. Keep the meetings short and positive, without stress or trauma.
No Human Food!
Although it is incredibly tempting to give a French Bulldog puppy a bite of human food from the table, don’t do it! If you want to give your puppy treats, buy commercially prepared treats, but never allow these “extras” to constitute more than 5% of the dog’s daily food intake. Remember that many human foods are toxic and potentially fatal to all dogs. These items include, but are not limited to:
– Chocolate
– Raisins
– Alcohol
– Human vitamins (especially those with iron)
– Mushrooms
– Onions and garlic
– Walnuts
– Macadamia nuts
– Raw fish
– Raw pork
– Raw chicken
If you allow your puppy to chew on a bone, monitor the dog closely. Use only small knuckles or joint bones. Remove the item at the first sign of splintering. Most owners prefer commercial chew toys that are rated “puppy safe.”
Try to sit with your Frenchie when they eat. Don’t just feed them and walk away. Many folks have come back to find a dead dog that has choked. Take a canine C.P.R. class or at least look at some YouTube videos. I happen to be certified in human CPR and have saved two of my guys from choking by using the “unconscious choking baby” method to clear their throats.