French bulldog alarm clock

[Tuvra]

We have two dogs at home, a 3 year old pug and an almost one year old French Bulldog. The Pug really is a top dog, well behaved and very good around the house, no soiling, no noise (unless something spooks him), no begging etc.

This French bulldog, my god what a strange/stubborn dog! The main problem was when he was left alone (with the pug) he would pee, regardless of whether he had literally just come from out the back, in fact he would do it even when the back door was open. Anyway, after much research we decided that he was probably suffering from separation anxiety. We tried to resolve this by getting him a cage whilst the Pug remains in the utility room with a baby gate keeping him in there.

We tried to make the cage as comfortable and did other things to make this cage feel like a teenagers bedroom to him, sure enough after a week or two he settled and he would gladly walk in there at night and even go to the cage for a nap if he fancied it. The main problem is that his body clock is set to wake when I usually do, so roughly 06:45 every day.

Once hes awake he will rattle his cage and bark We have tried putting a sheet over his cage to make him think it was dark, but he was up and at it again this morning when it was naturally pitch black as he has done many times over the recent weeks. It wasn't a big deal this morning as he only woke me 5 minutes or so before my alarm but on weekends and days off its really starting to effect us and we are starting to run out of patience with him.

For the record the dog goes out right before he goes to bed and research reveals he should be able to hold his bladder for up to 11 hours now (hes in there an average of around 8h) so I don't think he needs a pee. Maybe hes hungry as they eat in the evening and morning, would changing eating times help?

I am actually tempted in getting a shock/spray collar off Amazon, the problem with this is that he is very boisterous/stubborn and never backs down even when i beat the crap out of him play fighting, therefore I don't think he would fear the spray collar/device and therefore only the shock collar is an option, the idea does alarm me a little but it does suppose to work very quickly i.e. a few nights wearing it should sort the issue.

The other option is some form of Ultrasonic replant, although I am not convinced by these I would certainly consider some, I have read lots of Amazon reviews and there are lots of accusations on there accusing companies of writing their own reviews so I am very skeptical. Any help/advice would be very much appreciated.

This is the little bd Rocco:


Regards
One usually tired Bulldog owner.

[mazdajason]

Can't help you on your issue but just wanted to say your dogs are ridiculously cute, so much want for them both.

Good luck with your problem though.

[Pappa Lurve]

mazdajason said:

Can't help you on your issue but just wanted to say your dogs are ridiculously cute, so much want for them both.

Good luck with your problem though.

Same here!

[Fozziebear]

Get in touch with the French bulldog club, they should be able to help. Btw your frenchie is awesome!

[Karyn]

Did the indoor toileting get sorted out? -does he still do it?

Given that he's not quite a pup, is there any reason that he can't have free-reign of his usual areas while you have your lie-in? Not to say just let him out when he barks, obviously, but letting him out in a controlled manner that reinforces good behaviour?

Given what you say about his personality, I can't imagine a shock-collar will be a healthy way of doing it (personal judgements aside!).



ETA:

Edited by Karyn on Wednesday 24th October 17:16

[Tuvra]

Karyn said:

Did the indoor toileting get sorted out? -does he still do it?

Given that he's not quite a pup, is there any reason that he can't have free-reign of his usual areas while you have your lie-in? Not to say just let him out when he barks, obviously, but letting him out in a controlled manner that reinforces good behaviour?

Given what you say about his personality, I can't imagine a shock-collar will be a healthy way of doing it (personal judgements aside!).



ETA:

Edited by Karyn on Wednesday 24th October 17:16

Well thats the thing, hes very mischievous, when left alone he will do stuff to amuse him self, despite having loads of toys and chews he would probably think that the kitchen table cover looks more fun and then pull that off, as well as anything on the radiator etc etc.

TBH if left to his own accord over night, I think he would probably go to the toilet in more ways than one hes such a stubborn dog its unbelievable, as you can see he really is adorable and a real character, hes great fun and very active, it just seems he wants us to jump to his beat rather than him to ours.

I deal with him OK, but my GF has absolute no authority over him! My GF is blaming boredom and after some research I think he may be hungry and looking forward to breakfast, which to him must be an occasion, the dogs have this very strange thing where neither wants to finish first, the Bulldog stops and watches the Pug eating and then when the Pug spots him he goes mental.

To counter this, last night we put a small bowl of food in with him so hunger is not the issue (it was untouched this morning), and I instructed my GF to feed them both in their "areas" as shes leaving, rather than making it a big occasion of them both getting fed as soon as she wakes, therefore the staring/wait till the other one finishes game doesnt take place. In effect I am trying to make food time as boring and as much of a non-event as I possibly can.

If this fails we are going to blame boredom, and that's a whole chapter in its self.

P.S. Thanks for the compliments, they are not a bad pair

[Mastiff]

My father in law keeps these, and currently has one (Gizmo) that is an absolute sod. A complete thug of a dog that will eat anything, all the time and bullies my 83KG Great Dane!

Very intelligent, easily bored and has a complete will of his own.

[C C]

I have a French bulldog, Bonnie is now 6 years old. They are stubborn but they are trainable and once trained they are fantatstic companions. Bonnie is a Therapy Dog who visits schools, hopefully this demonstrates how well behaved they can be. Rocco is still quite young (he is gorgeous by the way!). They are real lap dogs or companion dogs that love to be around people, this may be why he wants to see you as soon as he wakes up. Please don't use a shock collar, their are much kinder ways to train Rocco to stop his early morning barking. French Bulldog Worldwide is a great forum to ask for help, the Frenchies owners on there are almost as helpful and friendly as most Pistonheaders http://80.101.173.50/~roos/phpBB2/

[Tuvra]

C C said:

I have a French bulldog, Bonnie is now 6 years old. They are stubborn but they are trainable and once trained they are fantatstic companions. Bonnie is a Therapy Dog who visits schools, hopefully this demonstrates how well behaved they can be. Rocco is still quite young (he is gorgeous by the way!). They are real lap dogs or companion dogs that love to be around people, this may be why he wants to see you as soon as he wakes up. Please don't use a shock collar, their are much kinder ways to train Rocco to stop his early morning barking. French Bulldog Worldwide is a great forum to ask for help, the Frenchies owners on there are almost as helpful and friendly as most Pistonheaders http://80.101.173.50/~roos/phpBB2/

I am glad you said most

I know what your saying about the shock collar, it really would be the last resort and I will genuinely try anything and everything to give us a bit of piece early in the mornings. I will try the food thing, I will also walk him late at night on Friday and Saturday night to try and ware the little bugger out. I was just wondering if anyone else had experienced anything similar as its a bit of a strange one.

Rocco came from my GF's parents dogs litter, she kept a bh back, we had a boy and so did my GF's brother. The other two kept back are lively little things and dare I say seem a bit more intelligent than our boy, what our dog does make up for is his sheer size for his age, hes a real monster and is as stubborn as an old mule. Hes quickly learned the tricks of play fighting the pug and now hes dominating physically and mentally, its only me that gives him a run for his money.

I can really go at him play fighting, tapping him on the nose rather hard, flicking him into a barrel roll, slapping his paws etc and he just does not give in, I even beat him up using pillows once and he still came at me even if he was a bit dazed/dizzy. The incredible thing is when you see it it looks violent and as if im going rough but all I have to do is say to him "ENOUGH NOW" he stands there all puffed up, i kiss him on the nose and its like an off switch, as doscile as you like then. As you can tell hes my two eyes, the Pug is my GF's

[C C]

I know what you mean about the rough play fights, our little diva may be an angel on school visits but you should see her perform a smack down on our English Bulldog! (Now he is stubborn!) Size difference is no obstacle the pair of them love to wrestle, as you say it sounds horrendously violent but they both love it and they stop instantly when you tell them to. Bonnie also used to wrestle our old massive male boxer into submission, now that was a sight to see. I'm guessing your pug may not like to play quite so rough?
I think it sounds like Rocco has learnt that 6:45 is wake up time and he doesn't appreciate the subtle difference at weekends. As i said previously he is still quite young, we find letting our 2 put as late as possible last thing on a Friday and Saturday night helps them wait till a little later on weekend mornings, and they will both settle down and go back to sleep after being let out if we want to go back to bed for a lie in. A pic of my two

[Silent1]

For barking the aboistop spray collar works really well, we use one on our GSP and even when the odourless spray is used it works, the citronella spray is excellent though.
I've never used the mustard as IMHO it's one step too far, if you do buy one, you want a standard one not the compact.

You can get them from here aboistop collars

[Karyn]

What sort of routine do they have at the moment? Is it constant?

And what level of exercise do they get? Is it on-lead walks and play-fighting?




As above, once he's settled/older, he'll easily recognise the difference between weekday get up and weekend get up*.



*(ours have it down - if I drag them out of bed while it's dark, it's a weekday get up... if they're undisturbed while it's dark, then they'll lie in 'til about 11!)