Frenchie Training

Methods for House Training a French Bulldog

Method 1 – The Crate Training Method

1. One pup, one crate. Set your pup’s crate in a spot where you can keep an eye him/her. Add toys, a bed, and a water bowl and, of course, your pup.
2. Timing. Set your timer, 30 minutes and then open the crate, take your dog out, put him on his leash, and take him to the area you wish for him to use as his potty.
3. To go or not to go. That may be the question, but the answer lies in your pup’s paws. He may go and if he does praise him and give him a treat. If he doesn’t, take him back inside and put him back in his crate. Do not let them go play in the house!
4. Set the timer. Reset the timer back to 30 minutes and start all over again. If at any time, your pup starts to fuss and whine like he needs to go potty, take him outside using a verbal cue, such as “potty time” and be sure to give him a treat and praise when he goes.
5. Add more time. Start slowly and add time in five-minute increments to the timer until your pup can go for two hours without needing to go potty. You will need to wait until his bladder has fully developed for him to be able to hold for longer.
6. Slowly give freedom. Start leaving the crate door open and keeping an eye on your pup. Stick to your schedule and if your pooch looks like he needs to go, be sure to take him out. In time, he will figure it all out and the number of messes you have to clean up will dwindle to none.

Method 2 – The Hawkeye Method

1. Treats. You need a treat or at least your pup will when he goes potty outside where you want him to. Stock up on them and keep some in your pocket.
2. Hawkeye. This is the point at which you need to be able to keep your eyes glued to your pup. If he starts whining, circling, sniffing/scratching at the floor, these are all indicators that he needs to go potty. When you see this, say “NO!” in a firm voice. Be loud enough to startle him, but do not use an angry voice.
3. Hey, ho, let’s go. Pick your pup up and take him straight outside so he can go potty. When he does, be sure to praise him and give him a treat.
4. Give him some time. Startling him may slow down his ability to go potty right away. Be sure to give him some time before you take him back inside.
5. Stay vigilant. Now that your pup understands the basics, it’s all about timing. Keep an eye on him for signs of needed to go, but be sure to take him out at regular intervals as well. Most puppies can last up to an hour per month of their age between potty breaks. Gradually extend the time between trips outside. The more you practice, the easier it will be for him to wait longer to go potty. Keep working at it until he masters this skill.

Method 3 – The Pee on Schedule Method

1. Clear your schedule. If you are going to successfully potty train your pup, you need to make sure you have enough time to do so. The one thing that will make the job go faster is consistency. The more you repeat the training, the easier it will be for your pup to figure it out.
2. By the 20s. Set a timer for 20 minutes. When it goes off, hook your pup up to his leash and take him out to his “private potty,” better known as the one spot you want him to use in your yard.
3. Ah, sweet relief. When your pup goes potty, be sure to give him lots of praise and a treat or two.
4. Heck no, I won’t go. If he doesn’t go, take him back inside, reset the timer and wait.
5. Wait 20 minutes. During the next 20 minutes, keep a close eye on your pup. If he looks like he might be getting ready to go potty, take him straight outside. When he goes, give him a treat and lots of praise.
6. Repetition. The rest is all about repeating the training and extending the time between potty breaks. The more you work with your pup, the faster he will learn. Keep up the good work.

Method 4 – Czar Newborn Crate Method for Breeders

1. Clear your schedule. If you are going to successfully potty train your litter for the first week during weaning. You need to make sure you have enough time to do so. The one thing that will make the job go faster is consistency. The more you repeat the training, the easier it will be for your litter to figure it out.
2. Separate areas. Place the weaning litter in a puppy bed with sides, in their large crate or blocked off area. Make sure to keep area small at first until the litter gets the hang of going potty on the pads, on the other side of crate put wee wee pads down. Put their food and water bowl outside of the crate. Take puppies out to feed on a clean square or circle outside of crate. Feeding newborns is a bit messy, so keep their feet out of the pan and disinfect during every feeding. The puppies upon waking will go to potty on the pads if you keep area with two spaces, one for the bed and one for potty.
3. Keep it clean. When your litter gets the hang of it after about three days start making the area a little bigger. Goal is to keep the areas clean, so they don’t get confused. If they poop in their bed immediately change it . Don’t wipe it off . Take the bedding out and wash it with an enzyme remover disinfectant and TIDE with bleach.
4. Introduce the playpen. After they start keeping their bed clean then you can purchase a playpen, attach it to the crate and let them use the crate as their bedding area, use the puppy playpen as their play and potty area. Do not leave food and water in playpen until feeding time to keep food and water bowls clean.
5. Widen the space. After about one week, they should be around 6 to 7 weeks old. Start giving them an entire room space half with wee wee pads and half with solid flooring. Put the food and water on the side with no pads. It’s very important to keep this area clean and in no time about 4 days in this step the pups have associated the wee wee pad as the potty place and the solid floor as the eating area, and the soft bedding in the crate as nap time or bedtime.
6. Continue training. The rest is all about repeating the training and extending the time and space of feeding, cleaning up after them, and socializing them outside of their nursery space. The more you work with your litter, the faster they will learn. Keep up the good work. You will have very happy families that adopt a smart trained puppy!!!

Read more at: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-french-Bulldog-to-poop-outside. This was an article that I use for all my new families training choices.

In my opinion, the crate method is similar to my Czar method during weaning and training with the doggie door. Czar method is also included above to help small breeders train their French Bulldog puppies before they are adopted. This is done over the course of 3 to 6 weeks. Sometimes it needs to be repeated two times.