French bulldogs might be small in size, but they posses huge personalities. By making a decision to buy a French bulldog puppy, you need to know that your dog’s temperament and behavior will depend only on you. We all know that dogs are social beings who can feel our emotions and mood. That’s why it’s essential to make a good balance, stay consistent, and know how and when to ‘punish’ a French bulldog.
Is it allowed to punish a French Bulldog?
Frenchies are known as good family dogs who like to show affection and stay involved in their owners’ activities. Since they belong to companion breeds, they can behave a bit clingy if they don’t get the appropriate training lessons on time.
Punishing a French bulldog is not allowed since these pooches react very sensitively and can become emotionally affected when someone yells at them or shows them physical aggression. Dogs would stay confused by such reaction, and will become afraid, and that’s the last thing dog owners would like to induce.
Instead of choosing ‘real punishment’, my advice is to act wisely and play a mental game with your pet. French bulldogs are smart, so they will figure out what do you want from them and what they were not allowed to do. The key is to find the best motivational tool and to understand their body language. However, sometimes, you need to be very persistent because Frenchies may act stubborn.
How to punish a French bulldog?
A dog can be punished by using discipline methods instead of aggression. When your Frenchie shows unwanted behavior, you should give him a clear sign that he made a mistake.
1- Correct the dog’s behavior
Use a sharp but not too loud voice to let your dog know what he’s done. Besides, you should also react quickly and stop your dog during disobedience because a behavior and a consequence must be put together.
2- Ignore your Frenchie
No matter how cruel this sounds, your dog will understand that you’re angry if you started to ignore him. Your French bulldog might try to sit in your lap to say sorry or to start to whine, but you should definitely stay persistent in such situations. You can also leave the room because being ignored will make him consider his actions.
3- Train bite inhibition
Bite inhibition training is very important because it helps a dog to learn when is the time to stop. Biting in your puppies happens due to teeth growth, however, it must not continue through growing up. Every obedient pooch should learn that biting can hurt people. Therefore, by removing your hand during biting and producing high-pitched voice, your dog will figure out that he did something bad. Take your hand away and leave the room for a few minutes. This action should be repeated every day until your dog learns when is the time to stop.
4- Preventing chewing behavior
Your little gremlin might chew on home items for many reasons. Therefore, before you start to punish your French bulldog, it’s important to discover the triggers. Some of the triggers for chewing behavior in Frenchies can be:
- teeth growth
- separation anxiety
- boredom
- lack of exercise
When you determine what could be the reason for your dog’s destructive behavior, you can start with the training. As you can guess, separation anxiety is one of the worst scenarios because it requires the help of professional.
Boredom, lack of exercise, and teeth growth can be treated by using interactive and chew toys that will occupy your Frenchie’s attention.