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Topic Dog Boards / Behaviour / Leaving a French bulldog alone advice
- By Perkinsli [gb] Date 14.06.19 17:38 UTC
Hi. I am looking at getting a French bulldog puppy I am trying to do my research before I get her.
She will have to be left alone no longer than 4 hours this won’t be every day as other family memebers are going to call in to let her out  and spend time with her.
Does anyone else have any experience with this ?
Please help?
- By JeanSW Date 14.06.19 18:17 UTC
For house training purposes your new babe will need to be taken out every half hour.  No other way to train them, and the earlier the better.  In my estimation pups can take up to 8 months to get it right.  You take pup out, and as soon as they perform you go over the top with praise.  Really excited and make a big deal of it, so they soon know how to please you. 

Ideally perhaps you have someone who would be able to let pup out when she's left.  As it isn't going to be very often, it would be the best way forward.  Remember that pup will have left all its siblings and is going to be extremely lonely, so 4 hours is a hell of a long time for her to be alone.
- By Whatevernext Date 14.06.19 18:23 UTC Upvotes 3
Most good breeders I know would not sell to a prospective new owner with these circumstances.  Not fair on the puppy.  What if the puppy is unwell and needs care throughout the day?
- By MamaBas [gb] Date 15.06.19 06:44 UTC

> Most good breeders I know would not sell to a prospective new owner with these circumstances.  Not fair on the puppy.  What if the puppy is unwell and needs care throughout the day?


I totally agree with this.   Only once did I 'give in' and let one of our puppies go to a couple who were working longer than I wanted the puppy to be alone for.    After I'd turned them down, they came back to me to tell me they'd involved virtually the entire street to be there for him when they weren't.   I relented.   But in general, best practice is not to leave a dog, especially a puppy, alone at home for much over 4 hours on a regular basis.  Yes dogs will put up with that kind of solitary life, but more often than not they dont - being destructive, messing and noisy.  In other words UNHAPPY.   And puppies need to be taken out immediately after they wake from a nap (and I do mean immediately), after each feed (and somebody has to be there for the lunch-time feed), and short periods of playing.  In other words roughly every hour when awake, at first.  And once at night to start with.  Otherwise the owners will come home, especially to a puppy, again, to find a huge mess to clear up.

You surely cannot rely on others to do what you should be doing - they have their own lives to lead too.

I had to wait until we could afford for me to stop working full time before we had our first hound - had that not been possible, there'd have been no hound/dog.
- By Brainless [gb] Date 15.06.19 07:50 UTC Upvotes 1
There is of course the option of employing a dog walker/sitter to come in during the day to sit with or walk the pup/dog.

I walk with a dog walker every day and quite a few (most actually) of her clients use her for particular days, now every day, be this walking, visits or daycare..
- By Nikita [gb] Date 15.06.19 08:13 UTC Upvotes 3
As has been said, for it to work you need cover for when you're not there.  At the very least, an hour in the middle of that time that pup would be left, preferably more.

I would also suggest taking a fortnight off for when pup arrives, so you can get him/her settled in, and take the time you need to leave them for gradually longer periods so it's not a shock.  I've seen far too many people who have gotten a puppy then gone straight back to work, and find themselves with a dog with separation anxiety, because that dog had been effectively abandoned most days from the beginning and never learned to cope with it at their own pace.
- By suejaw Date 15.06.19 09:10 UTC Upvotes 1
Relying on friends, family and neighbours to do puppy visits can be very taxing if they aren't getting paid. I sold a pup to a couple who at the time said they can work their jobs around dog care. Well they took the pup home and 2 days later they said their daycare had fallen through, they had enlisted a neighbour who had then got a job over the weekend  hmmm..
Anyway the pup was returned as i said you can't expect a neighbour, family and friends to cover 5 days a week, they will have their own lives. Puppy visits done by a dog walker are a far better option. Every 3hrs is what i would leave a pup max and always recommend a few weeks off work in the 1st place to settle a pup and also get them used to being left alone for short periods as well.
- By JeanSW Date 15.06.19 13:41 UTC

> Most good breeders I know would not sell to a prospective new owner with these circumstances


I almost typed that I wouldn't sell to the OP, but deleted what I started.  Truth is, it's the pups' welfare that's at stake here.
- By Charlie Brown [gb] Date 16.06.19 06:07 UTC Upvotes 2
When I have puppies to rehome one of my first questions to ask respective new owners is

‘ Do you work, if so how many hours and if you do what provisions have you in place for the puppy to go out for a toilet break etc’

In my opinion it’s something that is extremely important to have sorted before you even consider having a puppy.

If provisions are suitable, I wouldn’t say a blanket no if somebody works.

Each case, in my opinion, has to be taken on its own merit.
Topic Dog Boards / Behaviour / Leaving a French bulldog alone advice

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