House breaking - male versus female

[Madeleine]

Are male frenchies more difficult to house break?

I've never had a male dog - any house breaking tricks I should know about?

Thanks!

[Trish]

French Bulldogs are harder to housebreak period! Haha.. we got lucky with ours, he was 90% by 6 months old.. but a lot of them take 1 year to house train, and even then can start regressing at about a year and a half and you'll have to go back to potty training 101 all over again, and treat them like they are a new puppy just coming home all over again to "refresh" them. If you're not going to show him, I would suggest getting him neutered to help make sure that he does not "mark" your house by lifting his leg in your house. We got Louie neutered when he was 10 months old.

[Madeleine]

Thanks, Trish. I don't have a Frenchie yet (I'm still looking), but a friend told me that male dogs in general are more diffcult to potty train than females.

[Trish]

I don't think that's true, in fact it was the opposite with mine.. Louie was easier, Ellie was harder.. Louie was 6 months when he got it, Ellie was a year old before she could be trusted to have free reign of the house.. even then she still occasionally will have an accident.. every few months she will still have an accident.. where Louie has not had a single accident since he was around 7-8 months old. I really think it helps when you get the males neutered no later than 1 year.. helps curb their natural urge to mark their sent on everything.. although Louie does like to mark outside, he must pee on 10 different things when he goes outside, but he never bothers anything in the house.. even when Ellie was in heat, he never tried to mark anything nor did he try to mount her or anything.. he's a good boy. :)

[Madeleine]

Thanks, Trish, that's encouraging! Your Louie is a good boy, indeed!

[Jen]

Frenchies are very stubborn dogs but I have to say Duke was a pleasure to train..I got him when he was 8 weeks and by the time he was 4 months old he already knew to go to the door and knock on wood he never has an accident anymore...I had him neutered last month before he started "marking" and it's been a breeze! My family has always had female dogs so I was a little nervous with the male but I think it's all about making sure they go out after they eat, and making sure they learn where the door is.

[Bruno Mozarella]

Bruno was a nightmare to housebreak. Lots of patience - but you have to be firm. It took him 16 months to be completely accident free - not to mention whatever he didn't pee or poop on - he chewed. I love him, but he was very hard to train - very stubborn and he knew I was a sucker. I had to hire a dog behaviorits to train me to stop rewarding him for everything/anything he did. He was so cute as a puppy but I am glad he's full grown. I think Frenchies are like fine wines - they get better with age!

[Madeleine]

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your experiences. I haven't chosen my Frenchie yet, or maybe I should say s/he hasn't chosen me yet. I know house breaking will take patience and consistency, I hope I have lots of both!

I'm going to look at a puppy this weekend, maybe this will be the one for me!

[Trish]

Good luck!

[Jen]

Good luck!!! Hopefully it will be the right one for you!!!!

[Jen]

Duke drives me crazy sometimes too with the constant need to go outside, but I think it's just because he loves to play out in the snow. I think he actually forces out a little pee just so he doesn't get in trouble for making me taking him out! lol

[Michelle M]

Jen, we refer to that as a "Courtesy Pee". I'll give you the courtesy of a little pee for taking the trip with me. (Drives me nuts, too.)

[charleen kelly]

I cant speak for all but my 10 mo was sooo easy to housebreak I am hoping when we get my husband his little girl she is as easy!We used the crate and took him out at first every 20 mins then up to 30 then 45 then an hour by then he would go to door and we knew.So since about 4 mo he has done great.At first its more about you being trained.....IMO