French Bulldog Misbehavior

Hello,

I thought about joining this site in the hopes of getting some rational answers to help 1. my personal sanity and 2. build a better relationship with my dog.

I am a first time owner of a male (neutered) French Bulldog. He's 11 months old and has been with me since he was 10 weeks old. I work from home so he sees and spends time with me 95% of the day.

When I am at home, he behaves and he is a perfect angel. He and I have a good relationship until I leave the house. I give him plenty of affection, love and I know there's no shortage there.

When I leave the house for more than an hour, however, the son of a bitch always does something that gets under my skin. Whether it's him eating my plants, tearing my books, chewing the wall or opening a cabinet and spilling crazy glue on my couch. I've dog-proofed my house now but he manages to do something bad that he's shameful of each and every time.

On average, I take him out 3 times a day for 30 minutes and he gets to run and play plenty. Before I leave the house, I take him out again and make him walk and run. I don't believe my problem is lack of socializing or exercising the son of a bitch.

Then I thought maybe it's separation anxiety. I read books and did Csear's Way of training the dog for separation anxiety and I don't believe this is the problem either. I've exhausted this. He still manages to do something wrong when I'm gone for more than an hour.

I've never had the heart to put him inside a crate so he's always had the entire house to himself but I'm starting to wonder if I've been too liberal with him. I will also mention that there's no question that he knows that I'm the leader of the pact - he's not running the show in my house.

I need him to stop this behavior soon. Has anyone dealt with this type of dog before or a situation similar to mine? What can I do? What am I doing wrong?

I'm thinking from now on, he should go inside a crate until I return, even if it's for 5 or 7 hours. Sounds insane but the material damages need to stop. $1400 in damages is not funny at all.

Thank you for your feedback and guidance.

Does your dog have a name ,other then son of a bitch .?
I have a cage for my dog when I go out, he is not stressed but this as he has had it from day one. He has his hide chew bone and a kong bone that u put a tooth chew in, he will spend hours trying to get it out . It's not wrong to put him in a cage . But if u do make sure it's big enough for him to lay flat out in and sit up.
Make sure you start him off putting him in it while your in the house . Say two minutes to start with and a big fuss when his out. Leave the cage door open even when your not using it ,
so he can look inside and get out as offen as he wants .then put him in five mins ,then 20 this time go in the garden so he thinks your out ,come back big fuss and a treat.he will soon learn cage means treats .
I'd have no house left if I didn't. And remember his still a baby . Most dogs are about two before they grow up.
Hope that helps.

you say he is destructive if left for more than an hour
then you go onto say you are thining about crating him 'even if it is for 5 to 7 hours'

When you leave him onhis own for 'more than an hour' exactly how long are you leavin him for?

Also you say he is 'shameful' about what eh has done - he has no idea what he has done requires 'shame' dogs have no concept of 'shame'

what you are interpreting as 'shame' is your dog simply picking up onyour displeasure and reacting to 'mum' being 'angry' he has no idea why you are angry

you say you are with him 95% of the time so that is his 'norm' so when you are not there that is so far from normal he becomes stressed which manifests itself as destuctive behaviour. if he is well exercised etc then it is not boredom at being left

He does have a name. His name is Georgie. I guess putting him in a crate is the way to go for now.

Thank you for sharing your experience and the reply.

Sometimes I leave the house for 30 minutes, sometimes for 1 hour and sometimes for 5 hours. I usually leave him in the evenings after a 30 minute run and play in the hopes that he goes to sleep. I can't change the fact that I'm with him 95% of the time. And I've seen him misbehave within 30 minutes of me being gone so I can't really tell what the maximum time threshold is, but, I think I will try the crate option and see if it helps.

I can see what you're saying about him getting stressed and how big of a change it is for him going from 95% to 0%.

Thank you for pointing it out and for your reply.

what do you feed him out of interest? sometimes this can have an effect on energy levels which might not be helping

def thinking crating is the way forward but will need tobe introduced slowly so its not seen as a punishment crate = nice things happen eg a stuffed kong to keep those teeth occupied / an item of clothing that smells of you

its important not to make a fuss of them before you leave or when you return (rule of thumb is when you return dont acknowledge them for a few minutes till you get your shoes/coat off bags down) keep fuss/excitement to a minimum so the 'event' of you going out/in is low key and nothing to get wound up about

Yeah, I would just use a crate for now. It won't have to be forever, but just for the next couple of months while he matures a little. No big deal. Most dogs learn to like or at least accept their crates. Just keep giving him plenty of exercise and attention like you're doing and you don't have to feel bad. I agree, it's not worth the stress or financial damage to have him loose. Plus, he could hurt himself by eating something he shouldn't, etc.

My dog is 2 and would still eat cushions any things left around so he has always been kept in the kitchen with his crate open when I'm out that way everything is kept out the way and cupboards secured. He just ran up stairs dirty after a walk but that is MY fault for not wiping him as soon as we got back. Frenchies are intelligent hence getting into cupboards look into activities to tire him mentally. Good luck

You could make a 'pass the parcel' packages and hid a treat inside a small box, put that into a bigger box etc etc. we will require video of the frenchie brain working it out!

You can get treat balls that they have to kick about to make the treats fall out which may entertain him for a bit