How To Help Your Fluffy Frenchie Manage Stress and Anxiety

Fluffy Frenchie eating bone

Fluffy Frenchie eating bone

The fluffy frenchie is a lovable dog that can be found in many families. The breed came from France in the 1800s and it’s a cross between a French Bulldog and other breeds. Many people consider this trait to elevate the fluffy frenchie to a higher level increasing their desirability among dog owners.

Getting Your Fluffy Frenchie

Taking on any recent addition to your home can become a very stressful situation. This stress can be brought on by your anticipation for your fluffy frenchie arrival and your desire to have them love you and your family for years to come. Before integrating a new dog into your home, really prepare your home for their arrival.

Before bringing a new dog home, do your best to be sure you have the time, patience, and money necessary to raise a healthy dog. Once you are ready to bring your new pup home, be prepared to make some big changes in your life. You may need to rearrange your schedule or even your living space. In order to bring your new puppy home, consider the following things.

Your Fluffy Frenchie Personal Space

Every animal needs their own personal space. This is where they will sleep, lay down to relax and turn to when they’re stressed or anxious. This space should have a grand bed. The bed should be large enough for them to lie down comfortably and be made of quality material, so it lasts as long as they do. A calming bed from Calming Dog is a brilliant choice to consider since they are not only high-quality products but come in a wide range of colors, sizes and other features to fit your fluffy frenchie needs.

Managing Stress and Anxiety 

Now that your fluffy frenchie is home and they are merging with your family, observe and monitor their progress. For many dogs, the fluffy frenchie included, may have a hard time at first fitting into a new environment. When we are unfamiliar with what is around us, how it may affect us and an uncertain future with new people, ensuring them that everything will be alright should be your top priority.

Discovering and Managing Triggers

Triggers are going to be events and situations that set off moments of stress and anxiety. For your fluffy frenchie, these events can have long lasting or even lifelong repercussions. Ensuring that you do everything you can to prevent these and educate your fluffy frenchie that everything will be okay will go a long way to avoiding these problems.

Loud Noises

Out of all the triggers that will affect your fluffy frenchie at first will be loud noises. Loud noises are usually out of your control and will occur at such a random time, you won’t be able to prepare them for the experience.

For your fluffy frenchie, this is something that they will have to learn to live with. Because of their breed’s sensitivity to noise, they will hear noises everywhere and become very sensitive to anything that they perceive as loud. This may be a problem if you’re living in an apartment building with other people or if you live in a noisy environment. When your fluffy frenchie hears a loud noise, they will react by either running away, hiding under a bed, jumping on you, or going crazy. When this happens, it is important to reassure your fluffy frenchie that it was only a loud noise and that nothing is wrong. It is also very important to teach your fluffy frenchie how to cope with the situation. If you can’t fix the noise, try to distract your fluffy frenchie from the noise by playing with them.

Drastic Changes to Their Environment

Remodeling your home, adding a few items, or simply rearranging the room could all cause stress and anxiety to your fluffy Frenchie. Before you make a change, you’ll want to know how your Frenchie is going to react. If your dog is too nervous, sad, or anxious, then think about rethinking your plan.

When the change is going to be difficult or sudden for your dog, take them with you to the store and purchase the item together. It’s important that they get used to the change gradually, so that the amount of new things did not overwhelm them.

When shopping for items, consider what will be the best for them. Don’t buy things that are too big or small. A large bag or basket will let the dog easily see everything that is inside. You will also want to consider where you will place these items. If they are going to be in areas where your fluffy frenchie will have access to, try to make them aware of it and see how they react. Mostly, minor items you bring into your home will have no effect on their mental or emotional status.

If you are planning on moving, make sure that your fluffy frenchie understands the plan ahead of time. Make sure that they know where they are moving to and give them a chance to explore the area before making the move. This way, if they get anxious, they won’t have to be surprised by the new environment.

Make sure that you keep any new item away from their food and water bowls, since this is their personal space and any intrusion can cause a spike of stress. Doing whatever you can to ensure that we consider all changes to their environment for them will go a long way in reducing any issues that may arise.

Interactions with Strangers

Be careful who you introduce into your dog’s world. Introducing your dog too many people at once can cause a level of stress and anxiety that we can mistake as having fun. Barking, jumping and acting excited can seem like they are happy to see these people, but in reality, it is just a way to cope with the situation.

When you meet a new person, first ask yourself if this person would be good for your dog. If not, do not bring them into your home. A dog’s first introduction to a new person should always be in a controlled setting. This could mean going to a public park or walking through a mall. You should allow your dog to sniff all the things that they are interested in and then slowly let them approach the new person.

If you decide to introduce your dog to a stranger, then will ask the person to help you choose a few things that you can show your dog. This will help prevent your dog from acting aggressively towards someone that they don’t know. Introducing your dog to a stranger can be very exciting for them, but also stressful. It is important that you do not force your dog to interact with a stranger unless they are comfortable doing so. This means waiting until they are ready to approach the new person. Never let your dog approach strangers without supervision. When a stranger approaches your dog, you should always have a leash on them. If your dog is off-leash and gets into an argument with a stranger, you will be responsible for their actions. If a stranger tries to pet your dog without asking, do not allow it. This is especially true if you know the person. Doing everything that you can to ensure that these meetings go off without a hitch can go a long way in preventing problems in future interactions.

Fluffy Frenchie

Separation Anxiety

Take the time to notice how your fluffy frenchie reacts to you leaving. Many dogs who are left alone will experience stress and anxieties. These can be for a lot of reasons. Finding events related to their past can be a major reason for their behavior. If your fluffy frenchie was left alone for extended periods of time in a cruel environment or was neglected, even your departure will trigger these feelings.

If this is the case, it is important that you take the time to be a good friend to your dog, providing them with attention, treats, and playing. Have a backup plan just in case your dog gets too stressed out and needs to be taken care of when you aren’t around. Other factors can also play into why your fluffy frenchie is anxious about being left alone.

Some dogs are more independent than others. This means that they need little in the way of supervision to feel comfortable being left alone. Other dogs will need close supervision and constant reassurance that everything is going to be okay. You may notice that your dog is acting differently as soon as you leave the room. They may jump up on you, bark excessively, or even try to attack the door when it’s closed.

Try to keep a close eye on them and make sure that they are feeling calm. If you are planning to leave for a few hours, leave your dog at home with a trusted family member or friend. Your furry friend will appreciate that they have someone watching out for them while you’re away. When you return home, be sure to let your furry friend out of the house to use the bathroom and get some exercise. This will re-trigger their memory of being in a safe environment and allow them to vent any stress that may have built up while you were gone.

Don’t Force Your Dog To Confront Their Fears

Forcing your dog to confront their fears isn’t a good idea. People believe their minds work like ours and will react to the same training. You never want to lock a dog in a room and hope they’ll stop barking or crying. This is cruel behavior and will only result in different disobedience. The way you want to handle these situations is through training and conditioning. Getting their minds and actions to understand how the world works will go a long way in relieving their stress and anxieties. Training is not only good for keeping them well-behaved, but it also gives them something to focus on and work for, therefore reducing their stress and anxiety.

If your dog doesn’t have any issues with being alone, then that’s great. It is important that you make some changes to the way they live their life if they are afraid or stressed out. When you teach your dog to not be afraid of being alone, they will understand how the world works and, as a result, stop reacting negatively, and will handle anything that happens calmly.

Collar Training

You may have heard about collar training. This is a type of training in which a clicker or a treat teaches a dog’s behavior. This helps them associate a certain action with a reward, therefore making it easier to train them. This can help in getting them to focus on something else so that they are not focusing on their fears. It can also help them learn that they are safe when left alone.

When you go through the training, you want to be sure that you have a calm environment. If your dog feels stressed or anxious, it may be harder to get them to concentrate. Your furry friend may jump up and try to bite you when you aren’t able to give them a treat. You don’t want to have any distractions or noise that could be too much for your dog. If you are trying to teach your dog to ignore a particular sound, you will want to make sure that the sound is calming.

Communicating With Your Fluffly Frenchie

Never yell at your dog. Yelling and using loud voices and tones will not alter your fluffy frenchies behavior. All it will do is increase their stress and anxiety levels. Talking in a firm but calm voice will signal to them they are to listen to what you are saying and follow instructions. Learning how to develop positive commands will go a long way in instructing your fluffy frenchie as well as ensuring you get the desired results from your actions.

Consider your body language when training and communicating with your fluffy frenchie. If you are a large person who naturally sends fear through the hearts of man, the same will occur when communicating with your fluffy frenchie. With the art of communication, subtle signs and gestures are all powerful ways of getting your point across. A look with your eyes can convey fear or love. Crossing your arms can either have a relaxed tone or could be one that signals something bad is about to happen.

This should be practiced before trying this technique on your fluffy frenchie. This is because sometimes if your body language looks threatening or intimidating, your fluffy frenchie will interpret it the same way.

Common Commands

There are going to be many commands that can communicate with your fluffy frenchie. The first command you want to teach them is “NO”. Using the word NO causes your fluffy frenchie to pause and consider what they are doing. Be warned, however, that when you use this term, they will be a little stressed or nervous, since the meaning of the word is unclear.

Terms such as sit, stay, lay down will all follow in sequential after your fluffy frenchie has mastered the previous commands. As they learn, use positive reinforcement. Learning words, the sound of your voice and the meanings and associated actions are all going to take time. Once they master these commands, use them regularly. When using these terms regularly, a routine will form which gives your dog structure and purpose. Allowing your dog to aimlessly wonder and have no purpose in life will lead to boredom and the need to act out.

Positive reinforcement training is vital when training a fluffy frenchie. Your dog needs to understand that his actions are linked with rewards and his offensive actions are linked with consequences. When he sees a positive, reward-worthy behavior, he will do more of it. However, when he does a bad one, he must experience a negative consequence, which will make him want to behave better next time. When punishing bad or improper behavior, never strike or harm them. Simply find a way that is beneficial to positive behaviors, not introducing stress and fear.

Conclusion

Stress is found in all of us. We are fearful of the future, environments and actions that don’t follow a standard pattern of behaviors. When the world of our dogs are turned upside down due to stress, we want to do everything that we can to ensure that it is reduced or removed as quickly as possible. Failure to do this can really cause additional problems in the future.

Our goal is to be sure that your dog has an environment where he can feel safe and that you will be available when he needs you. This includes training, socialization, and overall safety. Your dog deserves the best care and we want to make sure that it is available for him to receive. Make sure that you observe your dog and locate any triggers that could affect them. These triggers can be subtle and easily overlooked. Love your dog, do whatever you can for them and enjoy your time together.

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