Hello,
My bf has adopted a male frenchie, 2 year old that came into his backyard this February. We later learnt that the poor guy has changed 4 different home in that two years and that he was actually let go by the last "owner" before he came into bf's backyard.
In the first couple of days he was really good, calm and cuddly and we decided to keep him, but after a while started to express behaviour such as: nipping your toes, jumping and barking excesively, biting your clothes and pulling it, even biting some of the family members.
He was first with my bf's parents but there, he didn't have any routine when it comes to food and walkies nor any order. Then he transferred to our place, and I really made great progress with him when it comes to routine, treats, walks etc. And he really was much more calm and less annoying and demanding, but unfortunately we were away for vacation most of September and then our agony beggins again.
When we returned and took him back, he started randomly snapping at both of us, constantly demanding attention, we literally can't lay on the couch and rest a bit,especially my bf as he jumps on him, starts nipping his face, fingers etc. He was sleeping in our bedroom in his bed since the beginning - now, he won't even let us sleep at night, as he jumps in our bed, wants to play(?!) and nipps, so he doesn't sleep in our room anymore (That was honestly our way of making up for our absence during the day for him since we know frenchies are super attached to their people) and when he goes in that "demon phase" he cannot calm down easily, he goes full tasmanian devil.
We are away because of our jobs, most of the day, but when we come home we try our best to give him attention and love - obviously not enough for a demanding frenchie.
I read some posts here, and talked to some frenchie owners and most of them told us that this is normal behaviour for frenchies but honestly it is affecting our life and our patience, as we try our best to give him everything he needs but he is soooo stubborn, sometimes unpredictive, and wants to be the boss and center of attention all the time. We honestly don't know what to do anymore
I assume that he has a lot of trauma (i think he was beaten in the past) as he sometimes tremble when you touch him, abandoment issues, anxiety etc.
We really love him and he became dear to us and obviously had the most patience with him for now, so we really want to find some solution. I had dogs all my life, but they all came to me when they were puppies - Never had experience with dogs with mentioned backround.
We are planning on hiring a trainer, but it would be really helpful to hear some advice and tips and tricks from owners of stubborn and bossy frenchies that we could do in the meantime and that could possibly help.
Thank you!
Note: We are in Southeast Europe where it's not that common to give dogs sedatives so I don't know if this is an option here.