Any Bichon Frise owners?

[Shannerson]

Why are bichons and their whole family (havanese, coton's, etc.) known for their difficulty in house training? I am just curious as to why that sort of a thing is inherent in certain breeds.

Anyone own a bichon--what are they like personality wise?

 

[FoxyWench]

its not just bichons, most toy breed dogs are known for being "difficult" to housebreak, i think much of the problem is, many people dont realize with smaller dog comes smaller bladder, many toy breed pups take longer to develop to the point of holding its bladder 8 hours, the other problem is toy breeds are so small that they can get under tables and beds and when they squat to pee its not half as abvious as say a lab squatting to pee in the middle of your floor, i know when my 5lb pees you dont even realize shes squatting because shes already low to the ground.

they just require a little more frequency and patients is all.

chis are notorious for being difficult to housetrain, yet all 3 of ours are 100% reliable to a pee pad (and outside but during the winter they refuse to go out) and were trained and reliable very quickly!


every bichon ive ever met has been happy, peppy and outgoing.
its one of the few toy breds i personally think are usually ok around younger kids. (5+)

 

[Miakoda]

I agree with Foxy. I remember it took about 9 months for my Cairn Terrier to be fully housebroken.

And heck, I've got medium sized dogs & large dogs now & I still would let them out every hour to 2 hours when they were pups.

 

[SisMorphine]

My boss has a Bichon and apparently has had a hell of a time housebreaking him. He is crate trained without fault, but housebroken: nope. On the other hand I boarded 2 Iggies who would pee and poop in their crates and dance in it no matter how often they were let out (and they always pottied when they were outside). Their owner is a trainer and is at a loss as far as what to do with these two boys. They dirty and they just don't care! Her female IG is still a pup but she is fully crate trained. Boys are just gross I guess

 

[Shannerson]

Thanks for the replies. I feel dumb for not thinking of those reasons myself.

 

[TopShelfPets]

i live with a bichon who's almost four, and she still has accidents. Partially for the reasons Foxy mentioned, and partially because she's VERY spoiled and does whatever she wants.

 

[aivzdog]

I have a bichon frise cocker spaniel mix.
I adopted her like a year and a half ago.
She was already housetrained but by the way she is I don think she was hard to housetrain as a puppy.
I think every dog is different with housetraining.
It depends on the dog.

Anna

 

[Whisper]

I agree with the potty training difficulty reasons posted.
My grandparents have a Bichon who was very difficult to potty train as well and wasn't reliable until a few years old.
Bichons are very affectionate and smart. They are sweet and cheerful and usually great with kids.

 

[pup-man]

I have a Bichon... imagine your dog tethered to you all day and night. That's how it is for us living with our Bichon.. .he clings to you worst than the anti static dryer towels on your clothes.