Basic Care Guide

The first 72 hours at home

Your puppy has just left its litter, its routine and everything it knows. Expect some crying the first night or two — it is normal and it passes. Keep the first days deliberately dull.

• Set up a crate or pen somewhere central but calm, and let the puppy retreat there whenever it wants.
• Keep the food identical to what we have been feeding for at least a week. Each puppy's page lists its exact brand and formulation. Change it gradually after that, over five to seven days.
• Limit visitors. Everyone wants to meet the puppy; give it a few days first.
• Take them out to the same spot every time for toilet breaks, and reward the moment they finish rather than when they come back inside.
• Book a vet appointment within the first 72 hours — most health guarantees, including ours, require it.

Feeding

Three to four small meals a day up to about six months, then twice daily. Small breed puppy food, and measured portions rather than free feeding — this is a breed where excess weight directly worsens the airway.

You should be able to feel the ribs under a thin layer with light pressure, and see a waist from above. If you cannot, cut back. A slightly lean Frenchie is a healthier Frenchie, and it is much easier to prevent weight than remove it.

Elevated bowls suit the breed's short neck. Slow-feeder bowls are worth it too — Frenchies gulp air when they eat fast, and a flat-faced dog that swallows air is a gassy, uncomfortable dog.

Facial folds and the tail pocket

This is the grooming job that matters and the one people skip. The wrinkles on a Frenchie's face trap moisture, food and skin oils, and warm damp skin gets infected.

• Wipe the facial folds two or three times a week with a damp cloth or an unscented pet wipe.
• Dry them thoroughly afterwards. This step matters more than the cleaning — leaving a fold damp is worse than not cleaning it at all.
• Check the tail pocket, the recessed area under the tail. Many Frenchies have one and it needs the same clean-and-dry treatment.
• Watch for redness, a yeasty smell or the dog rubbing its face on furniture. Those mean it is time to call the vet, not to scrub harder.

The coat itself is easy: a weekly brush with a rubber curry mitt, and a bath every four to six weeks with a gentle shampoo. Nails need trimming every three to four weeks, and ears — those enormous open bat ears — should be checked weekly for debris.

Heat: the thing that actually kills Frenchies

• Walk early morning or after dark in summer. Skip the walk entirely on hot days — a puzzle feeder indoors is a fine substitute.
• Never leave a Frenchie in a parked car, a conservatory, or a garden without shade and water. Not for five minutes.
• Learn the warning signs: frantic or noisy panting, a bright red or bluish tongue, drooling, staggering, vomiting. Cool them with room-temperature water — not ice — and get to a vet immediately.
• Air conditioning or a fan is not a luxury for this breed in summer.

Exercise and safety

• Harness, never a collar, for anything involving a lead. Keep the collar for ID tags only.
• Two short walks a day is plenty for an adult. Puppies need less — roughly five minutes per month of age, twice daily.
• Do not let them run themselves into exhaustion. Frenchies will keep playing past the point their airway can keep up, so you have to be the one who stops the game.
• No unsupervised water, ever. Pools, ponds, the bath. If they are around water, they wear a canine life vest.
• Discourage jumping down from sofas and beds while the growth plates are still open — the breed is prone to spinal problems and repeated impact does not help.

Toilet and crate training

Most of our puppies leave with training already started — crate, pads, a litter box or a doggie door depending on the litter, listed on each puppy's page. Carry on with whatever they already know rather than starting a new system.

Take them out after waking, after eating, after play, and every two hours besides. Reward immediately at the spot. Accidents are a training data point, not a moral failing — clean with an enzymatic cleaner so the smell does not draw them back, and never punish after the fact.

The crate should be somewhere good things happen: meals, chews, naps. Never use it as punishment. Build up from a few minutes to an hour or two, and expect a puppy to sleep through the night by around twelve to sixteen weeks.

When to call your vet

Same day, without waiting to see if it improves:

• Laboured, noisy or open-mouthed breathing at rest, or gums that look blue or grey.
• Any suspicion of heatstroke.
• Repeated vomiting or diarrhoea, especially with blood, or a puppy that will not eat for more than a day.
• Lethargy, collapse, or a puppy that is unusually difficult to rouse.
• Dragging or weakness in the back legs, or crying when picked up.
• An eye that is cloudy, weeping, held shut, or has a visible pink mass at the inner corner.

Puppies destabilise faster than adult dogs. If something feels wrong, phone. You will never regret an unnecessary vet call.