Bichon Frise – Your New Pet
The Bichon Frise, also known as curly hair Bichon, is a small dog with white curly fur. It is a nice companion dog, perfect to live in small places. If you are thinking of adopting one, is convenient that you first inform yourself about this breed’s characteristics so you can give it the best care.
The researchers place the origin of this breed in the XII century and it probably occurred close to the Mediterranean. It was there where many types of dogs surged that have as a common ancestor the old French Barbet. These crosses probably originated some dogs completely white, among them is the family of Barbichon dogs and the Poodle dog.
Later, these dogs would simply be called Bichons, the Tenerife’s Bichon appeared among them. This island dog is probably the ancestor of the Bichon Frise and the Havanese Dog.
Although the Tenerife’s Bichon started disappearing after the First World War, the Bichon Frise thrived in France in the ’30s. Its name in French means Bichon of curly hair.
After World War II, the survival of the Bichon Frise was ensured thanks to its importance in America, reaching in the actuality huge popularity around the world.
They are toy dogs, their dimensions barely reach between 23 and 30 cm of height in males and 23 to 28 cm in females. Their weight is following those compact dimensions, this is between 3 and 5 kg.
Their elegant aspect is the product of their soft curved loin, which contrasts with a wide and well-rounded musculature. Its chest is well developed and its flanks converge towards their central part to accentuate their high-class style.
Their head instead, is a little more flattened, its snout is shorter than its skull and it has a small nose that matches with its deep dark eyes. Its look always reflects a deep state of attention that talks to us about its notorious intelligence. On the other side, the ears are long and hang on the sides.
Their fur is maybe the most known characteristic. The hair is dense and curly, its exterior cover is formed with thick spirals. At this point, anyone would think that this dog loses a lot of hair and therefore, it would end up … the house, however, its fur is very consistent and it does not fall easily, which is ideal to avoid the excessive cleaning of the house.
Following the lineaments accepted by the International Cynological Federation, their fur must always be white; however, the pups could have a different tone, which must disappear as the dog grows.
The Bichon Frise is a compact dog and its aspect is fragile, which could give the impression that it is not ready for strenuous activities, however, this is not true. These bichons are tough dogs, capable of joining you in field trips or intense races. Even so, it can conform perfectly with a simple daily walk.
It does not need much space to be happy, an average apartment has enough space for the dog to feel free. It tends to get on its favorite sofas. You must educate it since it is a pup if you want to avoid that conduct.
As for their life expectancy, we don’t have to worry because it is of 13-15 years on average, which is considered very good to a dog of these dimensions.
They prefer mild climates, keeping it inside the house could be an adequate decision if the exterior temperature is too adverse, whether by cold or hot.
The Bichon Frise is a perfect dog for the family, it likes being with many people. It is a smart dog that understands its function as a direct receptor of pampering and affection from its owners. They enjoy contact with people immensely and get depressed if they are alone.
They are ideal to get relaxed after a long day of work. Playing with them is a gratifying activity for anyone. Elder people are benefited too by their company since they stay by their side and brighten their every day.
They are also great when we talk about children, they usually play with them with a lot of enthusiasm.
They are excellent partners to go for a walk in the street with. They socialize easily with new people besides, they adapt perfectly to groups and do not get scared or intimidated.
Its behavior in front of other pets is great other living creatures around it do not bother it. It is an extremely quiet dog that does not feel the necessity of marking its territory or showing dominance to feel content.
History and Origin of the Bichon Frise
The ancestors of the Bichon Frise have captivated the whole Mediterranean for centuries, some scholars even have the theory that they date back 6000 years, which would make them one of the oldest dog lineages in history. These dogs principally served to merchants and sailors to control the plagues. They eliminated the annoying rodents thus ensuring the health of the population.
However, little by little, they gained the attention of the rest of the people and their aspect became more and more refined. That is how they came to be pets of the Egyptian pharaohs, the Greek aristocrats and even the Roman emperors. Such was the fascination that people felt for these cute dogs that they paid high sums of money to get them, which is how they spread around the occidental world in ships.
The Barbichon Dog
For sure, such dissemination and popularity made them cross many times giving rise to different breeds. Eventually, that selective breeding process would end up producing the Barbet Dog or the Water Dog, which when crossing with other white color breeds, finally produced lapdogs of small dimensions. From that crossing, the Barbichon dogs would originate.
Barbichon is a word that means shaggy and it is perfect to describe the aspect of these dogs. The Barbichons would be called later Bichons. There were 3 different types of Bichons, the Bolognese Bichon, the Maltese Bichon, and the Tenerife’s Bichon, this last is the direct ancestor of the Havanese Bichon and our beloved Bichon Frise.
The Tenerife’s Bichon was originated in the Canary Islands. It is not known exactly how it appeared but some estimate that the Spanish sailors brought other Bichon dogs to the islands between the years 1200 and 1300. After the several modifications that they went through, the Italian sailors took them to the rest of Europe.
The Bichon Frise in Europe
To the year 1500, the Bichon Frise dogs were in their apogee. Their popularity as companion dogs led them to conquer Europe, especially Spain and Italy. During that time, it was common that the bourgeoisie would do the impossible to get one. Through that period of great popularity, the French decided to invade Italy on two occasions and of course, the Bichons charmed them so they took many puppies as spoils of war.
These dogs did not go through hardships, on the contrary, they became the favorite pets of Francis I and the king Henry III, and is that no one could resist to the Bichon’s charms, not even the great monarchs. This great attractive made them being represented in numerous pictorial works, including the Goya’s paintings.
The Bichon Frise in the years 1800 and 1900
However, this age of great glory was declining little by little. Although Napoleon III seems like it was a fan, to the end of the 1800s, these dogs had lost their prestige, even becoming in stray dogs.
Even when the royalty was no longer giving these dogs special treatments, they kept persevering. They earned a good reputation as very friendly companion dogs, they accompanied blind people helping them with their needs and they even became artists at circuses.
This would be that way until the 1900s, in that time, many breeders got together to unify the criteria of the standard breed, which were not recognized officially until 1933, when they obtained the approval of the Central Canine Society of France.
The acknowledgment of when the dogs officially obtained the name of Bichon Frise, which means Bichon of curly hair, made it easier that in 1934 they were included in the genealogical book of the French Kennel Club.
The Bichon Frise in America
The history of the Bichon Frise in the United States is much more recent. It only started in 1956 in Michigan, when a French family decided to dedicate professionally to their breading and promotion. So many specimens appeared that in 1964, the American Bichon Frise Club was founded, and they were allowed to participate in the competitions sponsored by the American Kennel Club since 1971, although this organization would not recognize this breed until 1973.
In actuality, the Bichon Frise Dogs still accompany hundreds of people around the world. Everyone that enjoys a cute dog with a friendly personality loves them. Their glory days of resting in the monarchs’ laps are gone, but that does not mean that many families do not love them.
Characteristics of the Breed
The Bichon Frise is a very small breed, but although its small size, it has an energy and vitality when playing mixed with a very affective temperament. It is a very smart dog, which gives it a great advantage when learning different tricks and commands.
It has a delicate and elegant aspect, it possesses smooth, curly and white color hair and does not have spots of any other color. You have to keep in mind that its hair care takes much time. You must have patience and dedication to brushing, haircuts, and details that can show up daily.
It weighs 3 to 5 kg approximately, while the height to the cross goes from 23 to 30 cm, being a toy dog breed.
This breed has a good life expectancy, the standard is from 15 to 16 years of age. Nevertheless, before getting a dog or puppy it is important that you take seriously the decision since its cares and education will be on you during all its life, and it would be no good if after a while you abandon the dog.
The Bichon Frise rose fast in the records of the Kennel Club thanks to its qualities and personality, which led it to fame in the United Kingdom.
The body is small but of beefy and broad appearance, and it possesses a slight curvature. Its chest is wide in comparison to the rest of the body.
Its head has lush hair on its sides. The size is well proportioned
Its eyes are medium and brown-colored. It has a sweet and tender look.
The ears are small and delicate. They are covered by curly fur.
Its front members are straight and with a good constitution. The bones of this zone are slightly thin. The shoulders are a little inclined but not protruding. These measure around 10 cm.
The back members possess wide thighs, with present musculature. They have good development.
Their paws are covered by thick and dense fur. The nails are dark, and their fingers and pads are compact.
Their tail has a very pronounced curvature, which the dog rises to its back. It has an elevated implant and is covered with longer and more abundant fur.
To all this, we have to stand out that the actual Bichon Frise, is a bit taller and more robust than its ancestors, but thanks to its mane, this characteristic could be hard to notice.
Thanks to its physiognomy, it is very agile and capable of moving with skill, but this combined to its active and playful character could become a little problem of hyperactivity. To keep your dog quiet, you have to take it out for a walk a couple of times a day or exercising with it through games.
This breed mainly has the role of companion dog but can also perform other tasks without any problem, as is the case of agility competitions. The Bichon Frise has sufficient aptitude to be in high caliber competitions that have high demands.
Their great intelligence allows them to learn many commands and actions relatively fast and easy. With time, they can memorize many. Nevertheless, the commands you give to the dog must be firm and repetitive to achieve its retention. You must not think that it is a perfect dog and it will not do it completely well, everything requires time and dedication.
You must train the dog so that it does not adopt incorrect behaviors and that it knows what are its limitations and places. If you do not teach it all this, after a while it could become a disobedient and stubborn dog, although it is not a common behavior of the breed.
Its origins are in Spain, more specifically in the Canary Islands. Since that moment, the breed started to be distributed to more places due to the popularity they had, being a coveted and loved dog by many in the European territory
Diet and Alimentation of the Bichon Frise
The Bichon Frise has an omnivore diet just like the rest of the dogs, but as you know, this diet cannot have all the food that humans eat daily since the dog could develop allergies and even could get intoxicated with determined components that are usual in a human meal.
To guarantee that the food that the Bichon Frise eats is not bad to its health, first, you have to get informed about which are the components of human food that are not good for them. For example, if today you ate very seasoned food you will not be able to give your dog the leftovers since condiments can cause our Bichon Frise allergies in the skin.
If you ate liver with onions, you cannot give the dog the leftovers either since the onion has a high level of toxicity for our little dog, as well as foods that contain avocado, nuts, grapes, the center and seeds of an apple, watermelon, and tomatoes in abundance.
No dog should be given alcoholic drinks because these could kill them due to a strong intoxication. Your Bichon must not eat peanuts, nuts, and broccoli. It is not recommended that they eat foods with too much cheese, such as pizza, or flour, such as bread or any type of fast food since these contain a big amount of fats, additives, and seasonings that can poison your dog quickly.
These are just a few examples. You will have to investigate the ingredients of homemade food that you want to give to your Bichon Frise to make sure that these are not toxic for it, and it is an even better idea that you look for special recipes for dogs that contain the elements that we are going to describe below.
How to feed a Bichon Frise correctly?
A balanced diet for a Bichon Frise includes:
Proteins
You can find proteins easily in meat and grains. For your Bichon to have energy always to jump around, you must make sure of giving it meat and grains along with a source of carbohydrates and vegetables to ensure an excellent alimentation in your little dog.
The proteins are very important in Bichon Frise’s feeding because they are a good source of amino acids, which perform the tasks of muscle regeneration, growth, and maintenance, giving your dog the sturdiness that it needs.
However, although it is good for its alimentation, the excess of meat is not good for its health. If your dog cannot release so much energy as the one that is getting into its body through meat and grains, then it will start to store it in the form of fat, fattening and raising its uric acid, which could cause different health deficiencies.
Vegetables as an essential source of vitamins
The vegetables are full of vitamins and they are an easy way of giving your dog’s alimentation all that it needs to each phase of its life. Among the most recommended vegetables to a Bichon’s feeding, we find tomatoes, peppers and green beans (in low quantity in each portion of food). Vegetables will fill your dog and keep it satisfied longer if you include them with the meat.
Dog Croquettes: Are they recommended?
Yes, dog croquettes have an ideal balance of vitamins, proteins, and calories, although with homemade food it could get a fresher alimentation and therefore, with more proteins and vitamins. The dog croquettes represent a very practical and ideal option to feed a Bichon Frise regularly.
Always varying from time to time from homemade food with vegetables to croquettes, but never do it overnight because the Bichon needs to get used again to croquettes or homemade food.
To do this transition correctly you must put croquettes (if the dog already got used to homemade food) little by little in its meat until only croquettes are what it has on its plate in a period of 3 – 5 days. If the dog got used to croquettes and you want it to eat homemade food, then place meat in small measures on its plate until the only food it has on its plate is meat with vegetables in the same range of days.
Varying and trying different types of quality food, your Bichon Frise will have a balanced diet and it will feel happy to taste different meals throughout its life. Your dog will love this.
The behavior of the Bichon Frise with Humans
Besides possessing a characteristic white skin and hair, their longevity and the high cost of their maintenance, the Bichon Frise is widely known because of its personality and for how it behaves with humans.
The Bichon Frise’s relationship with the family is excellent, even more with children since although is not very patient, it is very closed to the kids and loves to play with them. It knows when to get away if the games become gruff.
It is a dog whose permanence in the house will fill it with joy since the dog’s enthusiasm for life is contagious. It is a dog that “never ages” since its appearance is almost the same during every phase of its life and its playful, active and exaggeratedly curious behavior also maintains over time.
The Bichon Frise is a hairball that will give happiness to its owner and its whole family. It is not an aggressive dog in the least, but it is filled by goodness and its aspect and behavior reflect so. If it is correctly trained since the start of its life, it can be a confident and brave dog. In case it hears or sees something strange, it will warn its owners.
This breed is characterized by being fearful and shy only if it has lived negative experiences during its youth or in case, it did not socialize. These experiences could be, among others, fights with other dogs when it was just a few months of age, which could retract it a little when socializing with humans as with other pets. Being constantly frighten during its puppy period, or getting together with other shy dogs may have taught it to behave like them.
Other scenarios that could make the Bichon Frise develop fear to people are when it is constantly submitted to environments with a lot of noise, many people talking or constant traffic of persons. In these scenarios, the Frise could prefer to spend the whole day in a corner than socializing with that great amount of people or in environments where there are noises that disturb its tranquility.
The Bichon Frise is an obedient little dog. It tolerates very well positive training; it loves rewards! Therefore, you can hope that it fulfills your expectations when training, though the constancy is something vital when you are training any dog.
This breed’s Bichons are unlikely to develop aggressive behaviors, however, if they do not socialize with their siblings during the first months of life and they are not giving the company of friendly and meek dogs, then they could develop a dominant behavior that could promote the aggressiveness in them.
The Bichon Frise can be denominated as a lap dog since its behavior at home consists of following its owner around the house, whom it sees as the absolute leader of the pack. It will accompany its owner even when this goes to the bathroom. To many people, this is very sweet, the reason why the fame of the Bichon Frise as a pet is so high.
Besides, it is a very loyal dog. There might be times when it can scape to explore the environment, but instead of that, it will decide to go to you, because if you do not go, it will know that it is better not to venture to the unknown. Something it will do is to ask you in many ways to take it out for a walk if it wants to exercise and explore (which it loves).
The Bichon Frise is the perfect dog for people that lives alone since it cheers them up with its happy and breezy character. You must submit your dog to an anti-stress training if it will be alone in your house for several hours while you are at work. It is easy for it to feel sad and lonely when you are not home.
If you are thinking in adopting a Bichon Frise, you must be someone who loves its pets and dedicates them all the time these need, especially with this breed since it will always be next to you, waiting for you to talk, pamper, train it or that you take it out for a walk.
Behavior with other dogs
The Bichon is a dog that many families decide to adopt when they are getting their first pet or a new pet, for many reasons, one of the principals is the way they get along with other pets at home.
It does not matter if it is a cat or another dog. The Bichon Frise does not tend to be a dominant dog and besides, it is not aggressive at all, so it will tolerate that other pet takes the role of leader and it will be content being the follower.
The Bichon must be instructed as if it were a little kid for it to behave properly, and this includes being aggressive and dominant with other dogs. The process of socialization will allow that your Bichon’s behavior is flawless. This process must start since the second week of the life of the Frise puppy to get optimal results.
How to make the Bichon have good behavior with other animals?
The Bichon puppy needs to get attention from an early age. It is necessary that you give it attention and that you spend time with it even when it is a puppy so it gets used to your presence. It is also vital that it spends time with its mother and siblings, which will reprimand it if it behaves aggressively or dominantly and they will encourage it to relate with them through games.
The most important part of the socialization it is within the three first months of life, a time when it must be with its mother and siblings. It is not recommendable to separate a Bichon Frise puppy from its pack before because its process of socialization will not be complete and it could behave naughty or dominant to its owner.
Instead, if it did not go through a socialization process but it was separated from its mother after it started to eat wet solid food, then it could have dominant and aggressive behaviors, with other pets and with its owner. In the best of cases, since we are talking about a friendly breed, these conducts may not appear in the future.
The puppies of this breed are especially active and playful and they are characterized by not being afraid of exploring and socializing with other dogs, cats or persons. This is great, but you must be careful with other animals that you know are dominants and territorials since they could attack your dog even if it is a puppy, making it develop fear to interact with other pets or persons.
The Bichon Frise can become shy and could fear the interactions easily as a product of traumatic experiences that repeated a few times during its infancy.
Keeping watch on the interaction of the Bichon Frise with other pets
When it is already three months of age, it can become a part of your family since by the time it will have learned a great part of what it had to know about socialization and hierarchy in the pack. Now you have to introduce it into the habitat of your home. If there are other dogs, it could be a little hard to determinate the reaction of the pup, therefore, is necessary to watch over these interactions.
Through the vigilance of your Bichon Frise puppy and your other pet, you could know how your pet reacts in the presence of the new house member. If you see that
it stoops its back or that its tail is tense, it means aggressiveness and it will be time to separate your Frise pup from your other pet and you will have to wait a couple of hours to try the interaction again.
Your other pet will get used gradually to the presence of your Bichon puppy with no problems, as it smells it and sees that although there is a new member in the house, your treatment and cares with your pet have not changed. You must keep treating your other pets just like before the arrival of the new puppy so they do not relate your lack of attention with the arrival of the new dog.
With this socialization training, your Bichon will have a model behavior. It is convenient that people also touch them and interact with them since they are puppies so they get used to the presence of humans as they will with the presence of other animals.
Health and Necessary Cares
The Bichon Frise is a very healthy and robust breed, but unfortunately, this does not prevent that in some moments of its life will suffer from some common diseases in most of the dogs. This breed could suffer from some diseases with more frequency than the common due to their genetic origin.
Many breeders of Bichon Frise dogs have investigated which these diseases would be that the Bichon dog could develop to warn of them. The owners must be careful before these to deal with them the best way possible.
This breed tends to develop skin allergies, one of the cares that you must give them is to provide them a good alimentation. This problem may cause small skin rashes even when the specimen does not have fleas, ticks or any other parasite on its skin. A low protein diet may help while you are dealing with this problem.
Finding the principal cause of allergies can be hard since there are many options. It could be in a carpet, mushrooms, and herbs in the garden or even in the shampoo that your dog uses.
When there is a prolonged skin allergy, it is key to change shampoo and other products that are used on the dog, since some of these can stimulate pruritus. Changing these also results in easier and sometimes more effective ways than to look in places and other reasons that could be causing the allergy. It is indispensable to keep your dog free from external parasites such as ticks and fleas, to the treatment to be fast and effective.
The Bichon Frise tends to be prone to complications with the knee joints, this problem is called patellar dislocation and it occurs when the kneecap goes out of its place. The breeders of this breed take their specimens to vet check-ups, thanks to this, the regularity of this problem have been partially reduced
An essential element to prevent extremities problems is to keep the Bichon Frise in an adequate weight. Overweight could make the problem worse and your dog could start presenting it if it did not have it before. In many cases of patellar dislocations, the dog does not present pain, but some exceptions require surgery.
Another inconvenient that these dogs could have is hip dysplasia. This is a problem that all dogs, in general, could have. In the Bichon Frise, hip dysplasia is not a frequent disease, although there are many cases in the breed.
Bladder stones are not often seen in the Bichon Frise but it does not mean that a Bichon may not suffer from this problem at some time in its life since it occurs mostly in small breeds. To detect signs of bladder stones, you have to be careful of whether the urine has blood, pain, discomfort or loss of appetite. The possibility of manifesting them increases if the specimen is a female.
Veterinary care in cases of bladder stones must be urgent as they can damage irreversibly parts of the urinary system depending on their trajectory and size. These stones can be dissolved with certain medications and types of foods, but in severe cases, the dog needs surgery to get rid of them.
The Bichon Frise is prone to lose its teeth at an early age as many small breed dogs. You have to be very careful with the dental area if you want your dog to maintain it much longer, taking meticulous care of the gums and teeth, to prevent things like cavities, infections, and wear of teeth.
There could be cases of gum infections if you do not give your dog good hygiene. The microorganisms that cause this problem are transported through the blood and can extend until giving inconvenient to the renal, articular and even cardiac system. Therefore, it is extremely important giving your dog complete dental cleaning regularly.
The Bichon Frise could also have ear problems due to their shape since these are floppy and covered by very abundant fur that could produce problems due to the lack of ventilation in them such as fungus or infections.
It is important to check this area frequently and to take off fur from the internal ear area to prevent infections. You also have to make sure that they are clean and dry to prevent fungus.
The Bichon Frise’s eyes could be irritated if there is too much hair around. They are prone to develop conjunctivitis if you do not give it the necessary care and hygiene. A symptom of this would be the excessive tearing and reddish color around and inside the eye. Therefore, you must clean it and cut the hair from time to time to prevent these issues.
The cataracts are a problem that the Bichon Frise could develop in its old age. In this case, it will all depend on the care that you gave on its youth and adulthood to the ocular area.
The good news is that these problems can be attended through early attention with the vet so that they can be reduced and in the future do not represent a danger to its health. Take it to veterinarian check-ups, give it baths each month with an especial anti-fleas shampoo and check its ears, teeth, and eyes every week. Remember to brush its hair at least once every 4 days (you can take these times to check its eyes, mouth, paws, and ears).
How to train and educate a Bichon Frise
Training a Bichon Frise is easy in many aspects, this is due to the docile and loyal personality of the dog, besides of its intelligence to understand many of our words and actions. One of the problems that could have when training is excessive barking. This is not a grave problem since with patience and time of training, you can correct it systematically, thus preventing that in the future your dog keeps practicing that behavior. The training with positive reinforcement and awards is the best to improve its obedience.
The positive reinforcement is a training method that helps our dog to get the orders and to relate them with pleasant activities like snacks or pampers. This way it will understand the objective more easily and in a livelier way.
Using this method is simple, you only need to keep in mind that your Bichon wants you to treat it nicely and to be rewarded for doing the things you command it. Similarly, when you see that it is doing something wrong you must let it know immediately. For example, if you see that it is relieving itself next to or upon your flowers, you will have to say “NO” firmly, without yelling, just in a firm and clear tone. Thus, after a few repetitions, the dog will understand that it is something that it cannot do.
When educating your Bichon through positive training, you are going to have nutritive and tasty snacks for your pup since these will be the perfect motivation for it to follow all the commands that you will give it. When you order it to perform an action, guide with your hand its body or body part that you want it to move to perform such action. If you want your dog to sit, say “sit down” and push down delicately its posterior part and when it sits, say “very well” and give it a candy, then, try without it.
Naturally, there will come a moment when you will run out of snacks to offer your dog, but this does not mean that you have to stop the training since verbal congratulations and pampers also play an important role in training and in the daily interaction that you will have with your pet.
Your Bichon does not pay attention during training time?
It is normal that a Bichon pays no attention if it is a puppy since these possess a lot of energy and curiosity to explore, so the first thing you will need to do is to call its attention, and for that, we have the snacks.
First, stand a little close to your puppy and call it by its name. It may not know yet that that is its name, but repeating that same technic many times, it will end up getting it. When it comes to you, curious for knowing what you want, you will give show it the cookie, croquette or snack that you have prepared for it. If you want to, you can let it smell it a little so that it gets hungry and you get all its attention.
Then, when it is looking at your hand, searching for the snack, you can give it a command and then guide it to perform it. If you ask it to give you its paw, then take its paw and guide it to your other hand, watching that it does not steal the snack before time. Then, when you already have its paw in your hand say “well done”, give it the snack and pet it.
Although you do not believe it, a method as simple as this makes 60% easier the training of almost any dog. This is because dogs love snacks.
The positive training came to replace the traditional training in which dogs were scared and physically and psychologically abused. Of course, the physical abuse consisted in giving little hits to the dogs with a rolled newspaper which did not actually hurt them, but it caused psychological damage to our pets, and in the future, they could become distrustful of us and behave aggressively.
Luckily, the positive reinforcement arrived and it has become in the default method when training puppies. The best thing is that there is an infinity of ways to apply it and also many types of positive training.
You can also apply the positive training when doing an activity that your dog likes much, for example, going out for a walk. Before a walk, call it and let it know that you will go out for a walk, or that it is time for eating or time for getting inside the house. This will excite your Bichon Frise and it will want that action to happen, but before that, give it a command and guide it to perform it if it is learning it. When it does it, congratulate it and take it out for a walk, let it in or serve its plate of food. This will work as well as the snacks!
Ideal Environment of the dog
All dogs deserve a space that they can consider their own, in which they can take shelter in running from an unpleasant environment. The Bichon Frise dogs will feel thankful for having a determined corner in which they can shelter since, in this, they will feel safe and comfortable, isolated from what is disturbing its tranquility.
When you already have the “safe place” for your dog, you have to condition and adapt it to your dog’s needs. Normally, in this space, there is a small cushion for your dog to lay in, and close to this space, you can put toys for it to release its stress on them and not on your furniture.
After this, you just have to determine where your puppy will eat and drink, this place must be quiet too and it must be away from the living room, so it can have intimacy while eating. These two spaces must be away from the most concurred places in the house, but they must not be isolated from it. Remember that the Bichon Frise needs to be close to the family and it will not like the idea of living on a second floor if the family gets together every day in the dining room.
If you assign a space too far for meals or for resting, you will probably see it always close to you, lying on the floor, not caring about the environment since it does not want to be so isolated. A good example of an eating space could be the backyard of your house, close to the door. Another good example of a resting space is an adjacent room to the area where more activity is generated in the house, but which does not get much noise.
Giving attention to the Bichon Frise
One of the things this dog likes the most in its life is to get attention and to feel considered. That is why you will not see it too far from you during the day, because it wants to understand you more and that you can take the time to pamper it, to take it out for a walk or to train it and that it can get a snack as a reward for its obedience.
Therefore, you must be patient to it if you are not the kind of person that likes to be followed around by a dog. The Bichon Frise dog will do exactly that due to its great loyalty and the love that it feels for its master.
Ideal Environment for a Bichon Frise in the Garden
You can establish the garden of your house as the home for the Bichon Frise, but we are talking about a small dog that loves spending time with its master, so you will have to keep in mind a few pertinent considerations that will keep it from feeling alone, anxious and bored:
The Bichon Frise needs of constant affection: if you ignore your Bichon Frise for too much time, you will find it scratching the backdoor asking you to let it into the house to spend time with you. It is not recommendable to forbid it the entry to the house, it is better to train it so it does not cause disasters or that it relieves itself inside.
Giving it attention: every Bichon Frise needs you to interact with them daily and many times a day. Interacting could be talking to it, pampering it, holding it, taking it for a walk or doing game sessions and training it. If you give it the attention it needs daily, it will feel comfortable and pleased.
It also needs a space to take shelter in, a doghouse will fit it perfectly because if it has the correct size and it is made of wood, it could protect the dog from the rain and the sun, and it would be fresh at the same time if it has a good size.
The meal and water plates must be in a roofed place to avoid dirt and dust falling on them. Change its water every day during the second meal!
Finally, you must train it to relieve itself in a determined place of the garden, and if it is a male, to not mark its territory in your flowers or your bushes, since these could dry up.
Remember to allow it to enter into your house, but you must train it to use its doghouse to rest during the night and part of the day when it feels tired.