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Things to remember about feeding your french bulldog.
Even as this breed continues to soar in popularity, most Frenchie owners know very little about the canine’s specific dietary needs. The coughing, snorting, delicate stomach, obesity, wheezing and sneezing may not be the best characteristics of this breed but are definite pointers that you may have been feeding them the wrong kinds of food if they occur too frequently.
How To Feed A French Bulldog
The gentle, playful and attention-loving canine is susceptible to more than a few medical conditions due to its physical features. These health issues may sometimes be escalated by the wrong diet or poor dietary practices.
If you just got a French bulldog or are unsure if you’ve been feeding yours right, you may find the recommendations below helpful.
1. The Food
Dogs require protein to stay healthy and meat is one major source of protein. It is therefore only right that you place your French bulldog on a meat-based diet. Compared with other types of dog food, feeding your Frenchie frozen or fresh meat may not be sustainable due to its high cost and preparation requirements, even then, it still cannot be classified as a balanced meal.
2. Feeding Choices
There are several meal choices to choose from for your French bulldog; commercial dry food, raw food, canned food, and homemade meals.
You may even include small servings of fruits and vegetables to the raw meat diet for added and more balanced nutrition.
With raw meat, you’ll need to be super-careful and take safety precautions like washing your hands and thoroughly wiping all surfaces to prevent contamination. You already know Frenchies are quite the delicate pets.
3. How Many Times A Day Should A French Bulldog Eat?
You may have asked this question in more than a few places and have received differing answers that may seem to have only confused you further. While we will attempt to provide a comprehensive guide, it is still possible none of the answers you got were wrong.
Why?
Because deciding how much food to feed your French bulldog is dependent on three major factors; your dog’s age, its weight and, its activity level.
Understandably then, the quantity of food would be different for a puppy and an adult dog.
If your Frenchie already feeds on a particular food brand, it would be helpful to refer to the serving recommendation on the pack.
If the recommendations do not solve it for you, read on but do well to consult your vet or dog expert, to be certain you’re doing the right thing for your Frenchie.
For French Bulldog Puppies
As puppies are in their formative stage, they have a much higher need for food with good nutritional value.
Compared to adult French bulldogs, a puppy’s body metabolism is significantly faster; hence they would require a certain amount of energy to develop into cute the cute adult Frenchies we all adore.
It is therefore highly recommended that you buy/prepare the best canine food your budget can cover.
Generally, puppies between 3 -5 months of age should consume between 4 – 5 smaller portions of food in a day. For three to 3 – 5 months old French bulldogs, three meals a day should be adequate.
A puppy between 6 -10 months will do just fine on 2 meals daily – morning and evening.
Again, these are only recommendations; you should always consult your vet to ascertain your canine’s exact nutritional requirement.
French Bulldog Puppy Feeding Schedule
Frenchies are prone to digestive issues, as a new pup owner, you should do all you can to monitor and regulate feeding schedules from the onset. Devise a specific meal plan based on its weight, age range, and physical activities.
This cannot be emphasized enough; whatever meal schedule you come up with, create time between each meal for regular exercises.
Also, ensure your French bulldog is fed the right food and have fresh water available at all times.
For Adult French Bulldogs
Upon maturity, Frenchies will still retain their compact sizes, one of the several features we all probably fell in love with. A Frenchie like most other canines can be considered “grown” from the time it becomes a year old.
At this point, its body size and weight undergo some significant changes – this is the time you can regulate the number of meals it gets.
On average, the adult French bulldog should get between 1 – 2 meals a day – one in the morning, and another in the evening. Offering regular treats between each meal is not advisable as Frenchies are commonly prone to obesity. Aside from treats, you should avoid leaving out food for your dog to constantly nibble on.
Also, Frenchies are usually not the best dogs for strenuous physical exercises but if yours frequently withstand and enjoy additional exercises, it would certainly need to consume a higher amount of calories to complement the ones burned during such activities.
You can consult your vet for a more precise amount based on your canine’s age, weight and level of activity.
FOOD YOU SHOULD AVOID GIVING YOUR FRENCH BULLDOG?
Often, we make this mistake with our pets; feed them just about everything we eat, forgetting completely that these pets are not built the way we are and so, cannot digest food as we do.
It’s common to find new pet owners trying to build a connection with their pets by sharing all sorts with them.
The truth is; with pets generally, you really shouldn’t be doing that. There are better ways/activities to bond with your pet – but not through food. For most pets; Frenchies especially, most human foods are a complete “NO” for them. Say that loud to your Frenchie the next time he comes begging for your food with his huge round eyes 🙂
The following are a list of food you should completely avoid feeding to your French bulldog.
1. Alcohol and its derivatives
The notorious liquid has a strong negative effect on dogs. In some critical conditions, alcohol poisoning can result in either coma or death. Avoid feeding your Frenchie any liquid or food containing even the smallest quantity of alcohol.
2. Dairy Products
Most dogs are lactose-intolerant and chances are your Frenchie is as well. Apart from the small amount of cheese and plain yogurt that have less lactose and can be tolerated by most dogs, it is best to entirely avoid most of the other dairy products.
3. Onions
Completely tolerated and even beneficial to humans but do not feed it to your Frenchie. In canines, onions can cause haemolytic anaemia which means the red blood cells break down leaving your dog with little or no supply of oxygen.
Poisoning may occur in dogs from single ingestion of substantial quantity or from repeatedly being fed with meals containing small amounts of onions. Just don’t feed this at all to your Frenchies.
4. Tomatoes and Tomato Plants
Both contain atropine which can cause dilated pupils, tremors, and irregular heartbeats. Unripe tomatoes, leaves, and stems of the plant are particularly concentrated with the compound.
5. Spoiled Foods
Your Frenchie is not a walking garbage dump! If it’s far too gone for your consumption, then it’s definitely far too gone for your Frenchie as well.
Mold found in spoilt food contains toxins such as Penicillium. Feeding your Frenchie mold-ridden food can cause poisoning. Some symptoms of poisoning include seizures and severe tremors that may last hours or even days.
6. Chocolate
We all love chocolates; however, as much as we may find it enjoyable, it is completely bad news for dogs. In dogs, an overdose of chocolate can cause hyperactivity and frequent urination. Vomiting and diarrhea are also common – and could lead to dehydration.
Chocolate contains theobromine; a cardiac stimulant which can lead to increased heart rate or/and irregular heartbeat and seizures. This is usually a medical emergency and death may occur if nothing is done fast.
TOP 3 BEST DO FOOD FOR FRENCH BULLDOGS
This breed requires a high-quality diet. French Bulldog’s weight is an important factor for their health.
We’ve reviewed the top-rated, most nutritious dog foods for French Bulldogs to help you select the best formula with the right ingredients for your dog to keep them stay healthy.
1.Nulo Adult Grain Free Dog Food.
This product is formulated exclusively for Bulldogs; almost all of your Frenchie’s nutritional requirements have been taken into consideration by the manufacturers. This product is 100% ALL NATURAL. Nulo Grain-Free dry dog food is made with clean ingredients to help your pup maintain a balanced diet, healthy weight and PROMOTES HEALTHY COAT, LEAN MUSCLES.
So you really have nothing to worry about on this one.
2.Blue Buffalo Healthy Weight Control
This food is specially designed with the small, compact breed in mind – which is the category your Frenchie luckily belongs.
Blue Buffalo Weight Control Chicken and Brown Rice Recipe helps overweight dogs or dogs prone to obesity (our darling Frenchies) control and maintain a healthier weight.
The meal contains natural vegetable fiber and omega 3 and 6 fatty acids to promote healthy skin and fur. The antioxidants contained in the fruits and vegetables helps to improve immune strength and fight free radicals. The meat – protein; is packed with essential amino acids Frenchies require for muscle development and maintenance.
3. Avoderm Natural Weight Control Dog Food
The main ingredients of this product are brown rice and chicken. The food as expected contains plenty of carbs and fiber. The protein is from chicken meal while the other nutrients include avocado, avocado oil and Omega 6 and 3 fatty acids to support the skin and coat.
Some Common Feeding Mistakes Owners Make With Frenchies
1. Sudden Food Change
We’ll try to picture this; you find this really fancy food, or found a recipe you thought would be perfect for your bulldog; and off you go, collecting all the ingredients you need (or buy the fancy food) A few days in, you discover that Frenchie doesn’t seem to enjoy it.
So you decide to do the smart thing: you abruptly stop the meal! Wrong!
You just caused more problems for your Frenchie with that helpful action. It would have been more helpful if you gradually reintroduce his previous meal or ease him into a new formula to prevent digestive issues.
French bulldogs love to eat, but like most other canines or humans, they may eat a new meal less at first, we know you hate to see your pooch starve, you should, however, fight the urge to force-feed or change a meal altogether when they appear not to enjoy it.
And even if they really do not enjoy it after a while, ease them into a new diet instead of doing it all abruptly.
2. Removing Plate While Your Frenchie’s Is Eating
If this doesn’t define insensitive, then maybe nothing else would. Might seem strange to you but some canine owners actually believe they need to prove to their canines how much power they “wield around here” by withdrawing the feeder while their dog eats. With any other dog at all, you do not need to prove anything and certainly not with the Frenchies!
It is outright wrong, and while Frenchies may be some of the most level-headed canines you’ll ever come across, if you make this a habit, they will become stress and eventually defend their meals aggressively.
If the reason you withdraw your canine’s feeder during meals is so he could get used to being approached to top the meal, get the canine to focus on you as you approach instead than withdrawing the plate when it least expects.
But try not to bother him too often, no one likes to be disturbed during at mealtimes – certainly not Frenchies
3. Bribing Your Frenchie With Treats
Agreed; Frenchies can be boneheaded sometimes but bribing him with treats every time is something you don’t want to do. Constantly getting them to obey with food will ultimately result in obesity. Best believe; you cannot afford to have an obese dog.
Teaching him simple commands is one of the many ways you can get the canine to obey not through food every time.
4. Feeding The Canine With Your Hand
Your new Frenchie just got home, “home” looks is so unfamiliar and you perfectly understand his fears, and then you do it; you hand feed your Frenchie for the first few days hoping to stop when he finally gets used to the new home.
Expectedly, Frenchie gets used to the home and nothing seems new to him anymore. He plays, he jumps and gets even used to your kids.
Do you know what else he got used to with your little act of kindness? Being fed from your hand! And now he simply cannot eat unless you feed him – not bad if you’ll always be home with nothing to do at his mealtimes. But if not…………just forget it.
The whole point is; unless your dog is too sick to feed itself, don’t do it at all.
All in all, your French Bulldog should live a healthy and happy life with the right nutrition, exercises and of course, adequate love and care. We are all they’ve got, remember?