I had wanted a Frenchie for a few years, but there is no way I was paying thousands of dollars for one.
I finally found one at my local shelter. Several were turned in when they could no longer breed them due to health issues. Females went to rescue and I adopted Rocky the male.
He was 6 yrs old and I've had him 3 yrs so he is 9 yrs old now. He is my only Frenchie experience, but this is what I've learned from Rocky!
Rocky was extremely dog aggressive when I got him. He tried to kill Jack my Boston on several occasions and got into some pretty bad fights with my Dogo Argentino. I ended up giving him to my Mother who kept him for 6 months and then had to move so she gave him back. He had calmed down some and after some work I was able to get him to live in the pack with the other dogs.
He is pretty social now especially considering his beginning. He can go in public and is pretty mellow around other dogs there.
He loves all people, to the point he got himself dog napped! Thankfully he was microchipped and I got him back.
He is silly and goofy at times.
But is main thing is FOOD. This dog would walk thru a ring of fire for food and I mean anything remotely edible. He will eat lettuce, tomatoes, apples, carrots, broccoli, bananas, grapefruit, orangs, lemons, etc. He loves foods.
I had him at the beach one day and he was having a blast running and chasing the white caps which he thought was food and about 100 ft away a little girl pulled the plastic top off a lunchable. His hearing sucks until it comes to food. He took off at fast as his little stubby legs could carry him and jumped into her lap and gave her what I call the Food Face! She screamed at first and then burst out laughing as his goofy bugged eyes stare. He didn't touch her food, but was begging for all he was worth.
Another time we were at a big rescue event and a lady gave him a cookie and sat the bowl back on the table. Casper was chillin in the kiddie pool they had out and I was talking to someone. Rocky grabbed the table cloth and pulled the entire bowl of cookies down so he could eat them.
At Petco he will park himself infront of the cookie counter and not budge!
He doesn't play with any toys, but will chew bones and can be very aggressive over them. He had some large cow leg bones, bigger than he is and he would sit on them and chew at the same time!
Rocky goes hiking and if fairly active. He can go 5-6 miles easily. He also can swim in calm waters. Atlantic Ocean current was too strong for him though.
He is fine with cats, fairly low prey drive, but has gone after a wild hog.
When he gets a hold of something though, you need a break stick to get off cause he ain't letting go. While I wouldn't call him dog aggressive anymore, I would say he is very combative. If given the choice to fight or flee, he is going to fight. Also if a fight breaks out, you can bet you ass he is going to get in on it.
Rocky is very good with children. Very tolerant and gentle with them.
Overall, he is a pretty awesome little guy!
Running on the beach video