“Little Frenchies Can Actually be Pretty Ferocious”: Client Spotlight on Lily and Lola
Podcast Transcript
Jenny: I have wanted a French Bulldog forever. I saw Renee Zellweger driving around in this convertible with a little white French Bulldog in [laughs] a magazine a zillion years ago, and I have wanted one ever since. So, Lola was the first, yeah.
Elizabeth: And she was your white one.
Jenny: And she was my little white one. [laughs]
[Music]
Elizabeth Silverstein: Hi, welcome back to Telltail Dog the Podcast. I’m your host, certified dog trainer, Elizabeth Silverstein, and I have with me today, Jenny McCallum, who is one of my clients here in Little Rock, Arkansas, who has two French Bulldogs, Lily and Lola. Hi Jenny, how are you?
Jenny McCallum: Hi, how are you?
Elizabeth: I’m doing all right. Thanks for doing this with me. When did you bring Lily and Lola home and how old are they? I think Lola came home first. Is that right?
Jenny: So Lola came home first. So she is four years old and Lily is two years old.
Elizabeth: And what made you want to get French Bulldogs?
Jenny: I have wanted a French Bulldog forever. I saw Renee Zellweger driving around in this convertible with a little white French Bulldog in a magazine [laughs] a zillion years ago, and I have wanted one ever since. So Lola was the first, yeah.
Elizabeth: And she was your white one.
Jenny: And she was my little white one. [laughs]
Elizabeth: Yes, her coloring is so unique. Both Lily and Lola are so pretty. Well, what made you seek out training?
Jenny: We brought Lola home and at first, Lily and Lola got along well when Lily was a puppy, and then I think when she was going into heat, it was during Covid, so we hadn’t gotten her spayed fast enough. They started fighting, which I found out later made sense because it was real hormonal for Lily, and so she was really agitated. And then we ended up getting her spayed, thinking it would fix it. And they kept fighting. And they only fight in our house. If they’re outside together, they’re fine. They’ll play together. As soon as you bring them inside, and they get jealous of either my husband and I or even one of the other kids, and they will start fighting and little Frenchies can actually be pretty ferocious when they fight each other, if you’ve never seen it. And so we talked to the vet, and he recommended training, just to try to get them, you know, more control and neither one of them were really trained anyway. So and there we are and we’ve been training. [laughs]
Elizabeth: Yes, and it was really interesting to see how subtle the signs are. They go from okay to not okay so quickly.
Jenny: Oh yeah. Almost no warning.
Elizabeth: Yeah. And you found Telltail Dog Training through another client of mine, and we’ve been training, I thought it was about a year, but I think we’ve been training together for about two years now.
Jenny: I think it’s been, yeah. I guess Lily was probably only like, I don’t know, eight months. It was pretty much–she was less than a year old when you started. Even though you can’t tell. She still acts like a puppy. [laughs]
Elizabeth:Yeah, she really does. She’s so funny, but it’s been really interesting, because we’ve been doing training walks, and in the most recent sessions, too, how far she’s come and how much she’s learned has been truly amazing. Like, she’s just a smart little whip of a dog and she just absorbs it all so, so much.
Jenny: She’s the one that I feel like, if I had the time, would actually do–I think you and I talked about this–agility courses and stuff. I mean, she just loves it.
Elizabeth: Oh yeah. I need to start doing more of obstacles with her, because she’s really picking up on all the trick training. She–and even just the leash manners–you could see her think about it, because she’ll get ahead of me, and she’ll think about it. She’s like, wait a second, and then she’ll come back and walk with me. [Laughs]
Jenny: Oh yeah. She’s a lot, in my opinion, she’s a lot easier to walk on a leash than Lola.
Elizabeth: Yes. Yeah, Lola’s been more of a challenge in a lot of different ways, and she’s just–they just move at different paces. So, they’re the same breed. They’re not terribly different in terms of age, but their personalities and their inclination for things, they’re just so different.
Jenny: Totally agree.
Elizabeth: So what’s been the biggest kind of realization you’ve had after going through training the past few years?
Jenny: From the benefit, even though I know we’re still working on the fighting, as far as them responding, like coming inside when I call them. Or friends come over and getting them to not jump on them or sit down, that’s been amazing for both of them. I think having a little more control over them even individually has been great. Obviously, still working on those two getting along together, but I think that we’ve made some progress. [Laughs]
Elizabeth: Yes. It takes a little bit of time. And has the training also impacted–I know you’ve got four kids–between the dogs and the children, too?
Jenny: Yes. I think, you know, Lily’s always been really great with the kids. Lola has always liked the boys, but was a little bit kind of strange with my daughter. Lola food guards. I think the training has helped her. I’m not worried about her about around my little daughter anymore. I mean, even if Bella forgets and goes to grab her bowl. Lola’s never bitten anyone, I’ve never been worried that she’d bite anyone but she growls, and that’s gotten a lot better where she just has better control over herself. So that’s been more of the surprising thing. Again, Lily could care less. You could grab her food bowl or do anything and she doesn’t care. [Laughs]
Elizabeth: Yeah, you can mess with Lily however you want. She’s just like, ‘I’m here. I’m here to have a good time.’ Lola’s like, ‘I’m not sure I want you looking at me. I’m not sure I want you touching me. I’m not sure I want you in the room with me.’ [Laughs] Just particular. And that’s okay. Well, what are some of your future goals with Lily and Lola?
Jenny: Let’s see. For Lola, still working on maybe just better on the leash. She’s still–I know she’s good with you. She’s not as good with us, but obviously that’s because we’re not the expert so that’s partly that’s me, because I haven’t practiced with her a lot. So my goal would be to continue getting them where they can walk on leashes. I’d like to get where–I know that, right now, my son and I can easily take them both on walks together, and it’s fine, but I’d like to get to the point where my younger son and daughter could take them, and I wouldn’t worry about it. So that would be my big goal, I think.
Elizabeth: Well, Jenny, I think that was all the questions that I had. Was there anything else you wanted to add?
Jenny: No, it’s been great. Thank you.
Elizabeth: Yeah, thanks for doing this. All right. So I’m gonna do the little outro and then I have a final question for you at the end.
Jenny: Okay, great.
Elizabeth: This has been Telltail Dog the Podcast with your host, Elizabeth Silverstein, certified dog trainer in central Arkansas, and my guest today, Jenny McCallum. Music has been provided by Jim Ciago of Seven Second Chance and find more of his work on iTunes and Spotify and stick around for after the music for some final thoughts from Jenny.
[Music]
Elizabeth: Jenny, before we sign off completely, do you have any advice for someone considering adding a second dog to their home?
Jenny: I do. I’ve been told that possibly [with] two girls, you need to be really careful, so maybe a girl and a boy mix. I don’t know about two boys. That’d be a better question for you, if that’d be better. And then my other final advice is if you’re gonna get them spayed, get them spayed before they go into heat for little girls because I think that would have made a difference.
Note: It does seem as though it would have helped! However, we don’t know completely all of the science behind spay and neuter and how that impacts behavior. Here’s a great article from Dr. Beth Turner over at Preventive Vet, and here’s a little bit more from Cathy Madson of Preventive Vet and Miranda Hitchcock of Every Dog Austin. It is important to consider individual cases, get the specialized help you need, and, for smaller dogs, spay and neuter sooner rather than later.
