What to do when hunting is not an option?

With the arrival of November comes the arrival of winter, we already have snow on the ground here in northern Ontario.  With the arrival of winter means the end of hunting season; Braque Francais don't like the end of hunting season.  This comes the more difficult question with a Braque Francais, or any hunting dog for that matter, is if the dog is not hunting what do they do? Everyone who hunts has to admit that there is only a small window for hunting season and not a lot of time each year for training, especially in cold climates like here in Canada.  This means that you end up with a high energy dog all year round with only a limited amount of time each year for the dog to use it's energy and natural ability. This is where we run into issue with the dogs becoming board resulting in them getting into trouble and being sent to back to us.

The fact is that there are options too keep the Braque Francias happy and their energy requirements at need and believe it or not walking your dog everyday is not the best option.  I am not saying that you should not walk your dog however if a Braque Francais was to only be walked everyday you would have to walk the dog about two-three hours twice a day to tire them out and have some piece and quite in the house; believe me I have been there. If the dog is only walked what you will end up with is hours and hours of this:

However there are better options that do not take as long and give the dog what they need.  The first option and most easiest is to simply play with the dog, fetch is the best with a ball, Frisbee, stick or anything. This game is great because it not only releases the Braques play energy but also the Braques need to run.  We find that our young dogs play about once or twice a day for 15-20 minutes and our older dog is happy with once a day, or every other day, for 15-20 minutes.  What you end up is sleeping dogs in the house as well as piece and quite.

The second option that I find many people take is to go running with their dog, if there is one thing that a Braque Francais can do it is run.  However for this you will need to be a regular runner and the longer you can go the longer the Braque can go.  It is better than walking though because it uses the dogs need to run and want to work with you; you will end up with a happy and tired Braque Francais in the end.

The final option is simply to give the dog another job, in our case we have our dogs do agility because it can be done all year round but you can also choose obedience or obedience rally.  All it takes is lessons or training once a week or every other week for about 20 minutes to keep the dog happy.  Agility is great for the Braque Francais because has the dog release all energy needs and them some, not only does your dog release all of it's running and playing energy it also causes your dog to think and pay attention while they are doing it. This will not only result in them being really tire but they love it and it is fun for you too.  As you can see below that the Braque Francias can be excellent at agility because they are naturally so agile, we compete with Ivy however you do not have to compete it is all about what is best for the dog and having fun.

The most important to thing remember for keeping a Braque Francais happy is:

 "All they want is to play, work and be with you"  

Remember this simple rule and your dog will just as happy content as our dogs.

If you have any questions, would like to meet our wonderful dogs here at Safron Kennels or would just like to learn more about the Braque Francais please contact us we would love to hear from you. If you would like to find out if the Braque Francais would be a good fit for you and your family please take our small quiz by clicking here. We are encouraging everyone to share the Braque Francais will others please print off our brochure, which is filled with wonderful information about these lovely dogs and help to get the breed more known, to download click here. Thanks for reading, see you next month!