Recall Training a French Bulldog

Reliable recall is the most important skill a dog can have — and for a French Bulldog specifically, the training approach needs a small tweak. Frenchies are brachycephalic, which means short, frequent sessions are essential: they can't sustain the kind of extended run-and-reward repetitions that work for other breeds. The right combination is still a high-value treat plus a long line for safe practice, but treat size matters a lot here — too big and you're slowing the session down with chewing, and risking a dog that gets winded before the lesson lands. Tell me: how old is your Frenchie, what does their recall look like right now, and are you after training aids, treats, or both?

Got it — a two-year-old Frenchie who's decided the world is more interesting than you is a very common situation, and totally fixable with the right setup. Before I give you a treat recommendation, one quick question: does she have any known food sensitivities or allergies? Frenchies can be prone to them, and it changes which treat I'd point you toward.

Perfect. For a brachycephalic dog like her, you want a treat that's genuinely high-value — smelly enough to cut through distractions — but very small and soft so she can swallow it in one go without stopping to chew or gasping for air. For that I'd recommend Lily's Kitchen Bedtime Biscuits — actually, scratch that, those are too crunchy. What I'd go with is the Forthglade 100% Natural Liver Treats. They come in small, soft pieces, liver is about as high-value as it gets for most dogs, and crucially you can break them down even smaller if needed. They're widely available on Amazon UK and reasonably priced per bag. For the long line, a 10-metre biothane line is the practical choice — easy to clean, doesn't tangle as badly as rope, and gives her enough range to build the recall habit without you losing control.

With a Frenchie, keep each session to five minutes maximum — ideally less in warm weather. Within that window, aim for five to eight recall repetitions. Call her name once, use your recall cue, and the moment she turns toward you, keep your voice exciting all the way in. Reward the second she reaches you. End the session before she looks tired or starts panting heavily. Two or three of these short sessions across a day will outperform one long one every time. The long line means you can practise in a real environment — a park, a field — which is where the distractions are, and that's where the recall needs to actually work.

That's the right combination. One last tip: keep the liver treats exclusively for recall during the training period — don't use them for anything else. The scarcity makes them hit harder. Once her recall is solid in high-distraction environments, you can start phasing them out and replacing with praise or a lower-value reward. Good luck with her — Frenchies can be stubborn but they're also very motivated by food, which means once she learns that coming back to you pays out, she'll get there quickly.