Best training treats for French Bulldogs in flats

Training a French Bulldog in a flat with no outdoor space means messy treats — think liver paste or raw chicken — are basically off the table. The most effective training treats are pea-sized, smelly, and high in protein so your dog inhales them and stays focused rather than chewing and drifting. They need to feel more exciting than their regular food, or they just won't bother. What are you working on with them — basic obedience, recall, lead manners? And does your Frenchie have any dietary sensitivities or allergies?

That door-knocking reaction is really common with Frenchies — they're alert little dogs and a year old is prime reactivity age. You'll be doing a lot of repetitions in short bursts indoors, so you need something genuinely exciting but completely clean to handle. Given you're in a flat and want zero mess, what's his food like day-to-day — kibble or wet food? That helps me gauge how high-value the treat needs to be to actually compete for his attention.

Perfect — that makes the bar fairly easy to clear. Dry kibble means almost anything meatier will feel like a jackpot to him, and you don't need to go nuclear with something messy to get the engagement you need. My recommendation is Lily's Kitchen Soft & Tender Training Treats. They come in small, pea-sized pieces, they're made with real chicken or beef, they're dry enough that your hands and sofa stay clean, and they have a strong enough smell to cut through the excitement of someone at the door. Frenchies tend to love them, and the soft texture means he'll eat one in under a second and snap back to you — which is exactly what you need for rapid-fire door desensitisation. You can find them easily on Amazon UK, usually in multipacks which work out much cheaper per treat for the volume of training you'll be doing.

Good instinct, especially with Frenchies who can chunk up quickly. A solid rule is that treats shouldn't exceed 10% of his daily calorie intake. At 12kg, a Frenchie on Pro Plan is probably eating around 250–280 calories a day, so you've got roughly 25 calories to play with across all training. Lily's Kitchen treats are around 3–4 calories each, so you can do 6–8 treats per session without worrying, and just slightly reduce his kibble portion on heavy training days. Keep sessions short — 3 to 5 minutes — and do several across the day rather than one long one. That actually works better for impulse-control training like door reactivity anyway.

You're set. Start the door training with really low-level knocks — even just tapping the wall near the door — and reward heavily before he gets a chance to react. Build up gradually. With consistent short sessions and a treat he actually cares about, most Frenchies make solid progress within a few weeks. Good luck with him.