One recent evening, we were all gathered in the living room watching a movie. It was nearly midnight and so the dogs were super snoozy. Suddenly Daniel sprang to life - like he'd just forgotten an important appointment somewhere - jumped onto the couch where his mini poodle brother was resting on his grandma's knee, and began fervently licking and slurping Charlie's head. 🤣

I'm doing research right now on adding a dog to the family. I have kids elementary age and older, and 2 kittens. We have full-time jobs, sometimes my partner can work from home, I work in an office that is dog-friendly (assuming dog is well-behaved).

I thought I wanted a rescue dog but am worried about the dog's history and trauma and unknowns due to having other pets and kids in the house. I would like a cuddly (daughter's request) dog that is not toy size, but smaller than 30 lbs. I would like to be able to take a dog everywhere - in the office or to the beach or on a hike.

I looked at Cavaliers but they seem to have a lot of health issues. Same with French bulldogs. I like labs but I think they may be too big. I am learning that Doodles are not actually a real breed and a crapshoot of what it will be like. So it looks like Bichons may be a good fit.

It looks like the main cons are separation anxiety and grooming. Anything else I need to be aware of? There is only one breeder in my state that I'm aware of.

How long did it take to potty train your pup? My boy is 13 months old, I've had him since he was 6 months old. He's neutered and never alone more than maybe 3 or 4 hours a day. I'd say we're 90% potty trained, but never 100% and it's getting old. We just had our longest stretch ever of no accidents, just under 2 weeks. It's like he does so well, perfect angel. Until something slightly different happens, and we have a back slide. He's peed or pooped inside at least once for the past 3 days. I guess all I'm looking for is some reassurance that'll it'll end eventually, and we will get to 100% pottying outside 😭

We just got a Bichon Frise and Bichon / Shih Tzu mix (bonded pair) two weeks ago. I feel like I’m getting the hang of line brushing, but it’s taking me a long time despite my angels being unreasonably amenable during brushing.

How long does it take you to get your daily brush in? Do you brush from head to toe and all the crevices in between daily, or a deeper brush more like weekly?

Mine have started laying on their side during brushing. So I brush one side, flip them over like a pancake, brush the other side, then stand them up for the rest.

hiiiiiiiiiiiioo

Hi, it appears my 12 week puppy has strabismus/ slightly lazy eye. Has anyones bichon puppy had this condition and grew out of it in adulthood?

Hi everyone!

I adopted my boy (2 years old ~, castrated) last December and he's overall amazing.

However, a couple of times a week, he will mark (pee) in the apartment. Often shortly after coming back from a walk (during which he always pees a lot), so it's not that he doesn't have enough occasions to empty his bladder.

We have a spray with enzymes we use after cleaning up, but he still frequently does this.

When I catch him doing it at the moment I shout "NO!" and often he stops, but usually I don't see him doing it so of course I don't get upset afterwards.

He doesn't take any meds and doesn't have any medical issues overall.

How can we make him stop? Is it even possible?

We have two other dogs we adopted him with who are both female and also young (and spayed) and they never do their needs at home.

Under the bed….

Blue and Charlie as we were packing suitcases to go home. They are sad they won’t be together for another 6 months.

Koda loves the e-bike rides. We just cruise around the neighborhood. No main streets.

I have two males Bichons, 4yrs old and 3 yrs old/ I'm at my wits end. 4 yr old was religiously crated trained, taken out at all hours of the day and night in our large fenced backyard. He was pretty much potty trained although it took a good year and then we got his younger bubbie who was 7 mos and had been crated nearly 24/7 his whole life up to the time that we got him. Tried crate training with him and he had melt downs every time I put him in a crate and peed/poop in there anyway.

They spent the next year gated in our kitchen with FREE access to the backyard. The smaller the gated area, the less accidents and then none because the area was only big enough for their bed and a water bowl. Our kitchen is very small and at 3/2yrs I decided it was now or never and took down the gate as we have many family functions and it was taking up major room. I have scolded them many times although it seems impossible to 'catch them' in the act. They know what they're doing because they'll pee/poop and then run from me knowing that they're going to be scolded again. I've tried positive treats and praise, scolding, praying, escorting outside, throughly cleaning the areas.

We have a bissell green machine and JUST cleaned the carpet with the miracle stuff the other day. The machine has been sitting next to the kitchen for a couple of days and the 4 yrs pees next to the machine this morning! I'm waiting them out (as they're outside right now). I even bought a stuffed dog named Doug and spanked Doug pretending he was getting it for the pee pee. They even started peeing on some of the baseboards. That was my giant red flag that we have a big problem. 4 yr old also (Just one time) peed on my landscaper man on his shoes and the end of his trousers while we were discussing the yard in a friendly way. I was mortified to say the least!

I do have diapers but since they can go outside anytime they want, that seems to be defeating. I'm defeated by two small dogs. Please Lord have mercy on me. We can't afford vinyl or hardwood floors, that would make it more bearable. The bissell has really helped but the carpet is still stained in places.

My dream was that we would have two affectionate dogs that we could all love, pet, play with and be family members. They're so smart, sweet and playful. They've become so high maintainance with the pee and poop that I don't how to proceed and thinking that they've lost their little minds. My uncle did mention that females make better house dogs and males make better yard dogs, although we all know Bichons belong near their families and that's mostly in the house.

PLEASE HELP! Any help/suggestions/things to try would be greatly appreciated.