6 Surprising Reasons Why French Bulldogs Stare At You

Pawscessories is reader-supported. When you buy via links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. Learn more.

Sometimes you’ll notice your french bulldog staring at you and it may start to weird you out. They’ve been staring for almost a minute without moving, what on earth are they doing? Is it normal for french bulldogs to stare at you for so long?

Why Do French Bulldogs Stare At You:

Your french bulldog stares at you as a way of communicating with you. More often than not, they’ll be staring at you to let you know they want or need something. Other reasons are, it makes them feel good, they’ve been unknowingly trained to, and they’re trying to read you.

In this post you’ll discover:

7 surprising reasons why french bulldogs stare at you (#3 is fascinating!)
How to reduce unwanted staring
Where they learned the behavior in the first place
And much, much more

Let’s jump right in!

Table of Contents

6 Reasons Why French Bulldogs Stare At You

1) It Makes Them Feel Good

When your french bulldog stares at you, in a very real way, it makes them feel good.

Much like when a mother gazes into the eyes of her new baby, their bond begins to crystalize immediately due to the release of oxytocin.

Oxytocin is known as the ‘happiness hormone’ that helps boost feelings of love and trust which helps with bonding.

And a study done in 2015 found that dogs appear to be the only animal that experiences this same effect when staring into their owner’s eyes.

They feel this is largely to do with why dogs and people have grown so attached to one another over time.

So when you and your french bulldog stare into eachothers eyes, both of you are increasing your levels of oxytocin.

So not only does it literally make them feel good when they stare at you, but it also lifts your mood as well.

In a very real way, your gaze is a love drug for them.

How cute is that!

2) They Need/Want Something

Another reason why french bulldogs stare at you is because they need or want something from you.

Obviously your pup is quite reliant on you, they’re small, unable to speak (speak english at least), and don’t have thumbs!

Which means they need your assistance for most things.

So when they stare at you for longer periods of time, it can often be because they’re attempting to communicate with you.

Maybe they tried waiting at the backyard door to let you know they needed out but you didn’t notice. So they decide to come sit in front of you and stare until you get the message that they need out!

Maybe they’re bored and want you to play with them.

Or maybe they’re letting you know their food/water bowl is empty and needs refilling because they’re hungry or thirsty.

Pay close attention to their body language in these different instances.

You may be able to pick up what certain gazes mean.

Whether it’s they need to go out, or they want your attention, french bulldogs will stare at you to try and communicate.

3) They’re Trying To Read You

Your french bulldog may be much better at ‘reading’ your mood than you think.

Another study done in 2015 used two pictures, one of a person expressing a happy face and the other expressing an angry face.

They cut the pictures in half to see if the dogs could recognize ‘happy eyes’ versus ‘angry eyes’ and they found the dogs were able to tell the difference.

This means without seeing the mouth, which is a big indicator of being happy or angry, the dogs were able to tell which was happy and which wasn’t.

Also, the fact that the pictures were of strangers meant the dogs were able to pick up on patterns outside of their owners facial expressions.

So when your french bulldog is sitting staring at you on the couch, or when you come home from work, they’re attempting to get an idea of your mood.

If they can see you’re visibly upset, they may be slower to engage with you.

If they see you’re happy they’ll likely run over to you right away for some pats and cuddles.

Your frenchie is very observant and can pick up on patterns in your facial expressions which could be why they’re staring at you.

4) Attempting To Assert Dominance

For the most part, french bulldogs are extremely friendly dogs that have an easy going personality (a little dramatic at times too).

But it’s still important that they be socialized as a young puppy or they won’t know how to behave around unfamiliar dogs and people.

In the event that your french bulldog was isolated as a pup, their stare could be confrontational.

Their wolf ancestors would stare at one another to assert dominance. The first to break the stare would be seen as the submissive of the two.

So if you find your french bulldog is often staring for long periods with a stiff body and still tail, they may be attempting to assert their dominance.

You’d likely see this happen more often when they’re being approached by unfamiliar people and/or dogs.

To help stop this behavior in the future you’ll need to bring them out to socialize more often.

Give them some training and only reward nice, calm behavior when interacting with other dogs and people.

Also, by training this way you help them understand you’re the leader/alpha of your pack.

Which ensures they won’t stare at you for this reason anymore.

5) They’ve Been Trained To

When you first brought your french bulldog home, you likely went through a vigorous training period.

And whenever you were teaching them a new trick, you had them look at you to hold their focus and hopefully get them to listen.

If their eyes wandered they were far less likely to listen to any command you gave them.

Also, outside of training them to do basic commands, you may have unknowingly trained them to stare at you in different situations.

For example, when you were first training them to go to the bathroom outside, you likely gave them lots of praise when they went number 1 or 2.

Which means they became used to getting love and affection when they go to the bathroom.

This also means they are expecting it to happen each time they go. Which further prompts them to stare at you as they’re expecting more of this attention.

You may also notice your french bulldog following you and staring at you while you go to the bathroom.

This behavior often happens because they’re trying to return the favor.

You watch their back while they go, and now they’re doing the same for you.

Another example would be when they stare at you while you eat.

If after 5 minutes of staring you didn’t cave and didn’t give them any scraps.

But after 10 minutes you couldn’t take it anymore and share some food, this has trained them to stare.

They know that if they sit and stare long enough, they’re bound to get something from it.

6) They’re Confused

Sometimes your french bulldog may stare at you because they’re outright confused.

You’ll likely also see their stare is paired with a head tilt to the side.

More often than not this will happen when you make a sound that they aren’t familiar with.

Which is incredibly cute

However, there’s another instance where your pup may stare at you from confusion.

And this can happen as they start to enter their senior years.

If you start to notice a blank stare on your pups face it could be an indicator that their cognitive functions are starting to wane.

If your french bulldog is in their senior years and you also notice them forgetting basic commands or walking around aimlessly, it’s a good idea to take them to the vet.

Final Thoughts

French bulldogs will stare at you for many reasons.

Since they aren’t able to have a conversation with you, they need to find other ways to communicate certain things.

And staring is one of their best tools to get your attention and have you help them with what they need or give them what they want.

Instead of thinking they’re being a little weirdo or judging you, think again!

Side note: If they stare at you during times you’d really prefer them not to, they’ve likely been trained that staring at you gets them what they want.

If you’d like to stop their staring in the future, do your best not to give in when they stare.

Only reward them when they behave in ways you’d like them to continue to behave in the future.

Other posts you might find interesting:

12 Best Beds For French Bulldogs: Beds That Last

9 Reasons Why French Bulldogs Look Sad & Depressed + Tips

9 Reasons Why French Bulldogs Dig + Simple Tips To Stop It

9 Interesting Reasons Why French Bulldogs Sleep So Much