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Breed guide · Dogs
His ancestors did tricks in the circus. I pay him in his own dinner.
Last updated 14 October 2026
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What they brought with them.
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At home
Out of nowhere, flat-out laps round the flat, then straight back onto your lap.
What's going onOwners call it the Bichon blitz, and it is play, often after a bath, a meal or a long rest. Give them a rug to run on, because slipping on marble is hard on small knees.
At home
Room to room all day, and waiting outside the bathroom door until you are back.
What's going onBichons were kept as lap dogs at court for centuries, so wanting to be with you is the breed doing its job. Teach short spells alone while they are a puppy, and if they are distressed when you leave, contact your vet.
At home
Licking their paws for ages, rubbing their face along the carpet, shaking their head.
What's going onItchy skin and ear infections are known risks for a Bichon from puppyhood. Tell your vet, so they can find the cause rather than treat the same itch every month.
At home
A new trick learned in an afternoon, and that barking gets your attention learned just as fast.
What's going onBichons once worked for street performers, doing tricks for a reward. Reward the quiet, and teach them a new trick each week, paid with part of their dinner.
At home
A small dog who would rather drink from your glass than their own bowl.
What's going onBladder stones are a known risk for a Bichon, and drinking well helps. Keep fresh water in more than one room, and tell your vet if they strain to wee or start drinking much more than usual.
At home
Hardly a hair on the sofa, and a tangle behind the ears by the weekend.
What's going onThe curly white coat barely sheds, so it mats instead. Brush them several times a week, keep their ears dry after a groom, and make handling a treat while they are small, so the groomer is easy for life.
The bit nobody tells you.
Their day
Built for: On a lap at court, then performing for a crowd.
In Dubai: Often alone in a flat for the working day.
Their audience
Built for: In both jobs, never alone.
In Dubai: No one home to watch them.
Their treats
Built for: A reward for every trick.
In Dubai: A treat every time they ask nicely.
The barking and the weight mostly come from that gap.
You cannot give them a court or a circus. You can give them company and a job for their brain, and the ten things below are how.
Your plan is built around their breed: the health risks for a Bichon Frise at every age, and the care that goes with each one.
Join the founding families. AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199.
Ten things that make their life better.
They were bred to be with people, and time alone is easiest to learn as a puppy.
From the first week, and for life
Why
They were bred to be with people, and time alone is easiest to learn as a puppy.
What to do
From their first week, leave them in a safe room with a chew for a few minutes while you are home, then a little longer. Come and go without a fuss, and go back a step if they cry.
Separation distress is treatable, and home fixes can make it worse.
Any age
Why
Separation distress is treatable, and home fixes can make it worse.
What to do
Film them for twenty minutes after you leave. If you see howling, pacing, scratching at the door or accidents, don't punish it, and skip the anti-bark collar. Show the film to your vet.
Extra weight loads their knees, and diabetes (where the body cannot control blood sugar) becomes a risk from 4 years.
Every age, most of all from 4 years
Why
Extra weight loads their knees, and diabetes (where the body cannot control blood sugar) becomes a risk from 4 years.
What to do
Weigh their daily food on kitchen scales. Use part of it for training, and take any treats out of the same amount. Swap table scraps for a game or a brush. A Body Condition Score (a check on whether they are the right weight) is in your plan from their puppy visits.
Patellar Luxation (a slipping kneecap) is a known risk from puppyhood to young adult.
Every age, most of all up to 4 years
Why
Patellar Luxation (a slipping kneecap) is a known risk from puppyhood to young adult.
What to do
Put rugs down where they run, and give them steps up to the sofa and bed. Lift them with one hand under the chest and one under the back end. If they skip a step or hold up a back leg after a run, tell your vet. An orthopaedic evaluation (a joint and bone exam) is in your plan every year from age two to four.
A collar presses on a small neck every time they pull.
Every age
Why
A collar presses on a small neck every time they pull.
What to do
Clip the lead to a well-fitted harness, and keep the collar for their ID tag. Check the fit as they grow.
Gum disease and dental crowding are the first risk to watch in a Bichon, from puppyhood.
Every age, from the week they come home
Why
Gum disease and dental crowding are the first risk to watch in a Bichon, from puppyhood.
What to do
Brush daily with a dog toothpaste. Start with a few seconds and a reward, and build up. Watch for baby teeth that do not fall out. A professional dental clean every 6 to 12 months is in your plan from six months old.
Ear infections are a known risk from puppyhood, and damp ears after a groom make them more likely.
Every age, most of all 6 months to 7 years
Why
Ear infections are a known risk from puppyhood, and damp ears after a groom make them more likely.
What to do
Handle their ears every day while they are small, with a reward. After a bath or a groom, dry inside the ear flaps, and clean them monthly with the solution your vet gives you. Monthly ear cleaning is in your plan from six months old.
A Bichon carried past everything can turn barky and nervous.
Every age, most of all up to 2 years
Why
A Bichon carried past everything can turn barky and nervous.
What to do
Walk them on their own feet. Let them meet calm dogs, new people and new places at their own pace, with a treat for staying calm.
They walk close to hot ground, and pavement heat reaches them before it reaches you.
Every age, most of all puppies and from 7 years
Why
They walk close to hot ground, and pavement heat reaches them before it reaches you.
What to do
From May to September, walk before sunrise and after dark. Put the back of your hand on the pavement for five seconds. If you cannot keep it there, they cannot walk on it. Carry water.
Bladder stones and, later, diabetes are known risks, and both can change how much they drink.
Every age, most of all from 2 years
Why
Bladder stones and, later, diabetes are known risks, and both can change how much they drink.
What to do
Notice how often you fill their bowl. If they drink or wee much more than usual, or strain to wee, tell your vet that week. Once a week, run your hands over them and look at their ears and paws.
Five of these are in your plan. The rest you can do at home.
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Their health, at every age.
How old are they?
Their age
the first six months
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
6 months to 2 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
2 to 4 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
4 to 7 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
7 to 10 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
10 years and over
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Breed predispositions indicate an increased risk rather than certainty of disease. What is right for them always comes from their own history and an evaluation.
Before they come home.
Types of Bichon
There is one Bichon Frise: a small white dog with a soft, curly coat, usually 5.5 to 8 kg when grown. They belong to a family of small white dogs that also gave us the Maltese and the Havanese. A "mini" Bichon is a seller's word, not a separate type, so ask how big both parents are.
Colours
Every Bichon Frise is white. Some carry a gentle shading of buff, cream or apricot around the ears or across the body. If a puppy sold as a Bichon is brown, ask the breeder what else is in the family.
The first six months
Their full vaccination course, microchip and Dubai Municipality registration come first. Start brushing their teeth the week they come home, and make handling a treat: paws, ears and mouth, a few seconds at a time.
Puppy health, 0 to 6 months
Getting the flat ready
Put rugs down where they will run on marble, steps up to the sofa and bed, and fresh water in more than one room. Add a well-fitted harness, kitchen scales for their food, and a soft brush.
Ten things that make their life better
Before you commit
Ask the breeder what health tests the parents had, for their knees in particular, and whether either parent has had itchy skin, ear trouble or bladder stones. A good breeder will be glad you asked.
Before the clinics open
AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199. No payment now.
For a new puppy: First 30 days with a new puppy · Puppy vaccinations in the UAE · Heatstroke in dogs
When it is not behaviour.
They'll keep working for their dinner. If they stop doing the tricks, or limp afterwards, tell your vet.
Before they were yours.
Antiquity to the Middle Ages
Small, curly white dogs were kept round the Mediterranean and traded by sailors. One type became so linked with Tenerife that it was called the Bichon Tenerife.
What they still carryA small dog who travels well and makes friends easily.
1500s to 1700s
Bichons became lap dogs for the nobility of Spain, Italy and France, and appear in paintings of court life.
What they still carryA dog bred to be groomed and admired, and to enjoy it.
The 1800s
When court fashion moved on, Bichons found work with street performers and in circuses, doing tricks for the crowd.
What they still carryA clever, food-loving dog who plays to a room.
1933 to 1973
France adopted the breed standard in 1933, as the Bichon à poil frisé, the curly-coated Bichon. The American Kennel Club recognised the breed in 1973.
What they still carryThe rounded white look, and the grooming it needs.
Today
In the UAE a Bichon lives in a flat or a villa, and still wants what the breed was made for: their people close by, and someone watching.
What they still carryA dog made for company and an audience.
The ones you type at midnight.
If the Bichon Frise suits you, so might these.
MalteseThe same kind of dog: a small white companion from the Bichon family, with a long, silky coat instead of curls.
Coton de TulearAnother Bichon-family cousin, from Madagascar, with a soft coat that feels like cotton and a much quieter voice.
Miniature PoodleThe same cheerful, people-loving nature and a curly coat that hardly sheds, in a clever dog that stands a little taller.
CockapooA similar small size and a low-shedding coat that needs regular grooming, in a playful spaniel and poodle cross.
