[Jake&Abbie]

Hello

I was cruzing the internet looking for some information on Beagles and came across this site.

Here is the Breakdown, we have two adopted/rescued 13" Tri Color Beagles. First. Abbie was adopted about a year ago, we were told she was about three. Abbie came from a very loving home with owners who took very good care of her. Abbie's owner became very sick and ended up in the hospital and passed away. A friend of mine who is an ACO helped me adopt Abbie. Abbie is a model of the Beagle Breed. Short of the occasional dart out the front door because one of my kids was not paying attention, she is an amazing part of our family. Is quiet for the most part, doesn't get into things, loves to cuddle and be loved. Apart of her kleptomania and hiding things under my wife's and my bed, Abbie is an amazing dog.

So naturally a year later we decide that Abbie needs a friend so she is not alone when we are at work during the day. Along comes Jake.

I tracked Jake down using a Beagle Rescue Website. Jake was found wandering and brought to the Animal Shelter. This is not the same shelter I adopted Abbie from, this was about two hours drive from my home. Jake was estimated to be about two years old. We told the Shelter about our success with Abbie, and they felt we would be a perfect fit for Jake and we adopted him. Jake is a little longer then Abbie, and very much under weight so that has been our first goal is to bring him up to a healthy weight. Jake also needed to be neutered, Abbie was already spayed when we adopted her from her previous owners.

So here is the opportunity. Jake appears to have some emotional issues. First he is marking my wife directly, every time she lets him out he stops to mark her first on the way out the door, as soon as she opens the door to let him back in, he runs and marks her. If he is sitting on the couch and she goes to pet him, he jumps on her and marks her. If you approach him he immediately cowers and pee's on the floor. I think there is more pee on a daily basis from him cowering and marking my wife in my kitchen, then actually outside. He understands "go outside" and follows Abbie right out the door, but not before marking my wife.

I am also noticing that he has no problems with jumping up and grabbing food right out of your hand and taking off. Abbie never does this, and only accepts food from you. Abbie is a very healthy dog and does not gorge herself on food, as such we have tried to make sure Jake has access to food to help bring him up to a healthier weight.

What I have here is two night and day Beagles. A Ying, and a Yang. Clearly Abbie was trained before we adopted her, Jake has not been. So for the last year I have been spoiled by the perfect Beagle. I know with reading I have my work cut out for me with this breed, but what insight can you give me into this behavior and how I can work on it.

Thanks
George

 

[oldhounddog]

Jake&Abbie ,

This is a fairly straight forward behavior modification training issue with a few caveats .

First , pick up some Nature's Miracle and clean everything that Jake has marked. This is important to keep up with during the training process.

You will need a wire crate for Jake , and , a flat buckle collar with 6 foot leash.

WOW....... I'm impressed , and , this sentence should be in bright lights as you are very correct......................................
>>>So here is the opportunity. Jake appears to have some emotional issues.<<<

The 2 main issues I see are ( Marking , fearful and insecure ) , general obedience training for manners and to set parameters for acceptable behaviors in the home and outside.

Lets look at these one at a time. You do not know any history on Jake , so , take exactly what he presents and work on this from scratch just as you would a new puppy.
The fear/insecure issues are most probably the root cause of the marking and cowering/peeing. Number one , he is afraid of losing his new home and there could fears related to unknown abuse he has suffered in the past from these same general issues.

General helpful information. During the training/conditioning period Jake will need to be confined to crate in an area that has easy and quick access to outside and an easily cleaned floor. You will need to work out a schedule based on the time you have to work with Jake on a regular basis. Learning , sit , down , stay and the word" No" on friendly/calm and positive training walks. This is very fixable if you have time for some training walks to set up bonding and confidence building while teaching Jake it is fun to learn new things and that there is something in it for him , food and treats to reward correct behavior.

This is really not hard stuff to correct if you have the time for a few training walks on a regular daily basis. To make this work you will need to control everything related to Jake , said another way you will control everything good and rewarding and you will see results in seven days of strict control. What makes this work is that everything is on a positive reward based approach to offer Jake the opportunity to learn correct behavior.

Jake needs to like his crate and in no way see it as any sort of punishment. This is very important , so , take the time to make sure this is the case.......

So , George , the basic obedience work will build confidence and get Jake to focus on you and from that point everything else will be made easier.

Do you have time for this? If yes , let me know what hours/times of day you would be able to work with Jake on a daily basis and I will send you a training schedule to help Jake fit in to the family.




oldhounddog

 

[Jake&Abbie]

had a heck of a time getting back into this thread. I have everything needed, he is not afraid of the crate I think because we crate them together and Abbie likes to be in her crate. He is very calm in the house and short of the marking he is not having accidents in the house.

We have 8p to 10p pretty much any night of the week.

 

[oldhounddog]

had a heck of a time getting back into this thread. I have everything needed, he is not afraid of the crate I think because we crate them together and Abbie likes to be in her crate. He is very calm in the house and short of the marking he is not having accidents in the house.

We have 8p to 10p pretty much any night of the week.

Jake&Abbie ,

I'm sorry you had trouble posting. Click on my screen name and use the email option if it is easier for you.

OK , I need to know how Jake spends his days? Are weekends different than week days with respect to the amount of available time to spend with Jake?

If I am reading this correctly , you are saying on a daily basis you have time available from 8p to10p. I'm guessing you and wife both work?
>We have 8p to 10p pretty much any night of the week.<

Glad to hear Jake is not afraid of the crate as this is very important.

This very good as it means that the marking is what we will work on first and that he has the house training under control.
>He is very calm in the house and short of the marking he is not having accidents in the house.<

What is Jake's feeding schedule?

Give any information you can think of that will be helpful.

oldhounddog