[claire]

Hi
My year old beagle is a nightmare. I am an experienced beagle owner having had 2 others since they were pups, one of whom is now 12 years old but these 2 together were not as manic as the new one.

= She will jump to steal food or dishcloths etc from ledges in the kitchen. It is impossible to leave any food anywhere without her grabbing it, even from a hand if she can.

= She chews endlessly on anything she can despite having numerous bones etc

= She will howl or bark incessantly when the mood takes her or if she wants to come out of the crate.

= Very inconsistent recall when off the lead and after scents.

= She is very bouncy and will not leave visitors alone. This one is hard because she is perfect for me and will sit at my feet rather than jump so I do not know how to train her.

= Raiding the bin (have tried direct reward based training to stop this which works fine when I am watching but when I'm out of sight, she will revert to previous behaviour)

It has got to the point where her behaviour is causing relationship difficulties as my husband now hates her and everything she does wrong is my fault. He has taken to adding up the cost of all the things she destroys and telling me how much my dog is costing.

Any ideas please??

Thanks
Claire

 

[nwrednk]

The "terrible two's" eh?

I got my first puppy in 1992 after my "rescue beagle trained me"! I would advise the use of a squirt bottle with water. Goober, was quite a handfull as a pup, but he quickly became the smartest one to date!
4-12-1992 to 9-21-2008, as also the longest living one in the family! Jethro is nearly 3 yrs old, & has become an even better behaved/ less destructive beagle thanks to what Goober taught me!

 

[kutyuska]

Don't leave food out, training and exercise.
Mine gets two hours intensive exercise daily, he is not jumpy and destructive because he is tired.
We still do sit and stay several times daily.
Well , when he was little I tried the water spray but he was not intimitated by it.
Buy a bin you can close safely.
Good luck,.

 

[nwrednk]

Squirt bottle?

Yes, some of them like Jethro (make a game of it)! He quickly learned to catch the stream of water in his mouth! BUT, now that he is nearing 3 yrs old a firm NO works! He shows great promise to become the smartest one yet despite the traditional "beagle stubborness", & the fact that he was the runt of litter & very shy when I got him as a pup! He is now a veteran of 2 big game hunting seasons tethered
to my belt, as a hunting companion. (Off-leash is illegal during big-game season). He passed firearms training with flying colors, but on his first time in the field he got soo tired on the walk back he collapsed
halfway back to the truck & I knelt by him & took a break as he took a 10 minute nap! (Last season, & for many years to come), he can now outwalk me...(Im soo proud of the little guy)!

 

[nwrednk]

My last beagle was larger than Jethro & above "breed standard" in height & weight, but was not a "natural hunter". He was a great family pet & a very noisy guard dog! (He had 2 left feet in the woods)! Jethro has learned
to be quiet & "move in sync as I do"! Goober was happy to "hold down the fort" when I went hunting & enjoyed the "spoils of a harvest"! He lived nearly 16.5 yrs & when he died, It was a very sad day for me when he
died, but I buried him in the front of my property as he only had the run of the backyard. He can now guard the frontyard forever from his grave...(I still miss him).

 

[nhrapro840]

i had the same beagle. she loved garbage, chew it and spread it all over. she could leap or climb onto any counter. she would chew anything or get into anything. she was born on 9-13-10. she was probably the worst dog ever. i got her for a christmas present from my wife. from day 1 this dog knew she belonged to me. this dog loved me. i began right away at 16 weeks training her to rabbit hunt. several days a week. i knew she was going to be a great hunter and she loved it. at times though because of the mess she made in the house and not becomming house broke i wished i did not have her. i had chances to give her away but i did not. we continued to train. she loved to go places with me. i began taking her everywhere. sometimes she would stare at me with such love in her eyes. she began to get better with her house manners. we grew very close and she knew what i was thinking and i knew what she was thinking. she was really doing good with opening up on rabbit trails and the fall was comming and she was ready to hunt. on 8-24-11 she was hit by a car and i found her dead. this has been very sad for me and i have been sobbing like a baby. my dog was just like yours. the problem is that they are very smart. they want to get into everything and they want interaction. i wish i could go back in time and change the outcome of 08-24-11.

 

[claire]

nhrapro840 I am so sorry to hear about your dog dying - you must miss her terribly. Regarding Mags, my naughty beagle, I tried the water etc with little success so spoke to a lady who has very well behaved dogs. It turns out that this lady is a dog psychologist and she has offered to help. We have been practising the techniques that she showed us and the behaviour has improved so hopefully we will have cracked it soon. Thanks for all the advice Claire

 

[kutyuska]

@nhrapro840
I'm so sorry, pls forget if I was too harsh before.
Forgive me.

 

[nwrednk]

Beagles are "to say the least a challenge"! It is common to take about/at least 3 yrs for them to outgrow the unpedictable puppy stage, That was the case with my first 2 pups & Jethro my 3rd will turn 3 on 7 sept. I have been lucky with him as well, but he nearly got killed by traffic when he was barely 1 yr old as he bolted out the frontdoor & led me on a chase that nearly got both of us run-over. We live in the "burbs now" & most of the time there is very little traffic on our street...but it seemed like the entire countys motorists had to use our street @ that time! I finally tackled him after what seemed like 15min & got a 2 inch gash on my left upper forearm from what Im not certain. I smacked him on the butt a few times & scolded him as I collapsed clutching his collar to regain my breath...I barely had the strength left to carry him home & dress my wound that was bleeding very bad. But thankfully, that was 2 yrs ago & he has never tried that again & respects the command to back away from the door ever since. If I am lucky, the scar on my arm might fade-away after a few more years! But thank goodness we are both safe & I learned that day that my then 49 yr old heart was not ready to "throw in the towel"!

 

[nhrapro840]

@nhrapro840
I'm so sorry, pls forget if I was too harsh before.
Forgive me.

no problem it is hard knowing where someone is comming from with just typed words. she was my little sweetheart. she still has a brother where i got her from. i am going to go look at him, but she wont be replaced. she loved to hunt so much one day she dragged my hunting pants up from the basement to the living room. i am missing her.

 

[nwrednk]

Nhrapro840, I hope you get the "second-chance" that you seek! Life is full of uncertantys...I was lucky with my first one despite the health problems he had when I adopted him! To prepare, I had read an "old school" book like "Beagles" by Beverly Pisano & I would also reccomend "How dogs think" by Stanley Coren & "Training your Beagle" by Kristine Kraeuter. Kris was a fellow member of Dogjunction.com that bred beags & was my favourite person on that now extinct site about 10 yrs ago. Beagles are a challenge & "you must out-stubborn them when they are young...(Establish yourself as the "Alpha packmember" or they will not respect you). Beagles are so stubborn & independent that you need to assert yourself as the dominant force or (they will walk all over you)!!! Practice training the way dogs were originally accepted by feeding them after all the humans have eaten & fed them their leftovers, but avoid feeding them human food! (A stray piece of fat or gristle or veggies is ok, but make them wait until all humans are done)! I know it is cute to teach them tricks like begging, but that is better done with treats afterward)! I love Jethro as if he was my human kid...but you need to employ some tough-love if you want a well behaved dog!

 

[nhrapro840]

I went and looked at My little Suzie's brother. No one wanted him from the litter. They thought that he would not make a good hunter. He looks a lot like my Suzie. The breeder told me that lately he has shown signs of being a hunting dog and has opened up and tracked rabbits. His father is one of the best rabbit dogs around, and his mother is a good hunter. The breeder told me that i could have him no charge. After a couple days of thought i decided to take him. He did not want to get in my car at the breeders house. Since then we have really hit it off. I have named him Buddy. He is probably the best beagle out there. I think i have him house trained just after a few days but i am not taking any chances at least for another week. I keep him by my side or in his pen. He is already going places with me. I even took him to a car show tonight in my pro street chevy vega and he loved it, even with the loud engine noise. I think he is going to be a fine rabbit hunting dog, but i am going to get a garmin astro gps tracking system before i take him in the field. I am not taking any chances of loosing him. I am bonding with him first and working on him responding to my voice.

 

[nwrednk]

Good for you & Buddy! Sometimes the shy or "more reserved" pups grow into very social & outgoing dogs! Jethro was the "runt of his litter" & the last one to be purchased from his breeders after 40 yrs of breeding beagles as they were in their "80's"! But thanks to what Pop & I have learned about beags, his "best treat now" is a visit to the dogpark! BUT, he may have a new favourite... as last friday we went fishing with Nibbler as well in the boat & he was facinated by the fish I caught! Nibbler the 11 yr old wanted to eat them off the hook & Jethro wanted to sniff them to death! Last fall the fishing was terrible w/o a single fish in late fall soo poor Jethro was confused about what the "boattrip was about"! He even managed to fall overboard as he got bored when we were anchored & fishing for bottomfeeders while walking/"balance-beam", walking the "gunwales"! Thankfully I was able to grasp his harness as he was soo disoriented that he started swimming away from our boat!

 

[kutyuska]

@nhrapro840
Happy for you and Buddy