Beagle issue

virmilitaris

Hey all,

So my wife and I bought a beagle pup about a year ago now. He's the first Beagle I've owned and he's been very different from dogs I've had in the past. (terriers, labradors)

I have a few problems with him, like him chewing things he's not supposed to but the main question I have is discipline.

He's well trained to follow commands and will do whatever I tell him straight away but he won't do it for my wife some of the time and never for other people unless he knows they have a treat for him. One particular problem is when he gets something he's not supposed to have like my wifes cosmetics or the remote control etc. He won't give it to anyone (except me) and runs around the house keeping it away from others unless I'm there in which case he will comply immediately.

It's the same issue with walking. I really dislike choke chains but I ended up giving up and buying one for him because he was just too excitable on the lead when he was younger. Now he very rarely misbehaves for me during a walk but he's a nightmare for my wife or others who take him. Constantly pulling and choking himself.

This is all the stranger because I work quite long and diverse hours so I don't see him half as much of the time as my wife does and she tends to almost always be the one feeding him or taking him for walks (during the week) because of this.

My wife is not inexperienced with dogs and she doesn't seem to be doing anything wrong as far as I can see but he only seems to want to listen to me.

As well as that he's still very excitable, even for me, sometimes. From what I've read this seems to be a trait of the breed. Any advice on how to A) get him to listen to the wife and get him to calm down in general.

fred funk }{

I could have wrote that myself six months ago. My beagle is just over two years old now and he's finally calming down.
One thing I learned with beagles was that they will exploit any weakness shown and you'll have to be very strict and most importantly consistent.

One paticular problem we had was the dog would try to eat food off the kids plates while they were eating but would never do it to me. This is a pecking order issue and the dog thought he was further up the chain than the kids but below me.

Basically you need your wife to show him she's the boss. Do a google search on the topic there's loads of articles on the subject.

slashygoodness

We had a similar issue for a while when our two would only listen to my requests and not my husbands. Our issue was that we had not generalised enough and I had been the one most consistent in our training and in reinforcing good behaviour. Once we both followed through on the training this no longer became an issue....

Whispered

fred funk }{ wrote: »

Basically you need your wife to show him she's the boss. Do a google search on the topic there's loads of articles on the subject.

OP please do be careful of WHAT methods you use. If the writer of the article tries to persuade you that the dog is out to "take your place" as an "alpha dog" then stop reading and try elsewhere. Your dog is acting the maggot because it can get away with it, in that I agree you should show him his place, ie show him it's not acceptable. But he's not doing it to try dominate for a higher position or anything like that. If the methods include anything physical, like scruffing, "tapping", choking, poking etc or anything that is scary (as opposed to stern) then please look elsewhere. Good behaviour does not need to be, and should not be given through fear. (I know you're not suggesting that it is fred, just quoted you as you brought the google bit up).

I'd suggest the NILF method. I've seen people here suggest it before and they will be able to give better details. You give the dog nothing unless you get a desired behaviour for it, from a pat on the head, to his dinner, he has to do something, even just a sit. It's a way of ensuring the dog knows you're the source of all good thngs and you expect certain behaviour for those good things. So you effectively put the dog in it's place without spending the day fending off imagined canine coups. :P

fred funk }{

Whispered wrote: »

OP please do be careful of WHAT methods you use. If the writer of the article tries to persuade you that the dog is out to "take your place" as an "alpha dog" then stop reading and try elsewhere. Your dog is acting the maggot because it can get away with it, in that I agree you should show him his place, ie show him it's not acceptable. But he's not doing it to try dominate for a higher position or anything like that. If the methods include anything physical, like scruffing, "tapping", choking, poking etc or anything that is scary (as opposed to stern) then please look elsewhere. Good behaviour does not need to be, and should not be given through fear. (I know you're not suggesting that it is fred, just quoted you as you brought the google bit up).

I'd suggest the NILF method. I've seen people here suggest it before and they will be able to give better details. You give the dog nothing unless you get a desired behaviour for it, from a pat on the head, to his dinner, he has to do something, even just a sit. It's a way of ensuring the dog knows you're the source of all good thngs and you expect certain behaviour for those good things. So you effectively put the dog in it's place without spending the day fending off imagined canine coups. :P

Yes. I was referring to methods like, humans eat first then the dog etc.
I'll dig up the article later a post it up, it's basically how to show a dog that humans are higher in the pecking order than them. It uses methods that dogs themselves use.

lrushe

+1 on NILF, it would really help your wife earn some respect and set some boudaries.

I think doing some Umbilical Training with this dog would also help him. The idea is that the dog is attached to your waist by a 6ft leash, start with aobut 15 minutes and increase as desired as the dog gets the idea. It works well when toilet training a puppy so that you are immediately aware of the 'signals' that the pup is going to go to the toilet and you can bring them outside but it also works well with destructive dogs or dogs that like to steal.
The reasons I think it would work for you are:

1. If the dog does steal something he can't go anywhere with it cutting out the enjoyment of playing chase with the human trying to reclaim the item.
2. Being attached to you or your wife means he has to constantly think 'what are you doing, what direction are you going' etc. so it is mental exhausting for him, much better than sitting in his bed watching you or your wife going about their day.
3. When you hold a leash in your hand you are constantly tugging and pulling on it, sometimes even unconsciously, so the dog will eventually become 'deaf' to any corrections, if the leash is attached to your waist this won't happen and the dog will be much more sensitvie to your corrections. Also as the leash will be on your centre of gravity your dogs pulling will have less effect on you, the calmer you are, the calmer your dog will be.
4. It gives you great opportunity to reward good behaviour as and when it happens. Keep treats in your pocket at all times, your dog gives you good eye contact, reward, your dog gives you a good sit, reward, your dog gives up something he has stolen, reward and so on.

virmilitaris

Thanks for the great replies everyone. Another quick question just out of curiousity. Do beagles have a high tolerance for pain? I've just noticed that we've had a few incidents such as accidently standing on his paw or one time he jumped off our couch and hurt himself on the side of our table and he didn't seem to feel it. It obviously hurt him as he limped for a few minutes but barely as much as a squeak out of him. I know that my old dogs would have cried over such incidents but this fellow seems like he couldn't care less.

I must also say that while he's much more difficult to handle and much more demanding than other dogs I've had he has the most fantastic temperment I've ever seen. Never once so much as a growl out of him towards people even when we take things he's chewing off him or even when we've accidently hurt him like stood on his paw.