i just bought a 2 mth Male Beagle named "Bruce". I was concerned due to the negative feedback about their difficulty in training and incessant howling. We gave him a good size space in our home and put up a doggie fence to keep him from wandering all over the house and peeing everywhere. He has since found a corner in that space and he now poops and pees in the same spot on his wee wee pads that we bought for him. Is he going to continue to pee there, i just didn't think it was going to be that easy and i almost worried that i am waiting for something bad to happen. My other question is that when we leave he doesn't bark he just howls and cries, after a few minutes he stops, is there anyway i can control that, i have since been leaving a soft jazz playing radio station playing in the background, i have noticed that he calms down when he listens to it, i am just afraid since i am not home, i don't want anyone to complain about the noise. He's very lovable and he gets along well with everyone, is there a good book you can recommend on how to care for him properly, i just want to make sure he gets all the proper treatment and care he deserves and i don't want to be a clueless parent. Any advise that you can give, would be very helpful. Thanks, Sam.
Congrads on your new pup. I too own a beagle. She doesn't have a barking problem and she isn't the fastest learner (trickwise) but she does learn easily as long as I put forth the effort.
At two months, I doubt he'll go there every single time from now on. I don't use the pads because I think that they end up teaching the dog that it is ok to go potty inside. Beagles are also harder to housetrain than other dogs. Carley was housebroke around 11 months. Whereas my pointer, Casey was housebroke around 6 months.
I too keep the radio on for my dogs when I leave. Since you just got your pup, then I suspect he's just howling because he's not used to being left alone. Make your goodbyes short, maybe put a shirt of yours in with him for comfort (that way it has your scent on it)
On books, a lot of clicker people like Karen Pryor. I'm still waiting on her book Click to Win to be for sale again, but most of her books aren't like that. Karen Pryor's Clicker website You can buy some of her books off of there.
I'm supposed to be going to the bookstore tonight and I'll see if I can find some good ones on puppies. I can't come up with the names of the ones I really like at the moment.
Also, have you enrolled him in puppy classes yet? Even if you know how to train a dog these classes have so many benefits. As soon as Bruce gets all of his puppy shots, socialize socialize socialize! Take him to Petsmart, Petco, little kid sport games, the park, etc. Maybe once classes start you can arange with some other owners a puppy play date.
I don't have a lot of advise, but I didn't work so I had lots of time to spend training her to pee outside. I did want to say that a Beagle is the most loving dog I ever had, I took her howling and I would sing with her. What a doll! She would steal dirty socks out of the dirty clothes baskets and tip toe past us then bury them in any thing she could. She tried to sneak them out side to bury them there. We called her howling, oogleing, also we had other dogs so they helped her know to go outside to relieve herself. At the time we had a dobie and a big mixed doggie and Ill tell you , the Beagle was the boss. She was quite a brave dog . She was the queen. I would give all of them a rawhide bone and by the end of the evening, I would find all of them piled one on top of the other under the bed. She would stand at the door gaurding them . I think you will have a ball, you sound like you love your pup a lot, these people here sound like they can be of great help to you. Good Luck, Piddle
Sam, one book that I believe was helpful was called something like a Puppy's Owners Survival Guide. It was a red book.
Also, Training Your Beagle by Kristine Kraeuter is good. It discusses a bit of history, choosing a beagle, socialization, equipment (like choosing the correct collar, id tags, and leashes) basic manners, common problem behaviors, and sports to get into. I must also say this book has some great pictures, most in color. I bought it at Petsmart for about $12, right before I picked up Carley. I find it to be an excellent book.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: erl1391,
About Training Your Beagle, there were a few things I don't like. I rerealized it after I posted last time. I haven't read much in that book lately but here are a few things I don't believe in, that the book does have in it:
It mentions using training collars (like a choke, shock, etc.) They say that the dog needs to realize when it is time to play and when to pay attention. Personally, my dogs find training to be the same thing. It seems like a big play time for them because I keep it very happy. A training collar is not needed to have a well behaved dog.
When it says how to train a dog to sit and lay down, I don't believe that you should press on the hips to sit or put the dog into a position to lay down. I always thought that if you do this it could cause harm to the dog. My training instructors mentioned it in a a class before as well. To get a dog to sit, I use a treat and put it above the dogs head (but not too high in the air or else he will jump), say sit, and the dog will try to look at it, but it is easier if he sits. Therefore he sits and gets a treat and praise. Once he has this down, I fade the treat away. The same way with training down. I lure it by putting the treat between the dog's feet typically while he is in a sit. I say down, and he will lay down get a treat and praise. Fade the treats again, and voila, the dog can sit and lay down on command.
That's all I can remember about that book for now. Also, you may want to check some dog showing books out at your library, I find that they almost always have great tips on socializing and where to.
