# Beagle Behaviour Problems



## BeagleOwner777 (Jun 2, 2010)

Hi,

I currently have a 10 month old female Beagle, called Storm, although to be honest she is more like a hurricane 

She is constantly destroying things around the house, and all her toys, which isn't as a big as a problem as the furniture.

If you tell her no she them constantly barks at me, i have tried the water in the face and it just makes her mad, and barks more.

As well as the barking, destroying things she also bites when she isn't getting her own way. I don't mind the fact that she is energetic and running around the house, i just don't want my house wrecked.

Today i left her for 2 hours in the garden with toys and she has wrecked the fence, pulling bits off it.

I really do not know what to do with her, i have been going training classes for a couple of months and she behaves when she is there and does as she is told, but as soon as i get her home she continues being naughty. 

Any help with training such a difficult breed would be much appreciated.

Kim


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## SEVEN_PETS (Aug 11, 2009)

what is she fed?

how much exercise does she get?

have you had her since she was a pup?


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## sarybeagle (Nov 4, 2009)

Hi Kim im sorry your little Storm is being a monkey. I have a 9 month old beagle so very similar ages. 

What food does she have? Diet can play a huge part in a dogs behaviour.

How much excerise a day? too little can leave her feeling frustrated and cause her to be destructive.

Do you have training sessions during the day? tiring her out mentally as well as physically will help tire her out. 

Im very lucky in that my beagle is very placcid in the sense she hasnt destroyed anything bar 2 teddies! I walk her 2/3 times a day and we have a routine in place so she knows when I go to work I will be back within a 20 mins time frame and she is still calm and sleepy in her cage when I return, she settles straight down when I am going to work no anxiety anything. I make sure I take her out before we plan to leave the house so she is relaxed and tired. Bella went through a nipping stage (as all pups do) but recently got quite snappy and turns out she has a baby tooth still which is right next to her adult tooth and a piece of grass had got stuck and was cutting her gum making it sore. As soon as I removed it the nipping stopped. It was as if she was saying my mouth blooming hurts mum!! 
Bella is fed wainwrights dry food and this has made a HUGE difference to the bakers complete she was on in the beginning (my mistake) when she was bouncing off the walls and tbh a nightmare lol!! 

I wouldnt personally use water in the face, If I ask bell to get down/off something she will bark back at me but I just take no nonsence and repeat the command a little lower in tone but not aggressive and point to the floor and she will do it-granted often with a moany huff but thats just her answering me back! 

do you have a place for time out? when bella was a pup and going through the nipping stage we put a stair gate across the kitchen/living room door way and as soon as she bit or began to nip I would take her by the collar-not aggressivly or saying anything and just put her there for 30seconds/1 mins and allow her back into the room without saying or looking at her, BUT only if she was sat at the gate silently. Not jumping to get out or howling/barking to come back in. Within 5 mins of this she soon caught on that biting or getting worked up to start biting meant time away from us and bingo 3 months of not a single nip or bite. 

Last night she began humping me if I sat on the floor (which at first made me laugh but when the digging of my leg began OWWWIIEE) so time out was put in place and after 2 1 minute trips behind the gate the bad behaviuor stopped and she came back in all snuggly and playing nicely so heaped on the good girl praise. 

Has your trainer offered any advice? PM if you need a chat ((hugs)) xxx
Sarah


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## theevos5 (Dec 24, 2009)

Hi Kim
Sorry to hear that you are having problems with your Beagle,Alfie will be 9 months next week so similar age too,we have found it hard having him as our last dog was 15 years ago and it is a shock to the system.He too chewed a hole in the fence,one day,when much younger,I think as SaryBeagle says the key is excerce,alfie is taken out at least 2 times and more often 3 times a day.This makes a massive improvement to his behavior.Alfie is the perfect beagle in the house but when we go out sometimes he will not listen to any commands and you have to remain firm,Beagles are so strong willed and Alfie is very strong in body too-the vet said yesterday that he gave him a pre med before being neutered and then stupidly thought that he could give him an injection on his own as the pre med should have kicked in,anyway he couldn't so he went and got help and the girl wasn't strong enough to cope so he had to go and get someone else!There wasn't any aggression he said just sheer strength.
All I can say is keep up the training and don't squirt water in her face-if it doesn't work,give positive training.Alfie will do most things for a biscuit or pigs ear!when she is being good reward constantly and when bad try and direct away from it,give time out or ignore and turn your back.Try and stick with it and please post some photos for us beagle addicts:thumbup:


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## BeagleOwner777 (Jun 2, 2010)

Hi,

Storm is fed Eukanuba puppy food, and is walked twice a day, in the morning before going to work, and when i return from work, the morning walk is about half an hour, and the evening one tends to be for about an hour and half.

I used to cage storm when i was in work as she would dig the garden up, and cant be trusted to be left in the house because of the furniture wrecking. 

I have moved to a property which is next to the canal, and doesn't have a garden, just a patio area which is quite large, she now has the run of the patio while I'm at work and a canal and plenty of toys, yet she still insists on eating the fence.

Im not sure whether the move has confused her a little as i used to live by myself and recently moved in with a partner, so all the up heal of the move and a stranger living with her probably isnt helping.

The trainers haven't given any advice apart from to squirt water in her face when she barks, but this just makes her really grumpy and bark more.

I'm glad I'm not the only one having problems with a beagle, i love her to bits and wouldn't swap her for the world, just wish she wouldn't destroy things or bark at me all the time.

As well as all of the above, if your not watching her she will eat her own poo and drink her own wee, rather disgusting, and i have no idea how to stop her doing this, apart from keep telling her no, could this be the food I'm feeding her?

Many thanks,

Kim


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## SEVEN_PETS (Aug 11, 2009)

how long is she left during the day?

does she only chew the house and fence when you aren't there?


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## Ducky (Nov 23, 2008)

beagles are very much pack animals, and dont always do well being left themselves. how long do u leave her for during the day?

the food COULD have something to do with her behaviour. Eukanuba is an ok food, but you could do better. Iv had two beagles now, the first fed on Burns and this one on Arden Grange, both excellent foods and cheaper than eukanuba as well. 

though i do think the behaviour is more likely to be down to boredom. My first beagle was very destructive if left alone and outside a cage. He tore my kitchen apart lol. He was never left for very long, but he still wasnt happy with it. Now i have two dogs, i dont have the same problem with this beagle. He is still crated when i am going out for a period of time though. 

When it comes to barking, again i am lucky that neither of mine were vocal. Occasionally i get a bark so i give them some attention, but other than that, no barking. Thats all it is though, attention seeking. And the more attention you give the dog when it IS barking, the more likely they are to continue. Its a bit like a crying toddler. if you keep going to them, they will keepdoing it. 

i would give her some more mental stimulation, playing games with her, training sessions etc. It really tires them out just as much as going for walks. Though if you can increase your walks, i think that would help too. 

Dont give up!


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## BeagleOwner777 (Jun 2, 2010)

she is usually left for around 3 to 4 hours a day! 

Yes she destroys stuff when im there aswel, just sneakily does it, pretends she is sleepin then starts chewing when my back is turned! Little monkey she is!

can i buy that dog food from any pet shop? She is a really fussy eater when it comes to her own food, although will eat anythin if its not in hel


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## BeagleOwner777 (Jun 2, 2010)

she is usually left for around 3 to 4 hours a day! 

Yes she destroys stuff when im there aswel, just sneakily does it, pretends she is sleepin then starts chewing when my back is turned! Little monkey she is!
can i buy that dog food from any pet shop? She is a really fussy eater when it comes to her own food, although will eat anythin if its not in bowl.

Thanks for the help xxx


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## Ducky (Nov 23, 2008)

sorry been a while to reply!!

if you do see her chewing on things shes not supposed to, i would try and do a swapsie with her, to give her something she is allowed to chew. she is in her rebellious stage though hehe. she will try and get up to as much mischief as possible right now.

with regards to the food, burns you can only buy in independent pet shops. you wont find it in pets at home or anything. and the same with arden grange. however you can buy them online if no pet shops near you stock it. there are usually some quite good deals online too!


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## topcat (Sep 7, 2009)

BeagleOwner777 said:


> Hi,
> 
> The trainers haven't given any advice apart from to squirt water in her face when she barks, but this just makes her really grumpy and bark more.
> 
> Kim


Change your trainer for starters - no reputable trainer would tell you to do that.

Reintroduce the crate. A dog needs to feel secure when you're not there and leaving them with a big area to run around in doesn't do that. Our beagle mostly stays in his crate of his own accord anyway, and we now just leave the door open 24/7. He's just turned one, but we always shut him in his crate when we went out and at night until he was about 8 months.

We did turn out half a skips worth of Hector-produced destruction from the garden this spring, and I don't think I'll be growing anything this summer!

Beagles are very intelligent dogs so lots of short training sessions and a couple of energetic walks a day and she should start calming down.


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## victoriaj (Oct 21, 2009)

i really sympathise with you. i also have a female beagle she is 8 months old.

i haven't had a dog for years and she has been a real eye opener!!

she will also pull strips off the garden fence and she has chewed every arm on my garden chairs.

she loves eating dog poop when we are out so she now wears a muzzle when we are out walking.

i haveto say tho that she is a lot calmer than she used to be and she goes in her crate no problem when she is left and at night.

she is now fed on skinners and some naturediet and she is doing great on it.

she can sometimes be defiant especially when we are out on a walk and she picks up every little scrap on the pavement she can find!!

she also sometimes barks at you if she is being ignored but we just pay no attention and she has started to do it less now.

hard work but lovely dogs!!


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## theevos5 (Dec 24, 2009)

victoriaj said:


> i really sympathise with you. i also have a female beagle she is 8 months old.
> 
> i haven't had a dog for years and she has been a real eye opener!!
> 
> ...


wow you could be talking about my Beaglehere are the photos of our fence and chairs to prove it!Don't be fooled by the hound dog eyes he is the devil in disguise:devil:


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## victoriaj (Oct 21, 2009)

lol peas in a pod mine and yours i think!!! although i haveto say she has a long walk in the morning and then she sleeps most of the morning!! i'm home with her most of the time too only leave her when we go out shopping or socialising so she has a lot of attention ... beagles def need it!!


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## theevos5 (Dec 24, 2009)

Ye Alf too gets walked in the morning and will sleep well afterwards,never had a problem with sleeping,he loves it especially of a night,he needs 12 hours at least,thats to make up for all his menacing during the day though I am also home most of the day,apart from the occasional shopping trip or visiting family etc,so he too gets his fair share of the cuddles and attention.I do remember a time not so long ago that I was houseproud!Getting rather difficult now which the chewing and the michief making....wouldn't have it any other way though.I like having splinters in my arms off the outside chairs


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## victoriaj (Oct 21, 2009)

you've just got to love them haven't you? sometimes when we're out i call her and she looks at me then just turns and carries on in the opposite direction! the only thing to bring her back is cheese!!!!!!!!!!


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