Raising a Smart Beagle

You have a puppy Beagle… Plush ears, almond eyes, velvet paws, and there is nothing sweeter than a sleeping, big-bellied puppy. But, the puppy is growing up, sleeping less and more awake, requiring attention and … good parenting.

What is Beagle obedience training? Each owner can put his own rules, but the essence is the same: these rules the Beagle must strictly follow! Given the breed characteristics and active temperament of the Beagle, training comes to the top of the list of other issues about the breed.

Most Vital in Brief!

• Start training the Beagle from the first day he comes into your home
• Always be consistent in training and educating the Beagle
• Determine the general rules of Beagle paranting for all family members and follow them
• Always train your Beagle in a good (your!) mood, dogs can sense your irritation. Never express your anger if something goes wrong with your dog! You will succeed next time!
• Finish the session on a positive note and give the command that your Beagle knows very well already, and surely will do it. Praise and treat him joyfully and sincerely!
• Do not be lazy to work with your dog. The more interesting it is for your Beagle to interact with you, the stronger the contact is, and the more effective the training and obedience. Well-behaved and obedient Beagle gets more sympathy, because it’s nice to communicate with the clever boy!

Beagle Puppy at Home

How to Train a Beagle Puppy to Stay at His Place

If your Beagle likes the chosen place, then there are usually no problems. The more comfortable, softer, cozier is the Beagle bed, the more gladly the puppy will go to sleep on it. And while awake he will bring there his toys chews, and other treasures. It may happen so that your pup has chosen a suitable place at home by himself, so all you have to do is  just move his bed over there.

Crate Training Beagle

Crate training is very effective for Beagles. It is not difficult to train a puppy, and even an adult dog, to the crate. Instinctively Beagle prefers a small cozy room with a warm bed for sleeping. You should train your puppy to the crate from his first days in the house. Leave the door open to let him in and out. Your pet may be reluctant or afraid to come inside the cage, so encourage him to take a tasty bite or put a favorite toy inside. Let the Beagle get used to it. Then close it for 10-15 minutes a couple of times a day or when he falls asleep there. If the pup howls, barks, or scratches at the door, ignore the unwanted behavior. Catch the moment when he calms down before letting him out so he knows he won’t attract attention or earn praise by making noise.

! NEVER Use Crate as a Punishment !

Do not leave your puppy in the kennel for a long time, as it is still difficult for him to control his natural needs. The Beagle puppy needs to move around as much as possible to develop fully. If you don’t see any other options to save your home from destruction other than a crate, be sure to choose one that matches the Beagle’s size. The dog should fit at full height, and the length of the cage should allow the dog to stretch out freely lying down. When buying a crate or kennel for a puppy, keep in mind that he grows up quickly, and buy a bigger crate with separation panel. For more read: Choosing Crate for a Beagle: Size. Training. Gear.

How to Stop Beagle from Chewing Everything and Spoiling Things

Distract Puppy’s Attention

It’s easy to distract your puppy from unwanted activities by turning his attention to a toy, for instance. Accompany the command “Don’t” with a light slap with a rolled up newspaper, for example (not with your hands!!! or feet!!!).

Punishment is effective if you catch the Beagle in the act. After the time has passed, the punishment is no longer meaningful, the dog does not always understand what the punishment is about.

Hide All Valuable and Dangerous Things Before You Leave

By trying everything on his teeth, the puppy is learning about the world, it’s his canine way of getting to know his surroundings. Chewing is characteristic of any breed, don’t think that this feature is unique to Beagle puppies.

If you need to leave the Beagle alone for a long time, the only sure thing is to keep him away from everything of value. Yes, yes, that’s right, a Beagle is training you too! As he can take anything that’s lying around. He is alone and sad, bored with his own toys, so he will play with yours. Don’t forget about hiding all wires, cables, power outlets and sockets for the safety of your Beagle pup. Put your shoes out of reach, lift your flowers, floor lamps, books, magazines higher.

Cover Or Hide All Food

And don’t leave anything edible in the kitchen uncovered – otherwise your Beagle will find a way to get it and eat it. Beagle is a smart dog, and if he’s determined to get something, he’ll get it.

Keep Beagle Busy with Toys

Leave the puppy with plenty of fun toys. Hiding some away and giving others will keep him interested to the same toys. Keep the Beagle busy for a long time with a special toy that hides food (like Kong treat dispensing toys), a long-playing chewy bone.

How To Stop Beagle From Biting Hands

A Beagle puppy may bite in his games with you, either playfully or seriously by grabbing your hand or catching your leg…. We believe it is better to eliminate this behavior in puppyhood than to wait until the puppy outgrows it, or worse, continues to bite, but with the force of mature teeth.

The most effective ways to discourage biting, which really helped us in raising Buddy, are:

• Bite the puppy back! If, of course, your hygiene standards allow you to do so
• Or grab his by withers like his mom would do
• Scream loudly, pretending to be hurt
• Stop the game as soon as he starts biting.  Show him this way you’re not interested until he calms down

It’s much easier to teach these lessons to a small puppy than to an adult dog.

Training Beagle Not To Bark

From the early age, along with social adaptation activities, you should start raising a baby Beagle with awareness of the norms and rules of living together. The Rule of Silence at home should be strongly declared. From the age of 2-3 months the pup should clearly understand that barking inside the house for no reason is strictly prohibited. You should not encourage or praise the Beagle that barks at guests at home. Growling as a reaction on noises from the outside and doorbell are also not allowed.

It is much easier to train a puppy than an adult dog. When the dog starts barking, the command “Quiet!” should be followed by an explanatory action, such as fixing the mouth, soothing stroking, distracting with the smell of a treat. Beagle is a highly intellectual and very smart breed, a few exercises will be quite enough to organize perfect silence  at home.

For more information read: How to Stop Beagle from Barking

Beagle Puppy Outdoors

Potty Training

As soon as the vaccination quarantine ends, and all necessary health care measures are done, the Beagle puppy opens a new world – the world of outdoor walks. Every owner dreams to teach his puppy to do his business outside as early as possible. Your dreams may fail in the first few days of walking! Don’t be surprised if after an hour of active walking, the Beagle still proudly carries everything home. Success doesn’t come right away.

Immediately praise the puppy and express your joy and approval as soon as he eliminated outdoors. Positive reinforcement in the form of yummy treats (Beagles love boiled liver, cheese, crunches) is a good option, this is a great motivation for a Beagle.

Follow the walking schedule. The more carefully you do that, the sooner your puppy will get used to controlling his bladder from walk to walk. Take your Beagle out for a hygienic walk after sleeping, eating, playing and every need. Treat him after he has eliminated and take him home. From experience, Beagle puppies stop pooping at home after 4-5 months, and pee after 8-9 months. With females, this process may extend up to a year.

Here are some very important and useful tips from Saro Boghozian – a famous dog trainer – about potty training:

Walking With a Beagle

The “Come” Command

The most important, and at the same time the most difficult, to teach your puppy to come to you on the command “Come”. This is a necessary and vital order. And unconditional obedience is a must. Begin training at home before your first walk. Let’s see how to do it step by step.

• Take a tasty treat
• Catch the moment when the Beagle is distracted from you
• Say his name and the command “Come / Come here”
• If the puppy runs to you, praise him and encourage him with a treat
• If he doesn’t – clap your hands or click

Be careful not to repeat the command. He needs to learn to do it right away.

• Next step – play a game where you and another member of your family sit on the floor across from each other with a treat and take turns calling him over to you with the command “Come here”.
• Over time, make the task more difficult: call the Beagle when he is busy doing something,
• Call him from another room
• Do this as often as possible!

Then you two can go for a walk and continue practicing outside:

• Be attentive and persistent
• Let your puppy run and play, but every 10-15 minutes draw attention to yourself with “Come / Come here”
• Don’t forget to praise and reward for obeying
• Say the command in a pleasant but firm voice
• Do not repeat the command several times, thus diminishing its meaning for the dog
• If the Beagle doesn’t come gently pull him up by the leash
• Use a long rope tied to the collar when training. This way the pup feels free, but you still can control his making the command by catching the end of the rope and pulling it towards you. So you let the dog know what you need at the moment

Unfortunately, natural instinct is strong, and the Beagle will often ignore your calls, plunged in new smells and exploring the area. Be persistent and consistent in your training. If you are not sure that your Beagle will follow a command, it is better not to let him off the leash. Practice “Come / Come here”, get 100% results, and then let him run off-leash, especially in urban areas. The Beagle, fascinated by smells, can go far away, but whether he returns depends on many circumstances.

Never punish your dog when he comes up to you, even if he did it not at once or ate something bad. You can lose trust in a second, but it will take months to gain it back.

The “Stop / Drop it /Don’t do that!” Command

Beagles are terrible vacuum cleaners. In order to prevent your Beagle from becoming a vet patient after swallowing something inedible, you must teach your dog to never fail to obey the “Stop” command.

All methods are good here, up to the most strict, as your Beagle’s life may depend on it:

• Start by pulling your dog if he’s on a leash
• Go on with tossing keys next to him, or even chains from the distance (to provide unpleasant feeling when he picks up stuff)
• Scatter sausages filled with pepper etc.
• Our experiments show that electric collars work best and give incredible results within short time.

There is also a rather effective way – to play a swapping game: when the pup picks up a bone, offer him a treat straight away. The puppy will give what he finds in exchange for a tasty treat. Teach the command “Give me” or “Drop it”, this skill will be useful for your Beagle in the future.

The “Sit”, “Down”, “Paw”, “Fetch” Commands

It is not difficult to teach the Beagle to carry out simple commands such as “Sit”, “Down”, “Paw”, “Fetch” and the like. At home, the Beagle is more focused, and it is easier to attract and hold his attention. There are a lot of stimuli outside, so we recommend starting with home training. The best method for the Beagle is repetition and positive reinforcement (in this case, a treat).

Profound Training

General Obedience Training Course

If you set yourself and your Beagle more serious tasks in terms of training, you should better go for general obedience training course. Choose the training center and the trainer carefully. Pay attention if he has experience in training hunting dogs, not only working dogs, and will consider Beagle breed characteristics.

In any case, you will train your dog, and 99% of success depends only on your persistence, perseverance and determination. The trainer will only teach you how to do it correctly.

Individual lessons at home are a good option. But we think that group training is more useful, as, first of all, Beagles get socialized and learn to be in society. Plus, learning by the example of older dogs is faster. In addition, it might be interesting for you to communicate with like-minded people.

Freestyle & Agility

Some Beagles with hard-working owners easily learn the science of freestyle – and yes, they are great at dancing. And others become real athletes, taking agility classes and participating in competitions and championships.

Clicker Training

Are you a strong detester of physical punishment? Try clicker training. It is an interesting and exciting method by Karen Pryor, the famous American animal trainer. Clicker training is based on positive reinforcement: the click of the clicker signals your dog unambiguously that he will be rewarded for some part of his behavior. Clicker training is ideal for freestyle training and trick training, agility classes, where flawless precision and complex combinations are required. But remember, a clicker is not a magic wand, but only a method.