[Kjstudio]

Since Mr. Bailey is my first Beagle, I thought I would ask a few questions about some of his behaviors. First of all...do Beagles always put every DEAD thing they find on their walks IN THEIR MOUTHS?? I am sure it's quite the sight to see me trying to get him to drop it, and be totally grossed out at the same time! Dead squished frogs are his favorite. :::shudder:::: I try to keep my eyes peeled for these little snacks of his..but of course with that Beagle nose he finds them before I have a chance.
Also, Bailey loves his stuffed animals and of course like most dogs, loves to tear them apart and get that squeaker out. BUT..he also loves going underneath our bed and chewing holes in our box springs!! I bought some of that bitter spray, but that hasn't deterred him. I keep the door shut as often as I can so he cannot get in our room, but then he goes after something else that he can rip/tear..like couch pillows, sheets, towels, etc. We do give him chewy toys and nylabones to curb his teething/chewing. I suppose I am asking if this is a puppy stage or a lifelong trait I will need to adjust to? Our family adores Bailey - he is such a love.
Oh..and on a positive note, he has been 8 days now without an accident in the house, yay!!
Thanks for all of your help!
Cindi

 

[angelaH]

Great news about his house-training. Yes, they love dead animals, not only to eat but to roll on as well. This will be a life-long habit, the deader the mouse or whatever, the better. If Bailey also fancies eating poo, very common as well, then buy him some dried gut from the pet store. They eat poo because they are lacking in some vitamins or something and these dried treats are a good substitute.
The chewing of furniture should stop, make sure you say 'No' if you catch him at it.

 

[jassy]

Maggie also tried to chew furniture and cloth when she was a pup. I have told the story of her going through 8 or 9 beds before I finally discovered the Kuranda bed. For a while she had nothing but a blanket on the hard floor of her crate and she eventually shredded that into pieces. We kept every door in the house closed and she could only be in the room with us so we could supervise and stop chewing instantly. I usually told her no, picked up and moved her from the area, and gave her an acceptable chew toy. Some days I felt like all I did was stop the chewing. As Maggie got through the teething stage the chewing slowed down but probably did not completly stop until she was a year old. She still loves to rip open a stuffed toy, unstuff and pull the squeaker out, but no longer chews our furniture or her blankets. (Although last week she did pull her blanket out of her crate and run through the house with one end of it in her mouth, growling at everyone as she ran by. It was so funny. Unfortunately the video camera wasn't charged)

 

[Kjstudio]

Oh, that's another thing - Bailey rips his bed and blankets to shreds!! I hope he'll grow out of that, too.
He will also drag towels around..and tear off the tag on the towel. I got a new cushion for his crate that had a nice soft cover on it - and yep, he destroyed that, too.
At least I have hope that one day he will stop

 

[Java]

Lol. Ripping blankets and beds to shreds seems like a common thing for beagles! My Java has taken a fancy for the wooden roof of his dog house. He's also managed to tear through a thick rubber toy tire. They are destructive, aren't they?

 

[Zookeeper]

Oh yeah, they are destructo-monsters as puppies. Duke took down everything within his reach and ate everything else! But the good news is, they do grow out of it. Well, for the most part. He will still thieve a bra or other clothes if he gets the chance, but even that has stopped since we got Violet. Though I have a feeling it may be temporary since she's still so new! LOL

Good luck and enjoy, I know the puppy stage is a trial, but they really are so fun and entertaining and believe it or not, you'll miss it as they get older.

 

[cobismom]

Ripping things is a good past time! NOT! Both of our beagles loved to rip blankets, carpet, pillows, bed mattresses, etc.
As for dead things, that,too. We have starlings and bluebirds in the trees, occassionally one of the babies will fall out of the nest, and Cobi finds it first --- very gross. As for the poop thing, haven't seen that yet...but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen...but we do dig in the dirt and eat the roots off of things and other things that crawl in the dirt. How can I allow that beautiful face to get so close to mine after that? Love is grand!!!!

Cathy J/cobismom

 

[CarrieD]

Sounds like a normal, healthy dog to me!

Wish I had advice, besides endure and be patient! I haven't owned a puppy for eight years.

 

[BookerMoose]

We haven't had the experience with puppies eating blankets, bedding and box-springs, since we've only adopted adult beagles, but I can certainly confirm that every dead thing (and every morsel of food) that is encountered on a walk will eventually make its way into a beagle mouth... sometimes I manage to pull them away before they get it, but usually I then forget all about it and the next time we pass by they (Booker is the best at this) will get into position long before we reach it so that she can snatch it before I even remember. She has done this SOOOOOO many times - I admit that I am outsmarted by my own dog on this one!

Oh, and Booker is also a poop eater. Let's just say she wasn't giving us ANY kisses last night...

 

[Makaella's Mom]

Originally Posted By: Bailey's MomSince Mr. Bailey is my first Beagle, I thought I would ask a few questions about some of his behaviors. First of all...do Beagles always put every DEAD thing they find on their walks IN THEIR MOUTHS?? I am sure it's quite the sight to see me trying to get him to drop it, and be totally grossed out at the same time! Dead squished frogs are his favorite. :::shudder:::: I try to keep my eyes peeled for these little snacks of his..but of course with that Beagle nose he finds them before I have a chance.
Also, Bailey loves his stuffed animals and of course like most dogs, loves to tear them apart and get that squeaker out. BUT..he also loves going underneath our bed and chewing holes in our box springs!! I bought some of that bitter spray, but that hasn't deterred him. I keep the door shut as often as I can so he cannot get in our room, but then he goes after something else that he can rip/tear..like couch pillows, sheets, towels, etc. We do give him chewy toys and nylabones to curb his teething/chewing. I suppose I am asking if this is a puppy stage or a lifelong trait I will need to adjust to? Our family adores Bailey - he is such a love.
Oh..and on a positive note, he has been 8 days now without an accident in the house, yay!!
Thanks for all of your help!
Cindi

Hi, I'm sure I'm telling you what you already know but when I read that he shreds towels and such my heart jumped into my throat. My first Malamute, Mackenzie, shredded part of a towel and the strings he swallowed wrapped around his intestines. He had surgery and came out of that fine but later that day had a seizure and died - before I could get to him at the vets.

They had called me at work to say that he looked like he was feeling down and maybe I should come to visit him. When I got there they were so busy the woman at the desk just pointed to a room and said He's in there. I walked in and there was my baby on the table, dead, with his tounge hanging out of his mouth covered in foam and in a pile of diarreah. No one had told me he had died and I nearly fell to the floor.

Of all the animals I have had, including my horse, this was the one I was the most connected to. We read each other's minds and were soul mates - as silly as that sounds. He wasn't even two years old yet and way too young to die.

Needless to say they are not my vet anymore but that's not what matters. I just wanted to share that I learned the hard way that something so innocent looking as a towel can kill.

Thanks for letting me share.

 

[Kjstudio]

oh my gosh, how horrible!!
I cannot believe you were allowed to walk in and see your pup like that. I'm so sorry you had to go through that.


You know, the thought often crosses my mind when I catch Bailey with stuffing from a toy, or a shredded towel that he could be swallowing that and get some sort of intestinal blockage. I am keeping those things away from him, as much as I can.