[kristl81]

i'm new to the beagle breed. my ex's father has one, so i've been around them, but never owned one. i'm a lab girl, lol. i'm not sure what to do. annabelle chases the cats, climbs on the end tables, barks her head off for no apparent reason...she's found a way to escape the fenced backyard so i've had to resort to using a tie out as an underground fence is not in the budget at the moment. i'm sure these issues can be corrected. i just need tips. i do the firm NO, give her a toy. we take daily walks. she has her perfect angel moments, when she's asleep on her blanket on the couch and my heart just melts...but then she turns into devil dog in an instant. what worked for you that have had beagle issues...the things that worked with my lab seem to have no effect on miss annabelle.

 

[Erin]

Well... as far as the fence goes I have something that may help. My hubby went down to lowes and got an electric fence. It's kind of like what they use for cattle. It's a single wire that we ran around the bottom portion of our fence (about 8-10 inches off the ground). It connects to a box that plugs into an outlet. The voltage is very low (I think you can get different size boxes) but it's worked great for us. I think the total cost to do our backyard was about $50. Our dogs weren't digging but we were afraid they were. It only took them touching the wire a couple of times to get the idea that they should stay away from it. One of our beagles didn't even yelp when he touched it, I think it just scared him. And because they can see the wire they're very aware of where their boundaries are. We just basically got little hooks and attached them to the fence. Then the wire was strung through it. I'm sure the people at home depot or lowes could help you. The dogs have gotten so good that we haven't even had it turned on for the last month and they still stay away from it. LOL

 

[Zookeeper]

We also went from labs to beagles because their friendly personalities are so alike. But, they are very different in training. Labs follow orders blindly and beagles think twice and then decide what they want to do.

The best way to train your beagle is with consistency and positive reinforcement. It takes time, I'm not sure how old your dog is, but Duke settled considerably at a year old and now that he's 19 months old, he's mellowed even more.

Beagle proof your home and yard as much as possible, that's the easiest way to protect your stuff and your beagle. When Violet chases our kitty Phoebe, we just tell her to leave kitty alone and try to divert her attention with a game of fetch. When they get on end tables, we've taught them the off command. Spray bottles also work well to stop bad behavior, as do cans filled with pennies being shaken. They are very smart dogs and trainable, but if you aren't consistent, they will push the limit and do what they want. Good luck.