[tntnjmom]

As I said in my intro, we adopted JoJo in late January. I've never owned a dog as an adult, and have no clue about training - or her little quirks. So I thought I'd ask away and see what you all think. It's a little long-winded but I'm at a loss and just wanted to talk to other beagle owners about what's going on.


- Walking...she is a total nose-to-the-ground walker. Absolutely wild when we take walks anywhere near other people. If we have guests in the house, she does what we call JoJo Races, where she runs circles around the downstairs <span style="font-weight: bold">very fast</span> without a care in the world about what she knocks down or runs into. We bought her a nose harness (fits over her nose and closes behind her head), as we were told that it would help curtail some of the craziness when we're on walks near people. It helped, but if she's not wearing it, she's a nightmare, and if she is wearing it and doesn't want to behave, she starts with this backward sneezy noise (below). How can I train her to settle down when we're running or walking??

- Backward sneezing/wheezing/piggy snorts?? Whenever we go on walks and she's tugging on her leash, she starts these piggy snorty type of noises that are almost like a reverse sneeze. It's the weirdest thing and she can do 20-40 in a row. It happens 99% of the time when she just won't slow down and walk nice and tugs on her collar/leash too long.


Sorry it was so long, and I actually have other things, but these are the two that I worry about the most. I'm such a newbie to raising dogs and want to do it right so that not only are we happy that she's behaving, but she's happy that she's behaving.
Thank you!

 

[Murphys Dad]

- Beagles are nose-to-the-ground dogs. Its what they do. As for the head harness, I don't like them. Too much strain on the neck. Try a Sporn No-Pull collar/harness. The rest is training. Find a PetSmart or PetCo in you area and sign up for obedience classes, or puppy socialization classes if necessary. As for the zoomies, thats how puppies burn off excess energy. Again... obedience training will help.

- The reverse sneeze. Summer does it all the time on walks until she calms down. Its very common in beagles. It comes from JoJo pulling on her leash, putting pressure on her throat. That triggers it. It will happen until you get the walking under control. Simple remedy, gently pinch her nose closed until it stops. It forces her to breath through her mouth, breaking the cycle. You may have to do it a few time to get it to completely stop.

 

[theregalbeagle]

Joe said it - they are nose to the ground kind of dogs. Patience is needed on their walks. Our pup is about 8 months old and we're in our 2nd round of obedience. We still need work on heeling, but he can do it for a short distance. Part of a beagles exercise is the mental stimulation they receive from following their nose, so I think it's essential; I don't expect him to heel the entire time.

I also have him sit before crossing streets and he MUST sit/stay (remain calm) in order to greet another person or dog. I feel rude sometimes but I'll ask the other person not to acknowledge until he's calm. Took some work but he's getting it.

The reverse sneeze sound is probably shortness of breath since she's pulling. Luckily our guys not a puller, but I've been told when they pull to turn and walk the other direction. This is another area where the sit/stay may work.

Like Joe said obedience training can help so if you can sign up. It's lots of fun too and a great way to bond with your dog!!! Good luck!

Guests in the house - again he needs to calm down before he can come out of the kitchen (which we have gated off).

 

[Sephly]

zoomies are a part of beagle ownership, Mine usually only does it after he gets a bath (aka the bathtime zoomies)
Nose to the ground walking is also another part of beagle ownership its hard to break them from a habit thats such a part of their hound dog nature, with training it is possible but...its very hard to achieve perfect walking habits with a beag.
My dog's never done the backwards sneezing thing that i've ever noticed but i'm sure its harmless its their way of clearing their airways.

Anyway good luck and welcome again.

 

[cheezyridr]

i know there are people here that don't like them, but i got a halti when sophie chewed through her harness. as long as she is wearing it, it has cured nearly all of the bad behaviors. as soon as i switch back, it's like she never knew what to do. as long as the halti is on, <span style="font-style: italic">she doesn't even need correction.</span> she does all the things i want her to do except for if she sees another dog she still acts like a lunatic. it suggests to me that she knows what i want, but doesn't really care.

 

[Smeagle]

As others have said head collars and other tools are definitely no substitute for training!

I use martingales/limited slip collars on my dogs, they are great for using in conjunction with a training program and are easy to wean the dogs off if you want to.

I taught Daisy to walk on a loose leash using the change of direction technique.

Every time Daisy pulled I would turn quickly on my heel a complete 180 degrees, forcing her to stop pulling and run to catch up with me. I would take a treat bag full of yummy, high value treats (chicken, sausage, cheese etc) and as soon as she caught up I would say yes and give her a treat.

The first couple of times you do it you won't get far but trust me if you are consistent the dogs learn pretty quickly that they will not get to where they are going by pulling! Start teaching it in a low distraction environment like your backyard and once the dog picks it up, move to somewhere a bit more distracting.

Any time we let our dogs pull on the leash we are effectively training them to do so, as they learn that pulling gets them where they want to go. It is worse with beagles because scenting is very rewarding for them, so if they pull and get a scent in the process they are essentially rewarding themselves for pulling!

I also found teaching the 'look' command invaluable. I would start at home by giving her the look command, saying 'yes' as soon as she looked at me (to mark the behaviour, you could also use a clicker) and giving her a treat and lots of praise. Once she had perfected the command I started using it on walks. Now if we are on a walk and she picks up a scent, I can say look! and she will stop what she is doing, come to heel and look up at me!

Good luck with your training

 

[Smeagle]

Originally Posted By: cheezyridri know there are people here that don't like them, but i got a halti when sophie chewed through her harness. as long as she is wearing it, it has cured nearly all of the bad behaviors. as soon as i switch back, it's like she never knew what to do. as long as the halti is on, <span style="font-style: italic">she doesn't even need correction.</span> she does all the things i want her to do except for if she sees another dog she still acts like a lunatic. it suggests to me that she knows what i want, but doesn't really care.

Cheezyridr, the halti *is* giving your dog a correction. It is an aversive tool, just like a check chain and prong collar. A dog's face is full of highly sensitive nerve points and having the halti there means it is aversive to the dog. This is why it appears to work so well.

If it wasn't correcting her she would be pulling - that's why when you take it off she reverts back to pulling, you've used the halti in place of actually training her not to pull. The behaviours are not actually cured, you've essentially just put a bandaid over them.

Tools are great for helping us to train our dogs but it is important to remember that we need to teach the dog how to do what we want, too.

 

[allan]

well i can't add antything to this but i will say yep you got a pure bred beagle.

 

[Erin]

We use a harness that is made by the same company that makes the head collar thing. It's call an easy walk harness and the leash clips in the front. It does help some with the pulling and keeps the pressure off of their neck. If I try and walk Daisy on her collar and she pulls she'll do the reverse sneezing thing.

Good luck!!

 

[jassy]

You already have lots of good ideas here. I just wanted to say that obedience training helped me a lot in learing to work with Maggie. If you are able to take a class I highly recommend it.

 

[Zookeeper]

We also use the martingale collar on Duke. Violet uses a harness, but I plan to change to a martingale for her, too. I think it provides more control and makes training easier. I also learned to wear them out before a walk so they aren't so crazy right out of the gate.

The more you walk and train JoJo, the more progress you'll see. They still walk nose to ground, but that's what beagles do.

 

[JoJo's Mum]

Have you tried loose lead walking with her? By the way LOVE her name! I have a JoJo aswell!

My JoJo pulls like a freight train!!! What I do is when we are on a walk and she pulls I do a quick turn in the opposite direction the same as as saying her name. If she pulls again we repeat this process. We've been doing it now for a week on every walk. She is slowly getting it into her head that when she pulls we dont really go any where! My cocker picked it up with three turns.

 

[bubbles]

Welcome to beaglehood. When I walk Snoopy I only use a harness. She is the typical nose-to-the-ground hound. Hounds rely so much on scent that I let her do her thing when we walk. Personally, I would not use a nose harness. I don't like them.

Zoomies? Need I repeat? Welcome to beaglehood. Since we hit a warm spell (finally), I gave Snoopy her first bath for the year yesterday. Spent 45 minutes trying to dry her off. And every night around 9:00 pm...zoomies. She is like clock work.

 

[tntnjmom]

Oh goodness! THANK YOU for all of the responses. Let's see if I can address all of them without leaving anyone out. )

The nose to the ground thing doesn't bother me as much as the pulling does. We stopped using the head collar b/c she just hates it and it just seems like the backward sneezes get worse when we use it. If we use just her collar, she gets REALLY bad, so we've been using a regular harness and she's doing better. Still pulls, but at least her neck isn't being bothered.
I do need to give the quick turn technique a try. However, I have a feeling that she'll just see it as fun! ) She's all about playing and I'm sure going in a circle would be a blast for her. I'm hoping that by following your advice, it'll help.

I do need to enroll her in some obedience classes. We've had some other expenses come up, so I'm trying to do what I can here at home, but I know we're both going to need them. I want to learn all I can and do things right so we're both happy.

I actually LOVE her zoomies. I think they're hilarious. Just not in front of company b/c they can get freaked out.
Coffee zoomies - NOT good. ) She grabbed hubbie's coffee mug somehow one day and drank some. That was the world's longest zoomie ever.

(very cool, JoJo's Mum! It was her name from her previous family and she was used to it. It suits her well!)

Thanks again for the responses! )

 

[Smeagle]

Originally Posted By: tntnjmom
I do need to give the quick turn technique a try. However, I have a feeling that she'll just see it as fun! ) She's all about playing and I'm sure going in a circle would be a blast for her. I'm hoping that by following your advice, it'll help.

If you do it properly and get your timing right, as well as rewarding her at the right moment, it will definitely work!

It is about teaching her that she gets no where by pulling.

Remember to take high value treats that she doesn't normally get to use as rewards, and try using the look command too so that when you change direction and she has to catch up with you, encourage her to 'look' as she approaches your heel and get her focus on you.

The change of direction needs to be really precise, so as soon as she starts pulling turn quickly on your heel and walk quickly in the opposite direction. Once she catches up to you that is when you give her BIG praise and encouragement for being on a loose leash. Once you get that you can incorporate the 'look' command.

And as I said before, start in a lower distraction environment and work you way up to a higher level of distraction once she is working nicely on the leash.

You might also find a properly fitted correctional collar (like a martingale) will help you too.

 

[nmartin32]

what are zoomies?

lol. Sorry don't know the alot of terms

 

[kgh]

In our house they are the gear a beagle kicks it into when the devil himself is after them, or when they have just had a bath and there is no way they want you to dry them off (at least before they get to go outside and roll in something gross AGAIN), or when they are being chased and the clans honor in on the line if they get tagged it.

Here in Colorado - home of the Air Force Academy - is what the cadets are called.

 

[Tucker]

I have a small house so when Tucker gets the zoomies get out of the way or you will be run down. It only takes him 2 or 3 seconds to go the entire length of the house. We do plan on getting a bigger house. He usually only gets them when he is wet. (In the Pacific Northwest, that happens a lot).

 

[boo3792]

The beagle zoomies are very adoring.
My little Beanie has two zoomies a day, one upon waking, and one before going to bed, and they are at the exact same time every day!

And thanks for asking these questions! I've also been wondering how to train Beanie to walk properly on a leash as well, since the weather will be getting warmer soon!

 

[Genie]

Hi and Welcome! My Shiloh is my first beagle too, and when we got her I didn't realize that's the way beagles walk--nose to the ground, tail flying. I remember the first time she picked up a scent and started arrooing while her nose was still to the ground--I thought she had sniffed something up her nose and was in pain!! That's just the way they are. Training is good. I didn't take Shiloh to school, and have often wished I had.
Reverse sneezing is normal too. I usually put my hand over her snout till she stops. It sounds like it hurts, but she awakened from a sound sleep to make her snorty noise then gone right back to sleep.
Enjoy your babe. Beagles are wonderful dogs!