[mandydancer]

I like to jog every now and then and I love to take Shelby on walks, especially because I know she loves it, but she stops and sniffs everything, like I know all of yours do. Have any of you trained yours how to jog with you and stay focused? If so, I'd like to know how you did it!

 

[RosCole]

I tried to jog with Gino and boy was that a disaster! He stops very abruptly when he gets a scent and I wind up fumbling all over the place!

I do know others have mentioned they run with their beags so maybe they can offer some advice!

 

[Erin]

I used to walk/jog with our two beagles. I've kind of gotten lazy and Jason and I have just been walking. It took some doing to be able to jog with them, but it just takes practice. I worked with walking them first and trying to get them to focus on me. Treat bribery worked really well. LOL Now when we jog with them they're pretty good. Every now and then they'll veer off or cross in front, but for the most part they keep moving. Good luck!

 

[mandydancer]

When do you give them a treat? Just when they stay focused? It was crazy how fast we got around the block on our jog yesterday without shelby. haha I want to take her and let her get her exercise but she makes it difficult to say the least!

 

[Erin]

I give them treats randomly, but they have to either look at me and/or stop and sit when I stop. Now, sometimes Rocky will trot along with us just staring at us, saying where's my treat? LOL They also go bonkers when we pass other dogs, so we do what the trainer Victoria Stillwell suggests. When we see the other dog coming we get our dogs to focus on us by using a treat. Then when the other dog passes they get the treat.

 

[mandydancer]

You aren't gonna believe this because I was shocked but I took Shelbs for a jog with me and she was really lagging behind on the leash, as if to say Take it off me mom, I hate this thing! So i took it off, just to try it, because I figured if she was gonna run off I'd get my exercise in a hurry.. haha But she jogged right there beside me the whole time! She got distracted a little bit at times but she wasn't going anywhere-- I was so proud!

 

[Mollys Mom]

I am not a regular jogger but when I do want to run with Molly and Andy, I keep their leashes short, stay in the road and keep them moving. I never let them in people's yards anyway, they always walk on the road. Heads up and we move!

 

[west-one]

Short leash and keep moving seems to work for me; I started with a steady walk and gradually moved up to a quick walk, from there jogging was easy and even a short burst run is possible.

Just remember how much Beagles love to sniff around and let them have some time to enjoy the smells of the park.

 

[Erin]

I think the most difficult obstacle for us when trying to jog was that as soon as I'd start to move out of a brisk walk, our two would get so excited they'd start baying and howling. LOL I think they probably thought we were on the hunt. hehe

 

[RosCole]

Originally Posted By: Crazy DaisyI think the most difficult obstacle for us when trying to jog was that as soon as I'd start to move out of a brisk walk, our two would get so excited they'd start baying and howling. LOL I think they probably thought we were on the hunt. hehe

 

[BeagleWeegle]

Charlie is a full sniffer wiffer, so I found being on the road worked best seeing there are not many smells cept for tires lol

umm should mention the roads are not freeway oneslol

 

[mom2bentley]

Today I wrassle/walked my Bentley to the pet store and begged for advice on how to make him walk nicely (he pulls like mad). We walked out with a Halti, and the walk home was incredible! I can now see going for runs with him, withOUT him yanking me offside.

 

[collegepitbull]

I just have to get my dog really excited before the run and she will run fine. If I dont then she stops and sniffs everything.

 

[Pack Leader]

I would suggest good training to heel, either with classes, a training collar or a Halti. That's the only way I combated the nose LOL

 

[HoundHead]

If you want to get him to stop sniffing (I used to tell people that I was going to go drag my beagle around the neighborhood an I meant it literally) put a small dab of vicks vapor rub on the top of the nose. That way all they can smell is the menthol and they stop sniffing long enough to train them to walk correctly/run. You don't have to do it forever and a little goes a long way. Also make sure you train them to not cross sides while they walk before you run unless you just enjoy a good scraped knee every now and again. Oh and there is no way to avoid squirrels where I live so I've developed a sixth sense and learned to run in the other direction when I see one. I can hear them laughing sometimes I swear.

 

[mandydancer]

Hahaha, houndhead that's too funny! I guess I'm too new to this but what's a Halti?

 

[Smeagle]

Originally Posted By: HoundHeadIf you want to get him to stop sniffing (I used to tell people that I was going to go drag my beagle around the neighborhood an I meant it literally) put a small dab of vicks vapor rub on the top of the nose. That way all they can smell is the menthol and they stop sniffing long enough to train them to walk correctly/run. You don't have to do it forever and a little goes a long way. Also make sure you train them to not cross sides while they walk before you run unless you just enjoy a good scraped knee every now and again. Oh and there is no way to avoid squirrels where I live so I've developed a sixth sense and learned to run in the other direction when I see one. I can hear them laughing sometimes I swear.

Sorry but I have to disagree with you on this one - that's just cruel and completely unnecessary. A dog's sense of smell is incredibly strong, much more than a human's, and their nose is very sensitive. Putting vicks vapour rub on their nose would feel like a burning sensation for them. Some dogs would be so distracted by the pain they couldn't learn anything anyway! I don't want to sound harsh, but I am really gobsmacked that anyone would do this or recommend it.

In terms of teaching you beagle to focus a little bit of training goes a long way. Have you taught a focus word like 'look'? What training have you done with your beag?

Daisy doesn't bother scenting once I give the command words 'ready to work?' because she knows that I am always more exciting and rewarding then whatever smells are on the ground.

Head collars are a training tool that is like a harness for their head. Personally I'm not a fan as they leave a fair bit of room for neck/spine injury and many dogs find them highly aversive. If you are going to look at getting one just make sure you don't use it as a band aid for training, and actually teaching your dog what you want. It's generally best to consult with a trainer before using a head collar or any training tool so they can show you how to fit it and use it correctly.

 

[Smeagle]

I like to use my beagle's natural drive to scent and channel it with food drive training. She finds training incredibly fun and rewarding. A key is to make yourself The Most Exciting Thing Ever. I can get focus in just about any situation at any time in any level of distraction. No menthol on the nose necessary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drnd5u00Kvk

You can see towards the end in this video, that a strange dog walks past us as we're training and Daisy doesn't even notice it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxjJ5B_puAE