[reenblack]

Hi all, :wave:

We are looking into getting a beagle to add to our family. We have two children, 8 and 5, and a 2.5 year old golden retreiver, Max. Because beagles do better with other animals around I'm thinking that our well behaved dog will be helpful with training/socializing. I have "Training Your Beagle" and have been reading "The Beagle Handbook"...which has made me even more aprehensive with how much it says beagles are independant and hard to train.

Beagles look like such great dogs, I am just worried about some of the negatives. Such as not being able to let him/her off leash much or ever, distructive behavior, more difficulty in training, etc. I will be a SAHM for at least the first three months after we get it, I successfully crate trained Max, as well as took him to puppy classes.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks!

:animal18: :animal18:

 

[Murphys Dad]

Welcome to the BW pack... almost.

Labs and beagles are a great mix. My father-in-law has had many labs ovber the years. Summer and Murphy have always had a good time there.

As for "destructive behaviors", that goes for any breed puppy, not just beagles. You trained your lab, you can train a beagle. Beagles are very loyal, loving, and playful as well as intelligent, self-reliant, and stubborn. The last three traits are good, but combined can make training tougher, but not impossible. You are raising two kids, thats harder.

On leash only... thats is a beagle fact of life. Beagles are tracker/hunters by nature. They are ruled by their noses. If they get on scent, they go deaf (not literally). They will follow that scent trail until they lose it, which could be miles away. I recommend a fenced in yard for any beagle owner, not an invisible fence. They will follow the scent through the I-fence, but are smart enough to know what will happen if the try to come back through into their yard. I-fences also do not keep other critters out.

Good luck.

 

[Murphys Dad]

Training a beagle IS NOT the same as training a herd dog or a retriever. Both of those breeds were bred to turn to their master for direction. Beagles were bred to be independant thinkers. That said, beagles are very pack oriented and they will see you as a member of the pack. They wan't to please the pack so training while different is not hard in almost all cases EXCEPT RECALL which Murphy's Dad has already alluded to. Beagles will respond well to treats and praise BUT will respond negatively to seperation and/or chastisement. As long as you have a good beagle containment area, they will be fine. Except the fact that you will need to walk them on a lead. My beagle always evaluates all his options when called and 95% of the time, the love I dispense when he comes to me is evaluated as the best option BUT if his nose is engaged, the onoly way to get him is to reel him in (He wears a tracking harness so reeling him in is just a case of pulling him back! It annoys him as he has already called me (Arrooooed) to tell me about latest scent discovery and in hios mind, can't understand why I'm not as excited as he is!


I rescued my beagle when he was somewhere between 3 and 5 and I had a great adjustment. I had a nice fenced backyard which had satisfied all previous rescues but my new beagle expected to be with me in the house whenever I was home. I sought advice from Kristine Kraeuter's while she was writing that book. I learned to think like a beagle and I must say, my next rescue will be another beagle.

 

[BookerMoose]

Quote:Originally posted by bob:
My beagle always evaluates all his options when called and 95% of the time, the love I dispense when he comes to me is evaluated as the best option BUT if his nose is engaged, the onoly way to get him is to reel him in

Welcome to Beagle World! I have never had another breed of dog so I can't compare our three to anything else - but I do agree with everything Murphy's Dad and Bob have said... and in particular Bob's comment above (which I couldn't have said better myself).

But although that "weighing of the options" is the most frustrating thing about our beagles (and sometimes I want to throttle one or all of them as a result), I have to say that it is also one of the things about them that I absolutely love the most!

We did adopt all of our three as adult or near-adult rescues (ranging in age when we adopted them from 7 months to 3 1/2 years) - so a lot of the hardest and most frustrating parts of their training were already done by the time we got them... so adopting a slightly older rescue rather than a baby puppy might be an option for you to consider.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[reenblack]

Thanks for all your responces! I guess all dogs/breeds are different just like all kids are different! I'm sure after I read more and freshen up on my other past readings I'll be ready for our new addition. Our retreiver couldnt have treats as rewards becuase he has allergies, so maybe training will be easier in a way!!!

--I talked with my husband about getting a rescue, but he really doesnt want to bring a possibly abused dog into the house with two small kids.

Thanks again, I'm sure I'll be back on these bords in the near future!!!