My male Beagle, Benson, is 1 year and 8 months old.. If i had to describe him in one word, i'd get told off by my partner for swearing! But in 3 words - 'out of control'
It was great when we first had him.. He was naughty and chewed, but I didn't mind, as I knew that was what puppies did. He came back when I called him whilst off the lead.. Walked to heel, not pulling, if he saw another dog he'd get excited - but that was to be expected..
1 year and 8 months on .. both of my children put together are better behaved than him.. I even got a female rottweiler, she put him in his place indoors.. Now he is quite good indoors, sits, stays, lie down, stand, wait, leave it, bed etc.. But outdoors is the worst dog you could ever dream of.. He runs off, drags me on the lead.. Even strangles himself on his gentle leader.. Long leads he purpously bolts straight down the field and yanks my arm almost pulling me over.. Gentle leader, he chokes himself with his front legs not touching the pavement.. I've tried his favourite treats, dog whistles, even my rottweiler bitch can't seem to get his attention whilst we're out. They both get plenty of excercise too.
I understand that he is a beagle, and it's in his nature to sniff etc.. But this is beyond a joke.. He has got aggressive when i go to grab him and growls at me - not alot of the time, but has done 2 times now.. I've tried squirting him with water to get him to leave other dogs alone because if he sees one, he's already shot off to go and 'play' .. Jumps up on tables and worksurfaces at home to get a bread crumb - he eats plenty aswell, on a good diet.. It's just as if he's winding me up because he enjoys me shouting at him across the field so he can run away more and think it's a game. Any advice then I'm all ears!!!! Please someone help me to turn this dog's life and my own around or i fear i'll have to get rid of him! :-(

Hi,

I'm just beginning to realise how much hard work Beagles are! Alfie's 8 months and yes 'out of control' sounds familiar!

Your lucky he's good in the house, thats where we struggle. We're really lucky with Alf that out and abt he's generally quite good. Since he was young we played hide and seek on his walks, so everytime he got a bit too far ahead we hid... behind trees, bushes etc. Now every so often he turns around to check we're still there, we've only to turn around to walk the other way and he comes running. Admittedly, if there's another dog around, it doesn't always work! I met another Beagle owner the other day and she uses a harness as she can't control him otherwise.

With regard to the jumping up for crumbs, I haven't worked that one out...

Hollie

Lol. Thankyou! I'm so glad I'm not the only one struggling. Apparently there is a total different way of training them compared to every other breed... No idea what it is though!! Well i think if i hid behind a tree he'd be so happy he'd probably just bolt completely to be honest, he really has no interest so I think i might try and contact dog borstal, going to send them an email now.. see what they say!! then if i learn anything about it i'll let you know lol!! xx

hi folks,i am no expert on beagles (or any dog for that matter) but i do belive that beagles are very hard to train...now this next bit might just be me talking rubbish but i am sure i read somewhere that when a hound be it sight or a scent hound get a scent/sight of something then they basically shut all other senses down..so if a scent hound (beagle) gets a scent then it puts all its brain into scent/tracking mode and when we are standing in the field shouting on the dog its not that the dog is ignoring us,the fact appears to be that it is so intent on following the trail that it can not hear us..so you can stand and shout all you want but you will not get any response from the dog.i also belive your dog has hit the teenage years and is trying to push his luck as far as he can and this is why he will be growling at you now and then all you can do is be brave and let him know that you are in fact in charge and not him...the only way to do this is not to back down from your dog if he growls at you.hope this helps a bit and if all this appears just to be rubbish then sorry to have wasted your time...best of luck with your dog

Hi Nicola,
I haven't got a solution for you but I hope this post will cheer you up a little.
You are not alone! I go through the same thing but worse because I have TWO young beagles, sisters. They are just like your beagle but two!!! I walk them alone and they pull like mad, especially when they find a good smell, they go mad! I look like a nutter half of the times trying to keep hold of them, it's beyond joke! I feel mentally and physically exhausted after every walk. (i thought having dogs meant to be good for you...) Once off the lead they are off and completely ignore me, I know they can see me but they just want to do what they want - cheeky buggers! I do agree with the previous post that they do 'get into a zone' when they get a scent and that's it, they switch off - that's what I keep telling myself to stay sane but I did cry few times from sheer frustration.
A also tried to let them off the lead one at the time and they do stick around, sort of, but the one that is on the lead starts hauling so loudly that everyone in the park looks at us not understanding what's going on. I so envy the other dog owners who can just stroll through the park with their dog following them nicely...
But I do hope they will calm down once older, they just turned 1yr. They do have good days when they pay more attention to me. I think we have to accept that they are not like other dogs.
Sorry Nicola, as I said before, I can't offer a solution only sympathy. So when ever your beagle gets you down just think that it could be worse, you could be in my shoes
Good luck and all the best!

HI Nicola
I have an old hunt beagle, she is a little bugger sometimes but on the whole quite good. I think the mistake a lot of people make is that they hear that beagles are not well behaved so therefore when they are naughty people tend to excuse them because they are beagles. I don't think beagles are all that clever, which does tend to make life hard. They may know how to get round you and get on the sofa for a cuddle but the rest is pretty hazy. The best advice I could give you is don't let him get away with anything, this is an age where he will push every boundary don't let him pull you if he pulls you stop or walk the other way make him walk next to you and really work on his recall, my beagle runs of the lead and will walk to heal (on a lead). It is not impossible it just takes a lot longer and a lot more effort than most dogs to get the idea in there brains. Don't give up though they are worth it. The fact that he did all these things as a puppy means he can do it he is just pushing you to the limit! Don't let him! be firm but fair. If you think about it he is about 16 in our years so that's why he is pushing the boundaries. But don't believe all you hear about beagles they can become responsive well behaved dogs ( after a while hehehe) Hope this helps.

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Please don't take this the wrong way, but Beagles are Beagles, and you rarely see one at training school

Of course they can be trained, but it just takes a little longer

I would join a training class, but you must admit, they are lovely dogs with a great sense of humour.

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Have you tried contacting The Beagle association for advice. Hopefully you would find somebody there that could help

I think a dog like this would really bebefit from the "Nothing in life is free" method of training.

Here is a link which explains it quite well.

Nothing in Life is Free

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Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.

I have seen quite a lot of beagles in the various training classes I have been to with my 2. They always seem a complete handful, but something seems to click in them and they go into work mode and work really very well.

I would definitely go to training classes. This is actually the age where its more prelevant you go as they are at the horrible teenage stage. You definitely need to reinforce that you are boss, and maybe going to training class will build up your confidence with him and also hopefully try to desensitise him of other dogs as he will be working with other dogs around him.

I too have a breed that people perceive to be hard to train, yes they drive me completely and utterly nuts sometimes, and I will admit to having a good cry after a few training sessions. But even after having days where I swear I'm going to give in training I still persevere. My boy is currently training for his Gold award and if you had told me a year ago he would be in this class I would have burst out laughing, but yes it is bloody hard work for both him and me, but we are getting there. I also found because I have been going to training sessions every single week with my boy, I found training so much easier when our girl came along, because to be honest a lot of the problems stem from us, the handler, and with what I had learnt over the year I now have a 6 month old super star that is in her Silver class already

Good luck, and stick with it