Hi, I was wondering if anyone can help. I have a beautiful Beagle puppy called Alfie, he's 8 months old. He's loved to bits, maybe even too much! He's surprisingly good when he's being walked, our main problem is in the house.

I know Beagle's are pack animals and they can be stubborn and howl a lot, however I still feel there is room for improvement with him. We've done 12 weeks of classes, he knows sit, rollover, off, wait etc.

The three main problems are his: descructive behaviour, being over excited when guests come and barking non-stop.

One of his fave things at the moment, is in the mornings, he takes a biscuit, one at a time from his bowl, puts it on the sofa and barks at it. It's not necessarily a problem, I'd just like to understand why he does it!

Also when people come over, he gets so excited, and regardless of whether they ignore him or show him lots of attention, he just barks and bites (gently) them. He gets so worked up, it's like he has to be chewing something, and sometimes the only thing good enough is an arm!

Any advice/ info would be much appreicated, I'll try and work out how to put some photos on.

Thanks

Hi and welcome to the forum

Sounds like he is teething - get him a kong and pack it inside with crushed dog biscut and a little low fat soft cheese so you have a paste. This should divert the chewing to an acceptable object - they do just need to chew to get their teeth sorted out properly.

He's doing well at his training. You could try Enough! in a sharp tone to get him to stop barking. Or if he is barking to tell you people are coming (and I've got one that does this) then say Thank you in a soft tone and make it clear that you are now dealing with the situation - going to the door or whatever. My girl gets Thank you for being a watch dog (spaniels can never be a guard dog of course - lick you to death) and Enough when she is just having a bark - often she is snitching on her mum though.

Sgurr

Hi Sgurr,

Thanks for the advice, he's currently on his 3rd Kong, having eaten the last two! I do try and use it daily and put different things in, tuna, soft cheese, frozen stock etc to keep him interested.

He's just so destructive, to be fair, most of the stuff he destroys is his, but he just keeps going until there is nothing left of it.

The barking can be a real nightmare, I've tried giving him loads of attention and sitting down and talking to him and he carries on. I've tried ignoring him, barking back at him, everything! I just wish I knew what he was saying!

I'll persevere...

sorry no advice , just wanted to say that my dog does something similar to yours ... every time I give Toffee his chicken he sniffs it , barks at it, throws it in the air, barks at it some more , then eats it
No clue why he does it , but as he's having fun it doesnt bother me ... does make me a hypocrite when I tell the Grandkids not to play with their food though

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Hi it sounds like he is just pushing it a bit. A lady at our training class had the same problem and the owners used a spray can just to stop the initial behavior. Its just air in a can really that makes a pshhhhhhhhhhh noise. If the dog was getting excited they would spray the can near them(not at them) and then when the behavior stopped they were instantly rewarded. It was just something to stop the excitement. It might be worth a try I have also seen a few small metal disk (not sure where you get them from) thrown on the floor when the excitement/barking starts. This is enough to stop them then you treat them. It doesn't normally take too long for them to figure out if they are still/quiet they get a treat (you might need to use a lot of treats at the start) Timing is quite crucial. Hope this helps. There are lots of people on here with some great advice I am sure there are many other methods, it is just a case of finding which one suits you and your dog.

Hahaha! I have that problem with my beagle..
I know this is going to sound harsh.. but maybe seperating him from guests as i know i wouldn't like a dog chewing on my hand for attention and would not accept it from either of my 2 dogs.. The one thing to do is when he barks squirt him directly into the face with a water pistol full of cold water when he barks or howls saying the word 'quiet!' not aggressively, but firmly.. This causes shock and for some reason, helps divert their attention away.. Tell him to sit, then allow your guests to greet him, but if he gets over excited then you must seperate them again. You need to show him that sitting and being good creates fuss, howling creates a short sharp squirt of cold water that's not very nice.
As for destructive behaviour.. I can't say anything really because if i were to leave my beagle on his own free roam of the house, i'd come back to no floor etc! Just plenty of chew toys as they need their mind stimulating because they get bored easily.
You can actually buy a dog alarm in the shops or probably on ebay, it basically makes a really high pitched noise when your dog barks or howls, and apparently works!! Might be an idea into looking into buying one.
Hope that helps!! :-)

Sounds like obessive behaviour coupled with frustration. I could be wrong.

How often is he walked, for how long and what games are played?

What games are played in the house? If games are played in the house it gives you the chance to tell him when his excitement is ok and when it needs to stop with a clear start and end to a game.

Give your guests the option of shouting "NO!" when he starts to get a bit heavy mouthed with them and to refuse any attention. What happens if you stand and talk rather than sit and talk? When guests come round is he allowed to greet them at the door? If he is allowed to greet them at the door then try doing some training at the door. My dog would not sit in the hall way when guests came round mainly because he had never been trained to sit in that part of "the den". After a few sessions he gets it.

How does he react when you come home, walk in the room etc?
Again mine used to go nuts when I walked in and I would just walk straight back out again until he learned I would only stick around and play with him if he was nice and calm in his greeting.

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I have a very nice crown, its big and it has a gheco on it, have i got it on murray??

Thank you everyone for the advice, he does get extremely frustrated, if he's not barking he's humping anything and everthing! Yesterday was a great example, I was home with him all day, he got up at 7am. He had 3 long walks, where he was able to run off the lead, one of which was with another dog. In the evening as usual he became really hyper, our friend came round and we tried the ignoring trick. He barked throughout the whole of our dinner, we ignored him and then tried squirting him with water with no joy, he just got soaked! He tried humping our friend and completely destroyed his toy. He ran round like a loon then at 9.30 in the evening he gave in and finally collapsed!!!! We were exhausted!

We play hide and seek a lot when we are out on walks which helps with his recall.

I'm going to start 2 new posts now: thoughts on anti-barking collars and humping!

Thanks everyone

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