Half an hour is not very long for a dog when it is left on it's own for that long. I understand that you have to work, but the dog doesn't.

My guys only get half an hour in the morning and an hour when I get home, but they are never left for more than 4-5 hours.

Beagles are very pack orientated animals so this amount of time, especially for such a young dog is too long.

Ideally you should look at ways of reducing that time i.e neighbour, dog walker etc. An older dog would be better at dealing with this, trouble is when you take on a dog this young or buy a puppy, you shouldn;t, unless you can care for it properly. I don't mean to have a go, but 7.5 hours is too long.

You also need to extend your walks first thing, if you are going to leave him. I would say an hour off lead would help, but you will prob still have a problem.

Sorry to sound so doom and gloom. All the rescue organisations say that dogs should only be left for a max of 4 hours. There is a reason why the experts give this advice.

i walk my dog for around 45 mins when i get home. she is only 8mths, not yet fully grown. i have been very well informed & advised by the very highly acredited breeder and my vet that no puppy should be over exercised in their puppy stage. as this causes over developed muscles which can cause health problems in the future. as it is, im walking her more than i should be.

Hi, Beagles are definitely a handful aren't they, Alfie is now just over a year and although he is great in some areas, he def tests our patience every day in others!

Can I ask, does he chew on the days when he is left for 4 hours and the days when he is left for 7... or is it just on the 7 hour days? It is a long time to leave a dog, we use a dog walker with Alfie, it's £11 for an hour so not too bad. I wouldn't ever have considered trusting anyone else with him, but I've been out with her and she also owns a Beagle so understands he's not like any other dog!

We've been quite lucky, although Alf is very destructive with his own toys, he's been quite good with our furniture! There seem to be a few different anti-chew sprays on the market, we tried several to begin with, but to be honest, he seemed immune to it! Other people have suggested things like hot curry paste.

Frozen kongs are great, we freeze stock which he seems to quite enjoy, just cover the end with peanut butter. Also, he loves to chase empty bottles with treats in, as long as he can't eat the bottle, this keeps him occupied for ages. The only other thing I guess is a pen, rather than keeping Alf in it, we stretched it out and used it as a barricade to keep him in one half of the room to limit destruction!

I hope things improve for you soon

Yes she certainly is a handful!!! To be honest I don't know when it is worse a I have only discovered her chewing. I have doused the bottom of the cupborads with behaviour spray which I know she doesn't like and have bought more bordom busters. She has a kong filled with frozen cream cheese.
We will see how we go.