Hello everyone.

Six months ago we took beagle puppy and because she wasn't fully vaccinated at the moment we had to keep her inside for a month or so. We live in a second floor's flat and doesn't have private garden. So, we tought her to use pads. When she was allowed to go outside we removed pads, but she still used our stairs to wee. We used different sprays, kept saying that this is bad, washed stairs to kill scent, but she kept doing it.

We came up with idea and blocked intrance to the stairs with baby gates. That sorted the problem and for the last 4-5 months she does everything outside just fine. But when we tried to remove gates just to see what will happen she goes there and wees as before.

Also that created another problem which i need advise for. Basically she goes in front of those gates and starts barking when she wants to go outside. Every day she has good morning and evening walks and also one very long walk in the forests in the middle of the day.

But between those walks she still asks to go outside. Especially in the evening when she goes there almost every half and hour. I used to have daschund before and he lived in a flat as well. He was going out three times a day which was enough for him.

I believe our beagle also seeking attention by doing this as she knows i will have to go there and either bring her back in the room or take her outside for a minute. My wife works from home and barking is not helping at all.

Please let me know if anyone had same problem before and explain me step by step how do i train my dog to go out three times a day and not more. She is 8 months old and capable of holding it till next walk. Unfortunately we cannot just ignore her when she barks because of my wife's work...

Many thanks in advance!!!

I think you just need to be patient for a while longer, and eventually your pup will settle down in to the routines you set up for her. I have two dogs, one is just 4 months, so in the toilet learning stage, but we never kept him locked up in the house during his vaccinations. I think this 'stay inside for a month' thing during the vaccination period causes a lot of behavioral problems, I think the stimulus pups get from experiencing the world outside is more valuable than many vets give credit, but pick the locations carefully. It is obvious that your pup just loves to be out and about getting the sights and scents from her walks. If you have the time take her for a really long walk (several miles if you can) in the morning, enough to tire her out till her next outing, and then play some obedience games with rewards when you get back in the house. Keep her stimulated in both the outside and inside world, and hopefully she will stay settled, and probably sleep the rest of the time. My two dogs are an energetic Border Jack, and a looney Whippet, and they need around 5+ miles of walking/running a day, and the whippet pup gets about three hours playing games with us human house dwellers. This keeps them stimulated and contented most of the time, although the whippet is a thief and a total vagabond.

The problem you have is a dog with a naturally high prey drive and hunt instinct. Beagles are massively different in character to dach's, they have a much higher intelligence and are bred to work so she's needing another outlet. Obviously you are doing your best by giving her 3 walks a day but it's very hard for her to have no outside space to be able to potter about in. You need to keep her mind occupied, play games with her inside the house. Use her natural ability to hunt and seek. Do you have an agility class nearby? She's too young to take part fully now but nothing is lost by letting her visit the classes and doing the less phyisically demanding parts.

When on your walks you can start teaching her to 'find', either hiding yourself or toys. It's a great distraction and works her mind as well as her body.

Found this online which seems to be useful. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Beagles - Google Book Search

Beagles are wonderful dogs but a bored beagle isn't good news and you need to cater to her breeding and adapt to her requirements.

What happens if you ignore the barking? Would she then just go and toilet in the house?

If not, you need to ignore barking, wait for quiet, THEN take her out. So that she learns that barking gets her nowhere and that YOU are in charge of toilet breaks. Then you can maybe arrange a routine whereby OK, you're taking her out more often than you'd like, but it's on YOUR terms. Then gradually extend the length of time between garden visits...

That said, she is still quite young and can't necessarily hold on for that long yet, so don't overestimate how long you can leave it.

She clearly has a VERY strong association whereby stairs=toilet. All you can do is a) Limit her access to that place and b) Make sure that ALL traces of toilet smell are gone. Commercial cleaners often contain ammonia which to a dog smells like urine and can actually encourage them to revisit that area. A solution of biological washing powder is much better for cleaning up accidents - it gets rid of the smell and they're less likely to reoffend there. Obviously test in an unobtrusive area first

ETA a vet visit to rule out UTIs might be a good idea...