We have just had our new beagle "marley". he is 11 weeks old now and is already quite a handful!! looking forward to getting some help from all you dog experts out there as we are pretty new to all this. iv gotta say alot of the advice we have had so far (from various books and friends) seems to be quite contradictory. its hard to know whether or not we are doing the right thing half the time! im sure you are all going to help us though........please

Hello and welcome.
OOooo I love Beagles You must put some pics of Marley on here.
we have Bassets - scent hounds can be impossible sometimes... you just really have to drill things into them (in a positive way of course). They do get it in the end.

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Hi and welcome

Welcome to the forum

hi ya. and a warm welcome to you...what problems are you having with your pup?

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my website

http://janices-toy-poodles.piczo.com

Hi and welcome to the forum, This is a great place for advice - I have picked up so many helpful tips since joining.
I will say just like the authors of all those books you have we all have our own opinions
We are a friendly lot so just pick the advise that you agree with and thank the rest of us for our opinions

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Zipper and Lilly - my 2 little hienz 57's xx Sophie

thanks very much for the warm welcome everyone. a quick response to the questions above.... mainly at the mo he seems to get a bit aggitated at certain times and decides he wants to trash everything. also he is chewing absolutley everything. im sure this is natural but the sprays which are meant to stop this dont seem to work. any ideas?????????

Hi and welcome!

Sprays - is this your only dog? Are there any other cats or dogs sharing the house with you?

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Hi
What are you feeding Marley?
Are the episodes certain times after meals?
Maybe he needs more exercise, short walks, more play, good toys - filled kongs are great.
Puppy classes are wonderful (I think I loved them more than my pups )

With our youngins we start teaching them from day one mainly that we're worth listening to. This is what we start with - get some good smellin very small treats (some puppies are motivated by their kibble) and just engage him - get eye contact say good Marley in a nice sing songy voice (they seem to really like this)and at the same time give him the little treat. Hold his attention and praise and treat again. Have these little sessions throughout the day. Do this everywhere in the house, garden, park etc... After a few days cut back on the treats a bit and just praise. (Treat enough so they always have hope).
This really helped ours listen better, and it's a good premise for future training.

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another quick response.......
when i said sprays i meant the stuff you can get from the pet shop which is meant to be a deterrent to chewing. you spray it on furniture curtains etc etc. he is the only pet in the house at the moment. thanks again to you all for all of the ideas. i will be putting them into practice in a little while when he wakes up. he's a bit tired after our run in the garden chasing my old jumper!!!