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Beagle rescue - Help

760 views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  Woah 
#1 ·
Hi,

We have a beautiful 3 year old beagle. We have been his owner since March 2018. This is his 5th home. We are desperate to keep him and make it work, as I couldn’t bare to see him be rehomed again.

My first problem is his pinching food!

I have two young children, they can no longer walk around eating snacks as he will just take from them. He is so fast that sometimes I see it happening but cannot get there in time. He has taken food from the worktop, we have had bbq’s and family get togethers, he has taken burgers from adults hands as they are eating!! He’s climbed on my dinner table and taken pizza from a closed box at a party. I can’t really seclude him as our house is open plan and when we entertain our family is that big it’s so hard to keep up with where he is.

We’ve been to the vets had him weighed and are giving him the right portion of food for his weight. We have purposefully picked a high nutrition expensive diet for him as I know cheap dog food is no good.

We have had to put a lock on the bin cupboard as he would eat the contents of the bin including baby wipes etc which would then make him sick.

This leads me to the other problem, one way we can eat our food in peace is to put him outside at tea time. However he howls he will sit and the door because he can see us and howl!

My neighbour has complained to the council about him barking. They have come up with some ludicrous times. he goes out at 8.20am for 10 minutes before school run, he goes straight to gate as I load the children into the car and barks. He doesn’t toilet, then does it in the house when we go out because he spent the whole time howling. I did used to put him out at 7am but because of his howling now leave it till as late as possible. He will then go out for 1-2 walk fetching a tennis ball.

When my partner lets him out at 10pm before bed he never barks and we have no accidents through the night. I need something to work for mornings as I work part time and not always from home. And on my days off me and my little one go to toddler groups straight from the school run.

Just to add my children have learnt they eat their breakfast upstairs to avoid it being pinched by the dog. I can’t do this with dinner time.

I need some solutions before the dog warden comes back I’ve explained my situation to her but that doesn’t stop neighbours complaining.

I think he suffers with separation anxiety as I believe he wasn’t treated well in his previous homes. He has a basket full of toys some of which has food hidden in them.
 
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#2 ·
As you can’t use a normal baby gate to keep him away from you whilst eating but not isolated, look online for a dog pen or extendable gate.

Give him his dinner at the same time or a filled Kong and tell him to settle.

Is it possible to walk him first thing in the morning rather than just put him outside?

This might halt the mess in the morning and use some energy from the night’s sleep?

Can he go in the car for the school run, suitably restrained? At least if he barks/howls he won’t disturb neighbours.

When you have visitors, keep him on a lead attached to your waist.

At the same time as all of this try some training for alternative behaviours.

Look at kikopup and positively.com.

Look at the ingredients of his food as some can make dogs hyper.
 
#3 ·
We used to walk him to the childminder in the morning but unfortunately we had to change childminder which meant driving. We’ve tried taking him on the school run and leave him at the school gate, he would howl the whole time. but school sent an email to say no dogs left near school, I left him in the boot and he would get in a right state. I was getting up at 5 to walk him but it’s been difficult lately with a 2 year old not sleeping at night.

I tried the lead, it doesn’t help when family don’t cooperate, and unhook him and he goes straight to pinching food. My mum is the worst she comes for tea once a week and doesn’t get that he can’t be trusted.

Where can I find what ingredients would make him hyper?

He did have a crate for bed time which he came with but I felt the previous owners misused the crate and he would be more destructive with it round.

I will try feeding him at our meal times see if that helps.

I’m hoping family will now see how serious my concerns are and help rather than dismiss me. My father has agreed to take him to work when I’m out all day so he’s not on his own all day.

Thank you I will look at those links.
 
#4 ·
I think one issue, from what you say, is getting your (wider) family onboard (your mum in particular). You need to put your foot down. How about telling them that if he can’t be sorted out, he’s going to have to go to a rescue home (whether you mean it or not)? Tell them the things you’re doing to try and control him (and make h8m happier) are important, and them interfering is extremely unhelpful. You’ve got a bunch of issues here and you’ll need consistency if you’re going to resolve them.
 
#5 ·
Which food does he have?

Check the ingredients.

Consider a food with a protein that he’s not had before.

My lurcher became itchy when I used Senior instead of Adult of the same make and flavour (thinking it would be better for him) so I stopped it immediately and it seemed to be the trigger as his itching stopped within days.
 
#6 ·
Could you get a puppy pen? Pop his bed in there and give a stuffed Kong while you eat dinner so he can keep occupied but not feel excluded. See if you can get hold of different enrichment feeders to feed him his meals in and keep him occupied while you need him out the way.
I agree about taking him out for a walk first thing, it doesn't have to be long, just long enough to get him to toilet and have a sniff.
In regards to the noise keep a diary yourself and show that you are trying to rectify this by applying some of this advice.
 
#7 ·
Very much like typical beagle wanting to eat the bin contents and steal everything. (Much like a lab really...!!!).
Why do your children have to eat breakfast upstairs?! If they sit at a dining table and are careful not to drop their food, the dog can’t get it. I wouldn’t feed him at the same time as family, it’ll only reinforce his belief that your eating time means he’s going to get food too.
Maybe take him to toilet in garden in morning on lead so he doesn’t just howl/bark. 5 mins on lead giving him a toilet command to help him concentrate on getting his toilet done should save you a whole load of hassle of clearing up mess indoors.
Good luck with him.
 
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