Is there anyway of not crating a Beagle

suki1964

alamaya wrote: »

ok to answer some points.
1) i dont work and then go to the pub. i ment at weekends when i have been home with him all day. I would never leave my dog for stupidly long periods of time.
2) Never really thought of the Guinea Pigs setting him off as he never even bats an eyelid at them only reason the hay fell off was because he was chewing the cupboard below it.
3) tried the kong but unless it just has the paste in it he is not interested. He loooooves the wubba version but they are only designed for throwing and if he has it for an hour or so he has managed to destroy them.
4) I work Mon-Fri and my husband works Wed-Mon so there are 4 days a week where he is not crated at all during the day. We dont really go out more than twice a month so most of the time its night only. He is walked twice a day, i play tug/fetch for 30+mins a night and then he is pretty much asleep on me.

Thankyou for coming back and giving more info

I would suggest puppy proofing a larger area - kitchen perhaps? And slowly but slowly extend the time hes left out the crate - reward the times hes not tried to destroy things and ignore the times he has. But if say two hour max is as far as he gets then you may need to take that on board and perhaps arrange for a dog walker to break up his day?

Im guessing your lad is about 10 months old now? He really should now be getting past the destruction for destruction sake stage

Frugalista

suki1964 wrote: »

Well now IME dogs are only destructive (past the teething stage) through boredom

So maybe you need to look at how long hes being left for AND what you are leaving for him to do whilst you are out, AND what sort of interaction you have with him when you are there

Raksha wrote: »

You go to work and then go to the pub - so how many hours a day (minus time when you are asleep/preparing meals/otherwise engaged) does he have your attention?

It's also a little worrying that you have a Guinea Pig cage (presumably with GP/s in it) in the same room. This must be so frustrating for a hunting dog like a Beagle.

Fire_Fox wrote: »

You didn't ask whether the OP left toys or went to agility or training, your post read to me like you had assumed the puppy is bored. I didn't use the word judgemental in my post, you did.

Well, I'm sorry Fire Fox but, for the life of me, I can't see anything wrong with the points raised and questions asked by suki and Raksha . I think the assumption that the pup is probably bored is a fair one, so I don't understand why you appear to be so cross about their posts ??

suki1964

alamaya wrote: »

as i stated i do everynight as he was very destructive when younger when left alone. I am therefore asking now how i can safely decrate him.

Hopefully yes - as long as its a safe area - no wires, or objects he can eat and swallow. Like I said , give it a go for short periods and see. Im sure my lad here was fine from around 8 months old having the run of the house - I stared him in the crate, then hall, then hall kitchen etc

alamaya

thanks for the replies everyone. I have taken it all on board and will give it a bash.

foreign_correspondent

alamaya wrote: »

thanks for the replies everyone. I have taken it all on board and will give it a bash.

does he chew whilst you are there, or only when left alone?

Oldernotwiser

Can you fit a dog flap so that he has access to the garden while you're out?

foreign_correspondent

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Can you fit a dog flap so that he has access to the garden while you're out?

it may be an idea - but, personally, I would never fit a dog flap - firstly, because of the risks to the dog. You are actually increasing the areas he has access to, and can chew in, so you would need to do a lot to ensure the garden is safe for him to be in unsupervised too.

He may be outside and digging under the fence, or learning to climb over it whilst you are out, or chewing poisonous plants, or finding things to scavenge. For example, my neighbour used to throw things over the fence for the dog, thinking she was being kind (cooked spare rib bones, which are dangerous as they can splinter, choccy biscuits, etc etc). Also, it is increasingly common for dogs to be stolen from gardens, sadly.

Also, if he starts barking, you will have complaining neighbours, and like someone on here recently they may take steps against the dog to reduce this.

Personally, I would also be dubious about fitting anything bigger than a catflap, because of security concerns

Finally, most dogs seem happier if confined to a smaller space whilst the owners are out - some dogs can get quite anxious if given too much freedom - it is almost as if they feel thay have to protect the whole house and become stressed - a confined place seems to make most dogs feel much more secure and happier.

I would be encouraging him to expend his energy whilst you are there, and to relax and sleep when you are not! Pups do need a lot of sleep, so it should not be too difficult for him!

hellnearth

Hello there
I have a beautiful Beagley Boy too and he's 5 now. He hates to be left alone too. He can still be destructive and tends to howl that deep hound dog howl. A friend was looking after him recently and shut him in my kitchen for a couple of hours cos he had to go out and thought that's where he would do the least potential damage. So Cody chewed through my plastic peg basket!
I agree with the unsuitability of the dog flap - if he's anything like Cody, he's a serial digger and wanderer. I've noticed though that he doesn't destroy if he's left somewhere he can see out of a window!! Think he's watching for us to come back.
A friend who had a beagle said hers settled down a lot when she got another dog. Bit drastic I know, but maybe it's a bit like kids in that they entertain each other. We are seriously considering investing in a Mrs Cody :-)

Oldernotwiser

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

it may be an idea - but, personally, I would never fit a dog flap - firstly, because of the risks to the dog. You are actually increasing the areas he has access to, and can chew in, so you would need to do a lot to ensure the garden is safe for him to be in unsupervised too.

He may be outside and digging under the fence, or learning to climb over it whilst you are out, or chewing poisonous plants, or finding things to scavenge. For example, my neighbour used to throw things over the fence for the dog, thinking she was being kind (cooked spare rib bones, which are dangerous as they can splinter, choccy biscuits, etc etc). Also, it is increasingly common for dogs to be stolen from gardens, sadly.

Also, if he starts barking, you will have complaining neighbours, and like someone on here recently they may take steps against the dog to reduce this.

Personally, I would also be dubious about fitting anything bigger than a catflap, because of security concerns

Finally, most dogs seem happier if confined to a smaller space whilst the owners are out - some dogs can get quite anxious if given too much freedom - it is almost as if they feel thay have to protect the whole house and become stressed - a confined place seems to make most dogs feel much more secure and happier.

I would be encouraging him to expend his energy whilst you are there, and to relax and sleep when you are not! Pups do need a lot of sleep, so it should not be too difficult for him!

I do think that a lot of this is being rather over cautious. We've always left our dog(s) in the garden when we're out; as long as you have good, high fencing I don't see it as a problem.

I don't believe in arranging my life round all the bad things that could happen, otherwise I'd have a nervous breakdown!

Lass

Frugalista wrote: »

Well, I'm sorry Fire Fox but, for the life of me, I can't see anything wrong with the points raised and questions asked by suki and Raksha . I think the assumption that the pup is probably bored is a fair one, so I don't understand why you appear to be so cross about their posts ??

At the risk of poking my nose in where it's not required, as I honestly do not have any constructive advice to offer the OP, I think that perhaps Fire Fox read the following quote the same way I did:

Originally Posted by Raksha
You go to work and then go to the pub - so how many hours a day (minus time when you are asleep/preparing meals/otherwise engaged) does he have your attention?

This initially read to me as if Raksha was suggesting that the dog was on it's own most of the day because the OP daily made a practice of going to the pub direcly after work! Sometimes it is easy to misread the intended nature of posts, that's often the problem online, and I can see were Fire Fox was coming from. I'm sure that it wasn't the intention of Raksha to be suggesting the OP was in the pub every day but I did feel that Fire Fox's intentions were good when he made his comments about the post and I felt I ought to say so.

I hope you manage to get everything sorted out Alamaya, I'm addicted to the Dog Whisperer, who I think would probably suggest he needs more activity to drain his energy!

Lass x