Urgent Beagle Advice Needed

mountainofdebt

I know Beagles are strong willed, bl00dy minded dogs but some urgent advice is needed.

OH & I have spent 2 hours tonight chasing the damned mutt.......when I walk him on my own (even if we're in a group which usually keeps him on the straight and narrow) OH does let him (or should that be let him off) the lead as the mutt does usually listen to him.

Anyway what made it worse was that the mutt spent a fair proportion of that time chasing a flock of sheep.....and yes I am fully aware of the potentially consequences of that - in fact I was very surprised that the farmer didn't appear .....though I appreciate that the mutt is extremely lucky he didn't.

Anyway as far as I am concerned now (and after tonight's escapade I think the OH agrees with me) the mutt will be permanently on the lead but I guess what he needs is to calm down - if I had to 'humanise' the problem he's like a teenager who knows what he shouldn't do but sticks his two fingers up at authority and does it anyway.

Would neutering calm him down ? Would formal training be an idea? OH seems to think that it would be a waste of money as he's convinced the mutt knows what he's doing but chooses to ignore our commands. Or would an animal behaviourist be a better idea?

MrsAtobe

How old is the damned mutt? What are you feeding him? Formal training is cheaper than a pet behaviourist, so worth a try first

mountainofdebt

He's just gone 2 and we're feeding him raw food.

OH leaves tomorrow for a fortnight so its just me and the mutt .......and boy will he know it (the mutt that is not OH!)

Person_one

Neutering would certainly stop him doing a runner if he smells a female dog in season. That instinct combined with his tendency to ignore you could be potentially disastrous. It won't completely change his character though, it may be that he always needs to stay on his lead when out and about.

I would definitely go for some training, not just for the dog's sake but for you and OH! You'll learn some tricks for keeping his focus on you and he'll get some socialisation and mental stimulation.

I've got one that likes to go selectively deaf from time to time though, so you have my sympathies!

mountainofdebt

Person_one wrote: »

Neutering would certainly stop him doing a runner if he smells a female dog in season. That instinct combined with his tendency to ignore you could be potentially disastrous. It won't completely change his character though, it may be that he always needs to stay on his lead when out and about.

I would definitely go for some training, not just for the dog's sake but for you and OH! You'll learn some tricks for keeping his focus on you and he'll get some socialisation and mental stimulation.

I've got one that likes to go selectively deaf from time to time though, so you have my sympathies!

tbh it scared the **** out of me (and I think OH will admit to be concerned as well) especially when he was chasing the sheep as I was fully expecting to see an irate farmer (and I would have fully understood his position) at any moment.

Part of the issue was that he saw it as a game...the area where we were wasn't the easiest to walk on ...and us chasing him was part of that game.

As far as socialisation is concerned that base is well covered....we walk with a group of dogs nearly every evening .

I think some sort of training is the way to go - though I think on a 1 to 1 basis would be better as he seems to see every dog as a playmate.

JonathanA

Beagles, as you say, are very strong willed, and even the best trained Beagle can play deaf when they pick up a scent and want to follow it. We've had ours for nearly 5 years and the only time she is off the lead is when she is in our secure garden - never when we're out on a walk as she wouldn't come back if she didn't want to.

We've been to dog training, she is absolutely brilliant indoors, but your assessment is right, they are like stroppy teenagers, if they don't want to do as they are told, they won't. The breeder we bought ours from warned us about this before we bought her and made sure we were aware of their traits.

You may be able to train him more, but frankly I think that you have got a typical Beagle, with all their inherent traits. A good supply of dog treats may help when you're out, but even that doesn't always work.

I'm sure they do see you chasing after them as a game and someone mentioned selective deafness. Ours will look at me sometimes, sit there, turn her head away as though saying "Not listening..."

Good luck - a person with a dog lead and no dog on the end is often said to have a Beagle!

krlyr

As Jonathan says, all the training in the world may not completely rid a Beagle of certain traits. I know many similar breeds can't be trusted off lead - catch a scent and they're gone, its ingrained in their genes.
As a compromise, I would invest in a long line (I prefer these to retractable leads) and finding securely fenced in areas - fields, parks, tennis courts, school fields, horse riding arenas/indoor riding schools etc. where you can provide offlead exercise without any risk if he fails to recall. I'd still train the best recall you can, but with this breed, I would probably follow strict management and leave the recall for true emergencies, such as a snapped lead/collar, rather than trust it to be failsafe on a daily basis.

mountainofdebt

thank you all for your words of advice.

As you say going off at the slightest whiff is something that beagles are infamous for and I think it scared OH more than me as the mutt has always listened to him before.

I know what you mean about the retractable leads and I think a shopping trip is in order. Its a pity really as we walk with a number of other dogs and he always seems to have a more fun time playing with them, but at the end of the day I can't risk him doing this again........the last thing I want is for him to get shot -which lets face it is the probable outcome had the farmer appeared.

krlyr

You may find that with a longline, and carefully checked-out walking places, you can drop the line for short periods of time. Means that if you watch him carefully (dogs will often give out subtle body language that they've caught a scent or that they're about to wander) you can just step on/grab the end of the longline rather than a game of catch-me-if-you-can with the dog.
When I first got Casper (GSD), he had moments of just deciding to bolt away from us, so he was restricted to a longline but we went on group GSD walks and over time we started dropping the longline for longer periods of times. Eventually he was fine being offlead 99% of the walk, we'd just keep him on at the start and clip him back on as we reached near the carpark. He's a bit of a different story when it's just us, but having a group of dogs to entertain him seemed enough to keep him with us.

shegirl

It's a beagle thing and most are always kept on leads because they do wander off!

I was lucky with mine,he'd come back,but never let off the lead-the lead dropped once or twice!

rising_from_the_ashes

krlyr wrote: »

You may find that with a longline, and carefully checked-out walking places, you can drop the line for short periods of time.

You can also get walking belts that you can attach your line to which means you can have your hands free and also your full body weight will provide more support if he pulls hard / takes off!