Training Tips

Basic Training – You must be nearby to supervise and reward good behavior from the beginning. Provide frequent opportunity to eliminate in an appropriate place and reward this behavior immediately as it occurs. To do this walk your puppy on a leash at regular intervals. Puppies need more frequent walks until they can reliably control their sphincters. The most predictable times are when the bladder is full after naps, eating, drinking water and after arising in the morning. It is best to walk 15 minutes after a meal (within).

Leash Walking – Walk the puppy on leash, letting him sniff areas, incorporate some fun into walking him on leash. When he has eliminated tell him/her in a soft voice how good he is and reward him with a tidbit as you say this. Immediate encouragement is needed for your pup to learn to eliminate in an acceptable area. If your pup is initially afraid of the leash leave it on indoors for brief periods without holding onto it. When the pup becomes more accustomed to the collar and leash take him for brief walks indoors before graduating to outdoors. It is pointless to punish your dog at any age for accidents that occur in your home. A dog only remembers its act for a total of 3 minutes so not to catch him in the act and then punish him is not going to work.

Crate Training – Crate training is based on the premise that puppies are unlikely to eliminate in or near an area used for rest. This method is used when owners cannot always be nearby to take the pup outside to eliminate. A puppy who naturally avoids voiding inside his crate may eventually adjust to longer periods of crate confinement when you are absent. It will also prevent any destructive behavior should you be absent from the house. This method works well with most dogs. They should not be crated for longer than three hours during the day without going out to eliminate. They can be crated overnight but young pups probably will have some accidents in the beginning until they learn to control their bladder for longer periods of time. Dogs vary from 8 weeks to 6 months of age to learn. Your pup needs time to adjust to a crate so a long as he has been watered, taken out, and played with you must ignore the little whining and barking that the pup might display for attention. He must learn to settle in when he is put in the crate. Choose a crate that is safe, constructed solidly and is easy to clean. Introduce the crate as a place with positive things. Toys, blanket, feed him in the crate. Leave the door open until there is no sign of fear. Encourage your pet to associate it with a safe place. The crate is your dog’s special place where it must never be disturbed or threatened. Never, never use the crate as punishment.

Stool Eating – After giving birth a mother keeps her young ones and nest clean. The mother stimulates the urine and feces of the pups with her tongue forcing them to eliminate. This keeps the nest clean, prevents disease, and removes odors that might attract predators. Newborn pups cannot voluntarily relax their sphincters until later in life. Young puppies may begin eating their own stools when the mother no longer does. Some dogs grow up with this habit either for attention seeking and some dogs just like the taste of another dog’s stool. The best way to avoid this is to remove the feces as soon as the dog or dogs have eliminated. You may have to leash your dog when you walk him to eliminate and avoid this habit.

Self Marking – Not really understood, this may be a territorial marking. The dog identifies itself with the environment by rolling in it. Rolling in stool may also have a predatory function. A predator on the hunt may confuse the prey by disguising its own odors with the scent of its prey. The best way to resolve this is to deny your dog the opportunity to do so. Remove stools, etc. from your yard.

Submissive Urination – Means an inferior social status between that dog and another or human. The posture tells us a very clear picture of submissiveness. Mostly this is in young dogs and more in females. It should stop when urinary sphincters mature but can go on into adulthood. The cure is to keep greetings brief and calm. Excited entrances and exits may worsen the problem. Avoid prolonged eye contact when greeting the dog. Do not pet the dog on the head or its back when greeting him. Walk the dog frequently to lessen what is in his bladder. Crouch or kneel onto the floor to present a less intimidating figure. Let your dog approach you rather than moving towards your dog. Punishment is not recommended as it only aggravates the problem.

Dogs and Human Society – Dogs perceive us as their equivalent ancestral pack. We must establish our place as the leader as dogs would establish it and if we don’t a dominant dog can become aggressive toward family members (intentionally or not) and assumes an inappropriate status of leadership. As much as we love our dogs we must remember they are dogs and not humans. Your kindness and tolerance may be perceived by a socially ambitious dog as a sign of weakness and therefore a chance to promote its own social rank. This does not mean you should be cold and stern but that you should be aware of how to interact with your dog. Your actions affect your dog’s reaction and your response to your dog’s behavior determines whether the behavior will be repeated.

Signs of Dominance – Puppies wrestle and roll during play and discover who is the strongest. For example, by playing tug of war with each other they discover each other’s stamina. By the time they are weaned and gone to their human families they have already practiced the skills to manipulate their new families to their own advantage. A dominant dog frequently resents being petted or brushed on the top of its head or neck and over the length of its back. This closely mimics another form of dominance by placement of a dog’s head or paw over the back or neck of another dog.

Regaining Control – Owners must be aware of the hidden meaning of subtle dominant behavior even in the form of play in dogs of any age. Games that encourage excited and uncontrolled behavior often lead to objection agitation in juvenile and adult dogs, increasing the chances of an aggressive outburst. Tug of war, chasing, wrestling and any interaction that teaches a dog any form of aggression towards people should be avoided. Alternative skills should include obedience; retrieving objects is a good example of exerting your dominance and to command obedience. Teach come, sit, stay, release object from mouth on command. From an early age dogs should be taught to assume submissive positions in the presence of any human being.

Learned Aggression – Once an animal learns that aggression is effective it is more likely to become aggressive again under similar circumstances. Aggression is an instinctive response that can become a conditioned response to any given situation. Do not correct intense aggression by immediately punishing your pet. Appropriate behavior should be encouraged at all times by reinforcing positive forms of interaction such as obedience skills for dogs. Sometimes if a dog is too aggressive it is best to leave the room. Aggression at the vet’s office is caused by fear and the incapability to escape. A dominant dog may be protecting its owner hearing other animal noises and being in a strange place. Placing a muzzle on an aggressive dog has a calming effect. It is not cruel to muzzle a dog for brief periods of time.

Appetite and Health – Beagles in general have a hardy appetite. Obesity can set in and can lead to various physical illnesses, including heart, kidney and liver problems. Additional stress on joints from excessive weight leads to structural instability and arthritis. Overeating is associated with overfeeding. Feed a well balanced diet appropriate for the Beagle. Feed only at regular mealtimes – avoid snacks or treats between meals and get him plenty of exercise. Normally to test a dog’s weight to see if he is too heavy you should be able to lightly with your fingertips go over his rib cage and feel it there. If not then he is too heavy.

Stone Chewing – Is probably a form of play but it can be harmful. Teeth may be broken or worn exposing the pulp, which can become infected. Small stones may pass through the length of the bowel without consequence. Larger stones may lacerate the intestinal wall or obstruct the passage of food resulting in severe illness, surgery, possibly death. Try to redirect this play towards another activity.

Water Consumption – Each dog requires at least 6 teaspoons of water for every pound of body weight daily. With hot weather or exercise water intake may be increased. If your dog is drinking water excessively do not limit his water intake because there could be an underlying medical problem and you may worsen it by limiting it. Wait and see your veterinarian for diagnosis. Some dogs drink more water just from anxiety.

Digging – This is normal behavior, exploring the texture of surfaces as puppies or after eliminating stool or urine. Some dig to create a resting place or to store food, bones, toys, etc. It serves to release anxiety. For example, digging associated with anxiety caused by a pet’s separation from its human family may be an attempt to escape and join them. To eliminate excessive digging give the dog more exercise. Limit his range in the yard by partitioning areas using x-pens. Digging can be a difficult instinct to curve and it is important to have realistic expectations. Sometimes working towards increasing your dog’s activity in general and social interaction combined with damage control is the best thing that can be done.

Barking, Whining, Howling – Reflects a dog’s emotional state. A dog that is excited or startled may bark to express its agitation. It is important for you to realize that your reaction to your dog’s barking or whining will determine its behavior in the future. Vocalization is an attention seeking mechanism. However, some dogs bark because they can. In order to come to a resolution regarding barking, the underlying cause first has to be understood. If it is for stimulation you will need to increase activity. Additional recommendations include bark collars that release harmless but disagreeable citronella spray when triggered by barking. Your dog can learn to behave in ways that attract attention if you reward behavior with attention. If your dog barks when it sees food and you give it food the dog will learn to bark for food. This dog may go on to bark in various situations, many inappropriate. Sometimes the best way to deal with barking is to ignore it. By giving your dog attention, whether positive or negative, you are encouraging the barking. Territorial barking is an instinct but if you get up every time your dog barks to see it will soon associate barking with a reward and anticipate praise or attention the next time it barks. I conditioned my dogs to come and when they do they are being rewarded for coming into the house, which is associated with the last thing that they did.

Destructiveness in Puppies – Mouthing, chewing and biting objects are all part of a new puppy’s exploration of its surroundings. However normal, this needs to be controlled and/or corrected. To be effective punishment must be timed correctly and must be appropriate. Unless he/she is caught in the act there is no sense in scolding. They have to be caught within seconds. Substitute the objectionable activity with an acceptable activity. Example: if he is chewing your slipper gently remove the slipper without playing tug of war and give him a rawhide bone and praise him (Good Boy!). Attention seeking destructiveness comes from a dog that does not have enough positive interaction with its owner and may resort to objectionable attention-seeking behavior. In this case don’t pay attention or make eye contact. In fact, leave the room and he probably will drop the object and seek you out. Praise him and begin another activity right away that is acceptable.

Abnormal Behavior Associated with Common Medical Disorders - Irritable aggression may be the first sign of a medical problem. Gradual temperature change may be accompanied by physical changes. Skin inflammation can cause itchiness and irritation, which may be caused by allergies, external parasites, metabolic diseases, dermatitis caused by viral or bacteria. Anal sac infections can also be a cause (anal sacs are two scent glands on the side of the anus which are supposed to excrete liquid when the dog eliminates). Sometimes the sacs do not excrete this and they become full and sometimes infected and need to be squeezed. The dog will usually bite his back end, tail and scoot on the ground.

Head Shaking – Can signal ear infection, especially on beagles with long floppy ears. Ears will usually have a foul odor and black or brown discharge when infected. They need to be treated faithfully or eventually they will develop polyps from chronic ear infection and lead to punctured ear drums, possibly requiring surgery.

Dental Disease – Usually will start showing on teeth around 2 years of age on the back molars and canines which if not cleaned can become infected at gums. If let go too long can destroy organs – heart, kidney from infection going into system. Brush dog’s teeth at least twice a week. TD is a very good food to help get rid of tartar. When dog’s teeth have infection they will start to not want to eat their hard food and be moody.

Behavior Problems after Hospitalization – Sometimes when a pet is in the veterinarian hospital and returns to its household where there are other pets they might get into a little tango. Reason is that while at the hospital all those strange scents of other animals are clung to the dog’s coat along with the scent of anesthetics. This confuses the other dogs as a challenge to a strange situation and the dog returning home has to defend himself as if saying, "Hey, I just left for a while but I still live here."

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The Aging Dog – Common problems of aging pets are loss of sight and hearing. With your help a dog can learn to compensate for its loss of eyesight. Avoid moving its food, bedding or furniture. You may first notice deafness when a dog does not respond to his name or if it responds only to louder noises or voices. With hearing impaired dogs you may rely on hand signals rather than verbal commands. Arthritic changes may also be noticed in older dogs, especially if they are obese so watch the diet and feed him a Senior Diet.

Male or Female? I find every dog has his own personality and gender does not matter. Of course a male should look like a male and a female look like a female. Both sexes mark territories and both sexes can be submissive or dominant. So you choose a good healthy dog with a good temperament. Physical beauty and gender should be secondary considerations.

Basic Obedience and When to Start Training – The moment you acquire the dog is the best time. As soon as your puppy is exploring his environment it learns what behavior is acceptable and which is not. It’s the basis for all future patterns (desirable or not). He should learn 5 basic commands – Sit, Stay, Come, Down and Heel. Say the dog’s name first, followed by the command. There are local kennel clubs that put on dog obedience classes for about $100.00 for an 8-week course. Remember an obedient dog makes a better citizen.

Training Your Pet to Tolerate Children – Most problems develop at toddler age, when baby is crawling and then it learns to walk and your dog’s view of the child may change. Predatory behavior may be awakened. Take time to reassure your dog during supervised interaction and teach your child to respect your dog. A child should be taught how to interact with a dog appropriately from the time the child crawls and then walks. Young children have no perception as to the pain they can inflict on a dog by jumping, biting, kicking, squeezing, hitting, pinching, twisting or pulling. Many children scream in a dog’s ear to awaken them or persistently chase it, giving it no peace. The child’s friends should also be monitored with dogs when playing.

Spaying or Castration – Unless you have acquired a dog for show and/or breeding purposes I recommend spaying or castration at 6 months of age. Contracts that are given during purchase state this. Neutering your pet will eliminate unwanted overpopulation and decrease the chance of the female getting mammary tumors by 99 percent if done at age 6 months, hopefully before she has had her first heat. For the male it lessens his chance of testicle tumors and prostate problems and lessens his chance of roaming should he smell a female in season. Remember that neutering does not alter basic temperament and intelligence. Your pet will not become less affectionate or playful nor will it resent you.

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