I got a three month old beagle (give or take a week) and I am running out of patience real fast. I love her to death but she is tearing me and my apartment apart. Yesterday when I got home from work I noticed she had eaten my blinds. Now I have a very big hole in one set of blinds. She also refuses to stop biting. I have had suggestions like using a rolled up newspaper, a watersprayer and hiting her on the nose. None of these things work. Please, if anyone can help, I will take any that I can get. Thanks.
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kennel training?
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I'm not too sure about the biting the furnature, what I can suggest though, if you ever see her going to chew something when you are in the house, hold her neck and push her head to the ground (not hurting her obviously), and firmly and loudly say "NO!", Don't shout it, just be firm with her, this shows her that you are the dominant one and she has to stick to your rules. Do exactly the same when she tries to bite you, every time. After you have done that and she has backed down. Send her away from you and ignore her for a few seconds. Don't worry, she wont hate you, we did the same with our dog, and now she is the most well behaved loving (hilarious) dog :)
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By the way, you wont have to do this for too long either, after a few times they kind of get the clue, :)
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when you are away, you need to put her in to kennel or cage to keep her from destroying your house. Instead of hitting her get her some toys to bite, play with her.
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1. I really don't like dogs. But yeah my thoughts were kennel training you could also try something like bitter apple, but it sounds like she's teething and doesn't really know what to do, at 3 months I think they're still loosing/growing teeth. She needs toys and she needs discipline. Creating restrictions for her might help. Like with kenneling.
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as with the biting especially.. or even with the chewing... a muzzle works great... when anything of the sort happens.. put a muzzle on her for about 20 minutes.. they really hate muzzles... and if you use it to teach her.. she will find that having it on isnt worth it...
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just dont leave it on too long... just enough to show her that when she is doing wrong.. its her punishment.... and be sure to express why she is wearing it.. as in... no biting.... no chewing the house stuff..
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Heres the thing, if she comes home to the destruction---then the animal doesn't know why it's being punished, unless it's immediate.
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Sarah's suggestion about dominance works very well with dog training. I've used it when training my dog and in fact I have seen this man use similar techniques on many of his shows... http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/dogwhisperer/ Basically you take on the role of "top dog" in the manner of a dog and let your "children" know you are in charge and there is no room for disrespect. If you have ever seen a show about wolves there is usually an alpha dog who lets the pack know he or she is in charge.
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Thank you all for your help. I have been told by many people that a kennel is the way to go. I just thought that it was cruel to do that to an animal. But I am going to get one cause I CAN NOT come home to a torn up house anymore. Once again, thank you all.
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Hey! i have taken a few courses on dog training and own 3 large breed dogs of my own My first advice to you is to get that puppy a crate!! make sure its big enough that it can stand up and turn around once its full grown (about a medium size should be fine) but not big enough it will make a bathroom area in it because then you will have a real problem lol. When you go out, put him in the crate, when you sleep, put him in the crate, and when you eat, put him in the crate. Beagles are hounds, the have noses like a million times better than ours and he will start getting into garbage cans and food cupboards as soon as he figures out he can, so i would get a crate as soon as possible. That is the first step to teaching him that you are the Alpha dog in the house, because dogs work in packs, they are part of your family but they view a family as a team, and every team has rankings. You need to teach him that he is the lowest ranked in the house!! Whatever you do, dont hit him with newspapers or anything else, thats just cruel and will make him handshy, and there are many other ways to let him know he is hurting you than hurting him!! Try yelling "OUCH!" as loud as you possibly can right in his face and then ignore him for about 3 minutes, this will teach him that if he bites, he doesnt get to play with you, also, get him tons of hard rubber toys like kongs, or nylabones, something he wont choke on but can chew on because he is teething up to the time he is 9 months and if his mouth hurts he will want to chew on your fingers, massage his gums but dont let him put his teeth on you, thats an "OUCH". Replace negative behavior with positive things, if he is chewing on something is is not supposed to chew on, go up to him, say a firm "NO" give him one of his toys or a good hard marrow bone or something he is allowed to have and after he has started going at it for a few seconds praise him for the cute and well behaved dog he is and tell him what a good boy he is, and make sure you handle is toys while he is chewing them to prevent him getting protective. Puppies are a lot like kids, they take a lot of work and its all about consistancy! I have a 9 year old beagle lab cross, a 5 year old american pitbull terrier and a 2 year old Rottweiler and they are all decently behaved dogs, every dog has their moments but you learn to forgive, just remember that leadership comes first, then "tough" love, then affection :)
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Wolfie that is great advise. I have a Jack Russel and she thinks that she is queen of all she can see. Having a crate works amazingly well. She used to pee or even poop in the middle of the night and that would drive me nuts. So I put her in her crate for bed every night for a week and after that she wouldnt release until the morning when I would get up. She had a couple accidents after but I would tell her No and put her in her crate at night for bed for another week and now I am not too worried about her having an accident. I put her in her crate when I go to work cause she will get bored regardless. I just make sure she has some water and her ball and she is good to go. I tell her I am going to work and she goes to her crate. Pretty immpressive. I havn't been able to stop her from jumping up in greeting me but she is so happy to see me that I guess it isnt entirely a bad thing. She just wriggles like crazy. She has dominance over our German Shepard/Chow but he doesn't appear to mind at all.