Discussion
Yip, We have had our Basil Beagle for 18 months now, had him from pup. When I am back home and not on the phone Ill answer more in detail. but for now.
Crate training. Puppy classes, socialisation from an early age, have a game plan with training and stick to it. Training line on walks, say goodbye to being proud of your garden. Lots more to say, but we love him despite his unique chgallenges.
Crate training. Puppy classes, socialisation from an early age, have a game plan with training and stick to it. Training line on walks, say goodbye to being proud of your garden. Lots more to say, but we love him despite his unique chgallenges.
We have two beagle basset crosses.... Does that count.
We decided on two to keep each other company and it seems have worked so far.
They are fabulous, but stubborn.
Lots of socialising and plenty of exercise. We have managed to keep the garden intact, as they are only allowed in supervised.
We don't let them off the lead when out as I don't believe that they will come back once they have a scent.
We decided on two to keep each other company and it seems have worked so far.
They are fabulous, but stubborn.
Lots of socialising and plenty of exercise. We have managed to keep the garden intact, as they are only allowed in supervised.
We don't let them off the lead when out as I don't believe that they will come back once they have a scent.
Ok, back home now.
We have got to a point now at just shy of 20 months that we can let him off the lead on a walk. We started early with walks, and loads of praise treats for coming when called, infact for the first 9 months every walk was a training exercise for him, recall recall recall. Fun and games then a bit more recall.
There are times he still jets off, but as much as we can we manage the surroundings. At our local park where every trail has a scent of a dog he knows and loves to play with we usually keep the long line on him and let it trail, if he makes a dash for a scent, then we step on the line and call him back, this has worked as in the last month or so he has been much less interested in "doing one" and more interested in staying within a 10 metre radius of us.
Out on longer walks, if we are with other dogs and friends we tend to let him off, so they can all play together. He loves nothing more than running with the pack. Whilst he has legged it once or twice, he does come back once he realised mum and dad are nowhere to be seen. However, if we are at a new place, or out in the woods alone we are more cautious about taking the long line off.
Either way, some times he still manages to do one, and depending on our whereabouts i.e. proximity to roads, depends on our actions. The key is to spot the signs, Nose down tail straight usually means something good is around here, I’m off to find it. Having said that, only yesterday, he was less than a metre from a squirrell and missed it as he was too busy licking pi$$ off a nettle. I’m sure he is a bit defective.
As for books, Gwen Bailey, the perfect puppy and anything else you can ingest about beagles. there was a idiots guide, which I found a bit American, but there was some useful info.
Training. We did puppy socialisation, beginner and intermediate puppy chasses, then went on to do a scent training course, which really stimulated him, and gave us loads of extra games to play in or out using scent as a reward, something he goes wild for, (also 20 mins concentrated scenting is equal to a couple of hours in the woods in terms of knackering him out).
It seems you are looking to be as prepared as possible. and Whilst I look back on the sleepless nights of crate training, with fondness, I have no immediate hurry to return to them. But it is a magical time. We took staggered time off work at the beginning of taking him in, so for the first 4 weeks he was never alone, and gradually phased in leaving him on his own, and not returning until he had stopped “yodelling”. This way he associated being quiet with us coming back. And not that barking gets a reaction.
The crate was a must for us as he is alone for up to 4 hours a day, while one of us is at work. And after some initial hard learned lessons about not using the crate as a place for punishment if he was being naughty. He has taken to it like a duck to water. Eats in there happily, and even knows to go to it of his own accord when I come down in my suit. He is ready and waiting for his Dentistix in his crate.
Stubbornness, yes its a trait, and we went through a long period of him digging in anchors on a walk if there was another dog in sight, and nothing we could do would change it. Pulling on a lead to follow scent. Well that was tough too, its just a case of stopping as soon as the lead id anything other than loose. so he gets to understand that if I pull I don't get where I want to be. That was tough, but adolescence made it worse. In the home, he is stubborn, but we use simple, consistent commands. Leave it, off and away, seem to be the main ones. I swear he thinks his name is leave it.
In the kitchen he has a 6th sense about knowing when the fridge is open. but this is my fault, I left it ajar one evening after a few to many beers, and he had a good root around, managed to eat a load of smoked mackerel and now hangs around the fridge like a shadow, just in case the magic box provides fish again. He is a magic character, and we love him to bits. Im sure you will with yours too.
Anything else you can think of just ask, Ill do my best. But I am by no means an expert, infact Basil was my first dog, other than a family pet when I was a kid.
Best of luck, and most importantly, get up some pics!
We have got to a point now at just shy of 20 months that we can let him off the lead on a walk. We started early with walks, and loads of praise treats for coming when called, infact for the first 9 months every walk was a training exercise for him, recall recall recall. Fun and games then a bit more recall.
There are times he still jets off, but as much as we can we manage the surroundings. At our local park where every trail has a scent of a dog he knows and loves to play with we usually keep the long line on him and let it trail, if he makes a dash for a scent, then we step on the line and call him back, this has worked as in the last month or so he has been much less interested in "doing one" and more interested in staying within a 10 metre radius of us.
Out on longer walks, if we are with other dogs and friends we tend to let him off, so they can all play together. He loves nothing more than running with the pack. Whilst he has legged it once or twice, he does come back once he realised mum and dad are nowhere to be seen. However, if we are at a new place, or out in the woods alone we are more cautious about taking the long line off.
Either way, some times he still manages to do one, and depending on our whereabouts i.e. proximity to roads, depends on our actions. The key is to spot the signs, Nose down tail straight usually means something good is around here, I’m off to find it. Having said that, only yesterday, he was less than a metre from a squirrell and missed it as he was too busy licking pi$$ off a nettle. I’m sure he is a bit defective.
As for books, Gwen Bailey, the perfect puppy and anything else you can ingest about beagles. there was a idiots guide, which I found a bit American, but there was some useful info.
Training. We did puppy socialisation, beginner and intermediate puppy chasses, then went on to do a scent training course, which really stimulated him, and gave us loads of extra games to play in or out using scent as a reward, something he goes wild for, (also 20 mins concentrated scenting is equal to a couple of hours in the woods in terms of knackering him out).
It seems you are looking to be as prepared as possible. and Whilst I look back on the sleepless nights of crate training, with fondness, I have no immediate hurry to return to them. But it is a magical time. We took staggered time off work at the beginning of taking him in, so for the first 4 weeks he was never alone, and gradually phased in leaving him on his own, and not returning until he had stopped “yodelling”. This way he associated being quiet with us coming back. And not that barking gets a reaction.
The crate was a must for us as he is alone for up to 4 hours a day, while one of us is at work. And after some initial hard learned lessons about not using the crate as a place for punishment if he was being naughty. He has taken to it like a duck to water. Eats in there happily, and even knows to go to it of his own accord when I come down in my suit. He is ready and waiting for his Dentistix in his crate.
Stubbornness, yes its a trait, and we went through a long period of him digging in anchors on a walk if there was another dog in sight, and nothing we could do would change it. Pulling on a lead to follow scent. Well that was tough too, its just a case of stopping as soon as the lead id anything other than loose. so he gets to understand that if I pull I don't get where I want to be. That was tough, but adolescence made it worse. In the home, he is stubborn, but we use simple, consistent commands. Leave it, off and away, seem to be the main ones. I swear he thinks his name is leave it.
In the kitchen he has a 6th sense about knowing when the fridge is open. but this is my fault, I left it ajar one evening after a few to many beers, and he had a good root around, managed to eat a load of smoked mackerel and now hangs around the fridge like a shadow, just in case the magic box provides fish again. He is a magic character, and we love him to bits. Im sure you will with yours too.
Anything else you can think of just ask, Ill do my best. But I am by no means an expert, infact Basil was my first dog, other than a family pet when I was a kid.
Best of luck, and most importantly, get up some pics!
Edited by Flat6er on Wednesday 13th June 22:59
Edited by Flat6er on Thursday 14th June 14:24
I agree with most of what Flat6r says except we let our off lead earlier, but he does still have the odd time when he refuses to come back on it.
Eddie comes to work with me every day (he's asleep under my desk right now!) except Wednesday where he does to a dog sitter.
He's 20 months too!
Edited to add: On a feeding point, they're a hound and will eat whenever they need it. We leave a bowl of biscuits down all the time and he get a full tin at 6pm every night. He'll rarely eat all the biscuits unless he's been on a big walk or a big play with his mates. We were worried he wasn't eating enough but the vet said not to worry. He's also 19kg which seems a lot for the size he is but he's pretty much solid muscle.
They've one hell of a character and pretty smart too.
Went from this...
to this taken yesterday...
and he's usually OK off his lead
Out with his mates
More pictures here...
http://brittan.co.nz/index.php/Eddie-the-Beagle
Eddie comes to work with me every day (he's asleep under my desk right now!) except Wednesday where he does to a dog sitter.
He's 20 months too!
Edited to add: On a feeding point, they're a hound and will eat whenever they need it. We leave a bowl of biscuits down all the time and he get a full tin at 6pm every night. He'll rarely eat all the biscuits unless he's been on a big walk or a big play with his mates. We were worried he wasn't eating enough but the vet said not to worry. He's also 19kg which seems a lot for the size he is but he's pretty much solid muscle.
They've one hell of a character and pretty smart too.
Went from this...
to this taken yesterday...
and he's usually OK off his lead
Out with his mates
More pictures here...
http://brittan.co.nz/index.php/Eddie-the-Beagle
Edited by size13 on Thursday 14th June 14:58
h, you need to start training early, and continue it (food as a reward works!)I have two Beagles, 1 male 1 female. the male is 14 months and the female is 3. The male is very lazy and laid back,and is pretty good off the lead, the female will escape at every opportunity and can open every door in the house and if she accidently gets off the lead she will run as fast as possible in the opposite direction away from you.
I think patience is paramount and as someone has already mentioned bye bye garden.
Albert sleeping
As a puppy
Miley on the snow
I think patience is paramount and as someone has already mentioned bye bye garden.
Albert sleeping
As a puppy
Miley on the snow
Alex said:
Our breeder has suggested collecting our pup at 12 weeks, but that seems rather old to me.
If the puppy is still taking her mother's milk then this is good. Should lead to a more natural and healthy puppy with fewer allergies and so on. As long as the breeder is undertaking some of the training and socialisation matters of course!Alex said:
How old is Albert in the puppy photo?
Our breeder has suggested collecting our pup at 12 weeks, but that seems rather old to me.
He is around 12 weeks in the picture. We live locally to the breeder so we had him on 'Day release' once or twice a week until the breeder felt he was old enough to leave his mum which i think was really good as the transition from him leaving his mother to coming to stay with us was very smooth.Our breeder has suggested collecting our pup at 12 weeks, but that seems rather old to me.
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