7 Common Behavioral Problems in Beagles and How to Deal with them

If you own a beagle, then you know this very well, that beagles are stubborn. This makes it a little more challenging to train them. I have raised two naughty beagles. And over the years, I have stumbled upon various behavior problems. So I decided to help my fellow beagle parents and made this list of 10 common beagle behavior problems Problem number one is excessive barking and whining and howling and baying. Beagles are vocally expressive. They like to express their feeling out loud. You may have already heard them making different types of noises, like barking, whining, baying, and howling. Barking is normal. They like to bark, just like people like to talk. But sometimes, loud and excessive barking can become a little irritating for us. Beagles often bark when they are bored and want your attention. They are very clever at picking up small things. If they notice that barking gets your attention, they will bark even more often next time. The best way to deal with excessive barking is by not reacting to it. When your beagle barks or whines or howls to gain your attention, do not respond. Do not even look at him. Keep doing what you were. And once he stops barking for more than two minutes, give him a treat. By this, you are promoting the good behavior of your beagle without encouraging his barking. The second common problem is chewing furniture in the house. Beagles like chewing. It makes them happy and satisfied. While it's OK to chew on toys, what's not OK is to chew on furniture and other household things. This problem is more common than you think. When I got Groot, he was a zombie. He used to chew everything that could fit in his mouth. Just look at our furniture. It still has all the teeth marks. The best way to stop unwanted chewing is to confine your beagle to his chew toys only. Do not give him a chance to chew anything else. Do not allow him to roam freely in the house until he learns the correct behavior. Instead, keep him in a beagle-proofed room or in his crate with his chew toys. You can watch this video to learn how to beagle-proof your house. Problem number three is ignoring commands. Beagles are very smart and cunning dogs. They will stop following your commands if they realize they don't benefit much from following your orders. Let's say if you stop giving them treats for a while for following your commands, they will start ignoring you. Something similar happened to my neighbor. Her two-year-old beagle would listen to her only when she had a treat in her hands, and he would ignore all her commands when she had nothing in her hands. Your beagle needs some positive reinforcement to follow your commands. First, start giving him treats every time he follows your command. Gradually decrease the frequency at which you give him the treats. For instance, start with giving your beagle treats for every time he follows the command, then lower down the frequency to treating him for every second time he follows the commands, and then after every three times. Number four, pulling on the leash. Beagles have a curious mind. You can say they are dogs with hashtag wanderlust. Due to this, pulling on their leash is a common behavior problem among beagles. When they are out in the open, beagles are more interested in finding out the source of a scent than sticking beside their owners. Allowing your beagle to pull will motivate him more. Whenever he pulls on the leash, stop right there. He needs to understand that pulling will not get him what he wants. Once he stops pulling and comes back to you, give him a treat and continue walking. Soon he will understand that pulling gets him nowhere and he will stop doing it. Number five, biting or nipping. It is normal for young puppies to bite. They don't know how to interact with humans. It is your duty to teach them the correct way to communicate with you. However, biting habits can continue to adulthood if you fail to teach them the correct way of interacting when they are young. Soft play biting is fine, but if it causes any type of pain, then you have to do something about it. To fix this problem, redirect your dog's behavior to a toy whenever he starts biting. When he bites, make a low pitch loud noise until he stops and then ignore him for some time. This will help your beagle to understand that biting hurts and it will end all the fun for him. You can watch this video to know more about how to stop your beagle from biting. Number six, jumping on you. Jumping on people is not something you should promote. Beagles can jump for many reasons. They jump when they are excited. They jump to greet people. They jump when they want something that you are holding. While jumping on you may seem cute, it can be dangerous for you as well as your beagle. To fix this problem, whenever your beagle jumps on you, turn away. Do not motivate his behavior by greeting him back. If your beagle jumps to grab things from your hands, then make him sit. If he doesn't sit, then wait and do nothing until he does. If he jumps on strangers and guests, then show him a treat and make him sit before you open the door. Number seven, separation anxiety. Beagles are social and friendly dogs. While this is an excellent quality, it also makes them prone to separation anxiety. Beagles like to be around people, but when left alone, they can become anxious. Separation anxiety can lead to destructive behavior like chewing and excessive barking. If your beagle starts barking every time you leave him alone in the room, then he is going through separation anxiety. To fix this problem, before you leave the house, offer him a Kong toy filled with dog food and let him get busy getting his food out of it. I can get a Kong toy from Amazon. I will leave a link down below. Every behavior of your beagle is fixable. You just need enough time and patience. However, if you are unable to solve any of these issues, there is no shame in asking for help from a professional dog trainer. I hope you liked my video. Make sure to subscribe to our channel for more beagle care videos. Later.