HATE my dog

[sashNmax]

Sorry just need to vent. I have a 5 month old male beagle x and I seriously can't cope anymore. I wanted a dog for ages. Eventually my partner agreed (with the terms that he liked the breed) so we agreed on a beagle. We looked into it a lot and finally bought our puppy. We have quite an active lifestyle and I am usually a calm person so I thought we'd walk it. Couldn't be more wrong. he pees and poos everywhere. He appears to be house trained and then I'll let him out and bring him in then he'll go all over the floor. I'll be calm and it won't work. I'll show it him and he doesn't care. I catch him in the act and take him outside and he still goes inside! Barks and cries when he's alone. He jumps all over my 1 year old. Chases my cat bites all the time. I've always had dogs and read behavioural books but I'm losing my mind. The only thing I could give him credit for was coming to call off a lead. But today he's run out of our garden whilst I was watching. I've called him and he's not come back. I've run over walls and fences and he was under a bush eating something gross. He's now come home and sicked black stinky stuff all over my carpet. Took him out again and bent down to put him on the lead and he ran off and did it all again. Including throwing everything back up all over my carpet. I've been in tears for the past 2 hours. I don't know what to do. I love him when he's good but HATE him when he's bad. I feel for my little boy because I'm always telling the dog off for jumping on him so I can't spend the time I need with him. I grew up with dogs and I wanted my son to be able to have the same. But it's driving me insane. Everyone is telling me to get rid of him but i'd feel like i had let him down. I need some advice. PLEASE HELP.

We had this same thing. After lots of soul searching we put our lovely/demonic beagle onto gumtree/petsforhomes/ etc. We explained the issues and thoroughly, completely checked out everyone who expressed interest, of which many. The beagle society (or whatever) told us this was unacceptable, it wasnt. We found and extensively interviewed and vetted a better home for our dog,who is happier and healthier now. I
Hope this helps you, beagles are a very time consuming and difficult breed to handle. You can move your dog to better circumstances but you do need to be very careful about how you do it and have the dogs absolute best interests at heart.

He sounds like a normal puppy to me, so yes, you would be letting him down if you 'got rid' of him.

He's only five months old? It's not his fault he isn't yet house trained. It's not his fault he was allowed to escape. It's not his fault he ate something interesting while on the run and it's not his fault that he threw up whatever it was. Nor is it his fault that he's not yet learned not to chase, jump and bite!

Raising a puppy takes effort, commitment, knowledge and patience. Experience goes a long way too. This pup certainly doesn't deserve your 'hate'. He deserves to be guided into appropriate and acceptable behaviour. Find it in yourself to meet the commitment you made to him, the second you bought him.

Please don't put your dog on Gumtree.

I know nothing about Beagles, but we have an 11mth puppy who is still driving us mad, so I know how you feel.

Have you done puppy training classes?

Beagles are renowned for being destructive, hyperactive imps and escape artists (who will go for miles, being hounds), who often do suffer from separation anxiety. But you 'looked into it', op, so you knew this before buying him. What cross is he? Not that it's relevant. A puppy is a puppy and all of them are impish, to an extent.

It's the wee small hours so I may ramble lol.... thoughts. He is only five months and a working hound breed and you have been looking after him at same time as a baby. Both at is most often a recipe for disaster... Two high needs youngster with very diverse requirements. You don't say if you are going to training / socialisation classes with him or what mind games/ toys /enrichment he has while you attend to baby.... devil makes work for bored/ jealous / eager puppies. You don' the mention if he is castrated or not... although it's early he could have the beginnings of "puberty" .

You don' the mention dh input other than he agreed to you having a dog as long as he liked the breed. .. does he have any involvement or when he comes home is it a case of everyone concentrated on meal and bedtime routines etc.

Sorry it's more questions than answers but I feel they are relevant to any decision with everyone's welfare at heart.

It might be that yes... you step up and take the responsibility and admit you got it wrong ... although you had dogs all your life that does not prepare you for high needs dog at same time as a baby... maybe in hindsight an older dog with known quiet temperament would have been better no matter the breed.

You won't fail the dog if you admit now you made a mistake... you will let him down if you either carry on struggling till knocks your d's over/ bites ds / runs on road causing an accident /runs off to become a stray.... or you put him on Gumtree with attendant risks / give him away.

My opinion might change according to answers you give to my questions... but at everything I give heed to (I have been involved in several types animal rescue over many years. ) leads me to think you and family should go to a rescue organisation and ask for help in re homing him. Take the pressure of all of you xxx

Why did you decide/agree on a beagle, out of interest?

We have a nearly 5-month old Labrador, and she has basically destroyed all the toys DS got for his birthday at the weekend. Our fair for leaving them lying around (read: NOTHING is safe from a determined puppy).

Toilet training is hit and miss, and she can be very, very hyper.

So I sympathise a lot. I don't have any advice, I just wonder why you chose the breed you did.

It might be for the best if you re-home him, as adding a beagle puppy into the mix with such a young DC is probably not the road to serenity.

I've never had a dog (had NO idea what we were getting into) but DH wanted the kids to grow up with a dog too. They are 6 and 4.

Your DC is still very, very young. Why not give it a couple more years?

I have two beagles. They are very well trained, eager to please and ashamed when they are naughty. We are very firm on rules for them, they understand the rules.

It takes time though. I would say up to 12 months for a puppy to train and outgrow chewing.

Some tips - never let him sit on a couch, his place is below humans. He must sit and stay before food and coming inside. He must know you are the master.

I've got a beagle - she's 5. Had her since she was a puppy.

She is an absolute monkey and will head for a open door at the first opportunity. She will find ANY food that is left within her reach and will climb to get it too.

She loves nothing more than rummaging in the bin if she can get to it.

BUT she's gorgeous - well behaved, tolerant of my DS who isn't always as tolerant of her!

It took A LOT of training and time to get her to this point. Beagles are very intelligent dogs but are also very stubborn. Good luck!!

Consistency is the key.

I take my dog on exactly the same walk every time we go - I give her a treat as I put her on the lead in exactly the same place every time.

She will now stop and wait for me in that exact spot. Find a treat your dog loves and reward, reward, reward.

OP you've had some really good advice so I won't rewrite it. Just to pick up on the toilet training thing, how are you doing this? you mention 'showing it to him'. If I'm interpreting correctly, he will have no idea that this is in.some way bad! As others have said, consistency is key. How often do you take him out? Have you been associating particular words with when he goes to the toilet? Are you praising him like he's just.solved world hunger when he.does it right (possibly even with edible rewards?
It will be hard. When our pup was little I got so.frustrates but we pushes through and he is now so well behaved.

Honestly, how much are you walking him. I would say a fully grown beafle should be around 1.5-2hrs a day, obv less as his bones are developing.

You've only had him 2-3 months, he's a mardy teenager and it won't happen overnight I'm afraid.

Seriously, you hate a puppy?! They don't come ready trained!

All this sounds like normal puppy behaviour.

Toilet training: clean the house thoroughly and consider replacing your carpets with something easier to clean. Get uv lights to find all pee and clean with Urine Off. Take puppy out after food, play, when waking up and at least once every hour. Stay with the puppy outside.

Jumping up and recall: there are loads of techniques to deal with these problems go to a positive rewards class and they will help you.

Eating crap and vomiting: nobody enjoys this but that's dogs for you.

If you decide to rehome please do so through a responsible rescue society.

Sometimes I think the fact that I've never had a dog has actually been more of a help than not, since I don't know any different, dog-wise, that what we are going through now with our pup.

People who've had dogs remember what the under-control dog years were like, and forget how high maintenance puppies are.

Have you approached the breeder re. taking him back?

I wouldn't let your puppy off the lead or let him roam in the garden if all the fences aren't puppy-proof. I can sympathize as we had a 'teenager' German pointer when my youngest was a baby/toddler and gosh it was hard work. If my DH had to go away with work, which was fairly regularly, the dog would go to a nearby kennels for those days. Radical - yes. But it had to be done, as I couldn't cope with 3 kids under 6 and a dog (the baby had been an unexpected surprise!)

Now, several years on, we have a lovely calm dog who is great with kids of all ages and who doesn't chew stair bannisters and bean bags.. or have diarrhoea all over the floor.. etc

I long for the day our pup stops chewing literally everything that crosses her path...

You need to go to classes, have a proper routine and fence your garden properly.

Why haven't you taken him to classes yet?

The puppy days are hard. It took forever to toilet train my dog (now 3) and in the winter months he hates going out because he gets cold.

Having said that, a few months ago he learned to open windows so if he hears something in the garden and I don't let him out, he opens a window and lets himself out! Luckily he can't open doors, so we can prevent it if we're out.

He'll still chew the children's toys (he loves furry things) so they've had to learn that they should not leave them around.

If he gets out he runs like a train!

When you go out for walks, have him suit for his lead before you leave the house, so that he is on lead as you step outside.

Is there a day kennel near you? Some come with behavioural support as well as offering socialisation and exercise in a safe environment. One or two days a week somewhere like that will help to tire your puppy out and they will work with you on behavioural issues.
Classes, a consistent routine and 10 minute training sessions throughout the day will also help.
If you feel you absolutely can't cope then look for a breed specific rescue to rehome.

Beagles are known to be difficult as pups.

Amantes what a cruel post . The OP has written that post at her wits end and your post is unkind in response . Would that be your RL response ?

There is nothing wrong with responsibly rehoming if you feel like you cannot cope anymore , it's probably the kindest thing for you all .
There is also nothing wrong with sticking with it . There is certainly no correct or easy answer.

It's a tough decision . We did return a pup to its breeder when dc's were young because none of us could cope. I think I could have written your post .
We now have a 20 month old , had him from a pup but different dog and different time in our lives , it's been a joy.

Good luck .

Ps the things that helped this time round are
1 not allowing the pup the run of the house . He has the kitchen/ family room only ( tiled floor)
2 he has a crate which we use for him to sleep in and doubles as a place to put him if things / the situation is getting out of hand
3 we did a whole year of training with a trainer with specific knowledge of the breed ( he is similar to yours )

He sounds like a typical beagle, also he's 5 months old and puppies don't come fully trained .
So he needs training classes and toilet training sorted out, lots of information online on how to do this.
If you decide to rehome him please do this via rescue, not privately on gumtree etc.
Beagles are so cute that people may take him without thinking things through. No matter how careful you are at vetting people you find on gumtree etc he could be rehomed again if new owners find they can't cope and could end up as bait for fighting dogs.

Please don't feel guilty or ashamed if you decide to rehome. You have to do what's best for the dog. Perhaps he's just not right for you but better to admit it and let him go than to persevere and make things worse. Your decision obviously, but don't beat yourself up about it, we all make mistakes and dogs can be bloody hard work.

Thank you for those who gave advice. I shouldn't have written I hate my dog because I don't. I was tired and upset.

I will address what you have said though-
. If I did let him go (which I'm not going to. We had a rough day with him and as I said I needed to vent) he would of gone to the best home. I'm not someone who would just let him go to the pound. But even still I would feel he would be let down.
. I mustn't have explained myself properly. He has been to classes. And at one time was toilet trained. He goes out every half an hour and is rewarded when he goes outside. And I didn't react when he went inside. It's obvious that you shouldn't show it them but I was reaching the end of my tether and running out of ideas.
. Yes we looked into it a lot. Spoke to people with beagles. Spoke to vets and breeders and obviously looked on the Internet.

. It is a really good idea taking him to the kennels for a day a week. Thank you and I will keep that in mind.
.I thought we had a secure garden. He's found a hole in the wall that leads to bushes to a doctor's car park. We've just bought him a tie out lead and now will always carry him to it until the garden is fixed
. He goes out for about 40 mins a day as he's so young. I didn't want to mess his bones up but now might make it 50 mins.
. And I don't accept babies and puppies can't be brought up together at all. I know loads of people who have done it. My boy loves the dog and vice versa. It was my problem. Not his. I was just getting frustrated he was getting knocked down.
. I would have preferred an older rescue dog. But I didn't want to risk not knowing about its past with a baby. It's not worth the risk.
. Yes it's obvious they don't come 'ready trained'. What a silly response. I've spent hours training him throughout the day. And most of the time he picks it up well.
. When he's in a crate he is scared and cries. We didn't just plonk him in either. He was fed in there and his bed and toys were in there. He just goes mad when he realises he can't get out. Locked him in there for 30 seconds whilst he eats but he just cries when he can't get out. So we took it away.
. He can roam in the kitchen and the living room. Then sleeps in the hall outside our room or on our bedroom floor.
. When he bites we yelp. A lot of the time this eggs him on then he goes into the kitchen to cool off. But comes back in and repeats. And it starts all over again. I'm just waiting for it to click that it's wrong.
. My other half does help. I'm just the one who walks him.
. Also we chose a beagle because they were small enough for our house. But intelligent and energetic (apparently too intelligent!). I have horses and he comes with me to do them then we go on a walk.

I really appreciate the advice I've been given. Thank you for taking the time to post. I don't hate him. And yes I probably didn't think it would be so hard with a baby and a dog. Like I said we've always had dogs. Even when I was a baby. Either way. I'm not admitting defeat just yet and we're trying to start his training from the start again today. Will keep you all posted.

Also he hates being left downstairs when we put our baby to bed and wees and poos everywhere (when he's just been out and not done it). We leave him with a toy and he just eats what's inside it then whines and does his business. Can anyone give advice on that?