Beagle owners support thread

[tinymeteor]

Ours has been a right little shit today. Gave DH the run-around in the rain for an hour this morning. In the end I drove up to the park and as soon as the dog saw me he galloped over to say hello so I could collar him.

He's getting the silent treatment for the rest of the day. DH was ready to rehome the bugger by the time we got him back.

I know "beagle with recall issues" is hardly novel, but it's SO infuriating when he's having one of those days. He's 95% reliable but the other 5% makes me want to kill him

It's hound behaviour and it's what they were bred to do back in the origins of the breed. Rather that punish him for his instinct could you instead think one or two steps ahead of him, say with the help of someone with experience with beagles? I'm sure the Kennel Club would be able to recommend a breed club secretary who could put you in touch with the right person to help you and your dog.

Thanks, we're pretty seasoned beagle people, but their reputations as being challenging to train are not unfounded, put it that way! We're not actually going to rehome him, just venting spleen.

It's usually possible to stay ahead of his thought process and incentivise good recall. We've achieved a lot with plenty of positive reinforcement with food, plus appealing to his natural curiosity and fear of missing out. The problem is specific to our local park, where he's so familiar with the terrain that he knows 1.) where the good smells are, 2.) that at some point we're going home so he may as well go on a jaunt, and 3.) even if it looks like we're walking off we never actually leave him behind as you just can't responsibly do that. So he's calling our bluff.

In unfamiliar places he sticks to me like glue as he assumes I'm onto something interesting and wants to know what it is. In the park, he knows better.

It would be such a shame to have to keep him on the lead - and hard to get him exercised properly - but it's getting to that point sadly.

We have a hidden squeaky toy with our spaniel. She's also 90% good but dreadful around those stick ball things, so the squeaker distracts her from the chase if necessary. When she's having an off week we do her big walk before her breakfast which keeps her focussed on where we and the treats are

I would definitely stay away from the park as its clearly reinforcing the unwanted behaviour and not somrwhere you can keep the upper hand.

Or only do it on-lead. Play to your strengths that you are already using like being in unfamiliar terriority (quite a challenge over time!) you know how he operates and you knowthe problem triggers to avoid.

They are renowned for it like you say and sounds like you have a really good handle on it considering.