OK, so what about the dog??

[2manyprincesses]

Long story short, this dog makes me nuts!

Last fall, my family voted to get a puppy. Guess who was the lone dissenter??? I voted no. She is now an 8 month old Beagle, and is honestly sweet as can be buuuuutttt.....

1. She chews up things CONSTANTLY. I cannot afford to replace my kids' shoes, clothes, underwear (eww, I know but it IS a favorite of hers), etc. Can I get my kids to keep their stuff picked up? In a word, no. We have been around that tree hundreds of times.

2. She sneaks around and pees or poops where we are not. She will have just spent 30 - 45 mins. outside in our fenced backyard and comes in. Within 30 mins. she will pee or poop somewhere. This happens maybe once per day.

3. Of course,the kids said at the time. "Don't worry, we will take care of everything!" Well, guess who has to poke and prod and cajole the kids to...... (and I know this is very difficult) walk downstairs and OPEN the door so the dog can go outside. Do they need to stand outside with her??? No. Do they need to do anything else besides open the freaking door?? No. But everytime I hear, "Why me?? Why can't SHE do it??" etc.

To be fair:

1. She is a very sweet dog. No problems with the kids at all and I know at times they can bother her. She takes it like a champ.

2. She is still young. Maybe this is all because she is still pretty much a puppy?

I would really appreciate any helpful ideas or honestly, anything you Dissers think would help!!

TIA!!

 

[BamaTigger]

I feel your pain with raising 3 pups myself. But just calm down, cause she is still a pup and will chew, potty and turn a house upside down. LOL

Patience is the key and keep potty training her and be consistent, even if your DH and kids arent helping! Its not the puppy's fault....remember that!

Also, get her some chewies, like some denta stix or some (anything BUT rawhide) milkbones to keep her busy. She might be still teething and needs something to keep gnawing!

So I know what you are going thru, but you have to have patience, even when you have to do it alone.

 

[iwrbnd]

Have you tried kenneling for the potty issues?

How about "Bitter spray" to spray the stuff she chews?

Hang in there! When she's like 3 years old you'll never know how you lived without her!

 

[BamaTigger]

Have you tried kenneling for the potty issues?

How about "Bitter spray" to spray the stuff she chews?

Hang in there! When she's like 3 years old you'll never know how you lived without her!

Very true!!



oh yea, or have you tried Puppy pads in a designated spot? Usually close to the door she goes outside, then thats training her to go to door when she has to go potty.

 

[rszdtrvl]

Beagles are stubborn butts. I have 2 of them.

My male Beagle is the sweetest dog. 100% potty trained, and is the most easygoing dog ever. He is 7 1/2 years old and was easy to potty train.

My female Beagle is a sweetheart, but definitely has attitude. She will pee outside more often than not, but at night uses her puppy pad, THEN will wake me up. She can have a temper tantrum at the drop of a hat. She is 7 years old.

The plus side is that Beagles are incredibly food driven. We have trained our dogs to expect a treat after they go potty outside.

Our female Beagle will ring a bell at the back door to let us know she has to go out. As of now, our male Beagle has only rung the bell one time, but he knows the drill too.

It takes a lot to get used to, for both puppy and family. Just remember to be patient. And remember that my 7 year old Beagle still pees on a puppy pad, LOL. Use food as a reward, but only small amounts (I only give my dogs a training treat or half of a dog biscuit) as Beagles are prone to obesity (due to their love of food).

Females, from what I have read and experienced, are more stubborn than males. So you will have your hands full.

Be patient, give lots of kisses, and let her know when she has done good. Beagles their family, and this is important to them.

Thanks for being a Beagle mom! They are truly a wonderful, yet misunderstood, breed. I feel so blessed with my 2!

 

[NMAmy]

1. She chews up things CONSTANTLY. I cannot afford to replace my kids' shoes, clothes, underwear (eww, I know but it IS a favorite of hers), etc. Can I get my kids to keep their stuff picked up? In a word, no. We have been around that tree hundreds of times.

Constant vigilance is the only way to stop this. Offer other things to chew in exchange for the items that are off limits. Occasionally, my dog will bring me items she's found around the house now to exchange for a treat.

2. She sneaks around and pees or poops where we are not. She will have just spent 30 - 45 mins. outside in our fenced backyard and comes in. Within 30 mins. she will pee or poop somewhere. This happens maybe once per day.

3. DH and kids said at the time. "Don't worry, we will take care of everything!" Well, guess who has to poke and prod and cajole the kids to...... (and I know this is very difficult) walk downstairs and OPEN the door so the dog can go outside. Do they need to stand outside with her??? No. Do they need to do anything else besides open the freaking door?? No. But everytime I hear, "Why me?? Why can't SHE do it??" etc.

Honestly, these two items are related. Until your dog is completely potty trained, someone does need to go outside with her. Take her to her spot and praise her to high heavens when she does what she's supposed to. And the dog doesn't come inside until she's gone. She's going outside to play not to go to the bathroom.

She's a puppy still and until she's completely trained, it's going to take more work. And, the way that usually works is that the task falls to mom. But look at as an investment--spending some time training her right now means that later, you'll have a great dog! The intense training doesn't last forever.

 

[jen0610]

Long story short, this dog makes me nuts!

Last fall, my family voted to get a puppy. Guess who was the lone dissenter??? I voted no. She is now an 8 month old Beagle, and is honestly sweet as can be buuuuutttt.....

1. She chews up things CONSTANTLY. I cannot afford to replace my kids' shoes, clothes, underwear (eww, I know but it IS a favorite of hers), etc. Can I get my kids to keep their stuff picked up? In a word, no. We have been around that tree hundreds of times.

2. She sneaks around and pees or poops where we are not. She will have just spent 30 - 45 mins. outside in our fenced backyard and comes in. Within 30 mins. she will pee or poop somewhere. This happens maybe once per day.

3. DH and kids said at the time. "Don't worry, we will take care of everything!" Well, guess who has to poke and prod and cajole the kids to...... (and I know this is very difficult) walk downstairs and OPEN the door so the dog can go outside. Do they need to stand outside with her??? No. Do they need to do anything else besides open the freaking door?? No. But everytime I hear, "Why me?? Why can't SHE do it??" etc.

To be fair:

1. She is a very sweet dog. No problems with the kids at all and I know at times they can bother her. She takes it like a champ.

2. She is still young. Maybe this is all because she is still pretty much a puppy?

I would really appreciate any helpful ideas or honestly, anything you Dissers think would help!!

TIA!!

For your Cons: (taken from our house rules.)

1 - All shoes are kept in the bedrooms. Bedroom doors are kept closed at all times or a baby gate is blocking access to the bedrooms. If the kids drop stuff on their bedroom floor and leave their door accessable to the dog, they clean up what it chews. If it ruins a shoe, you'll wear it with teeth marks in it to remind them of what the rule is, unless it is totally destroyed, then you get a cheap replacement. Also, have a varity of dog approved chew toys. When you catch him in the act, take away the wrong item, making sure you tell him NO chew on X item and give him an allowed chew toy and tell him that this is his chewie. And we name the chewies. We got this from our friend - Elle was the elephant rubber squeaker toy. And I'm right there with you, why does the underwear have to be the favorite thing to grab.

2 - Confine dog to your area. If you are in the family room, block the exits or get a short lead and train him to stay where you are. ZERO free reign of the home. If the dog is out for 30-45 minutes and is busy playing, but comes in and does their business, let the dog have it's play time, then put him on his leash and stay out there with him. Take him to the area that he does do his business in. Tell him, gotta go before we go in and stay out there with him, even if the kids have to rotate who's out there with him. Tell him he's a good boy for doing his business outside. Reward with a treat to reinforce doing his business outside. If he does go in the house and you are catching him in the act, pick him up, tell him firmly NO and take him to where he is allowed to do his business.

3 - We have two kids. They have assigned days. This week DD is the dog helper on MWF after school, DS has TT. Everybody helps out on the weekend and once everybody is home for the evenings. Next week they'll switch. The first time we heard the "I'm in the middle of a game or I'm watching a show", they were told, I'll put him in your room and he can do his business there and then YOU can clean it up.

We are going thru this with the 4 month old we just got. He is a lovey boy, but he loves to chew. He has 8 chew toys to choose from. But he seems to always want DS socks and DD undies. He hasn't chewed to destroy yet, but he loves the dash, chase, and catch games that goes on when he does get a chance to snag one of these items.

 

[2manyprincesses]

OP here.

Thank you, thank you , thank you all!!

It sounds like the main thing I am needing is more patience with her. I guess because she has grown so much in the time we have had her, I was not thinking "puppy".

Yes, she is TOTALLY food focused and I think a reward system might really help her. I have used that to get her to do other things, why did I not think of potty issues???

Love the idea of assigned days for the girls. Also, I think puppy pads may be our friends. She is crated at night and usually has peed in her crate when we get up in the morning. I guess I was hesitant because I thought she would chew them up, but we can try!

Anyone else???

 

[ladycollector]

2. She sneaks around and pees or poops where we are not. She will have just spent 30 - 45 mins. outside in our fenced backyard and comes in. Within 30 mins. she will pee or poop somewhere. This happens maybe once per day.

This means a couple things

1) If your dog is able to pee/poop in your house (other than it being a rare occurance) , it is too much freedom, too soon. Crate training should help with this. The only way she gets out of the crate is if she goes potty outside, so it's like a reward for going out. Or if someone is watching her.

2) She hides because she associates going poop/pee with a negative reaction. This happens a lot. She doesn't understand that the reason you're upset or rushing her outside is because she pooped in the house, she thinks its simply because she pooped in your presence. So she hides as to not upset you. This helped me tremendously with my new puppy. Its hard, but I tried not to react if he had an accident, but instead take him straight to his pad. (you would go straight outside of course - I just use a pad because we live in an apartment and he's a chihuahua. haha)

Hope this helps! you can get her potty trained

 

[Liberty Belle]

I have a 10 month old beagle and know just what you're going through. He's got a lot better in the past couple of months, but just chewed up part of our weedeater a few minutes ago - DH left it in the backyard with him.

 

[daisax]

They can't chew what they can't get to, and they can't have an accident out of sight if they're not out of sight

When she's not in the crate, tie her leash to your belt. Seriously.

As for the housebreaking... you need to take her out on leash until she's 100% reliable. Every half hour if necessary, until you figure out when she has to go. Forget what the books say -- some dogs don't have to go after a nap or a meal. But I bet if you write down every elimination (which you will know because you will be there!) for a week or so, you will see that there's a pattern.

If this particular dog has to poop 10 minutes after she eats, taking her out at 2 mins afterwards and then coming back in the house 7 minutes later means she's going to go once she's back in the house. When you know it's 10 mins, then you can take her out at the 9 minute mark and be successful. Eventually once the dog has control and really wants to avoid going indoors, then you can adjust to your schedule (within reason).

You may also have a dog that poops twice. Again, once you know this, you'll know there's no point in coming back in until she's gone a second time, because that will be setting yourself up for failure.

Chances are, she's got a pretty standard schedule -- you just haven't seen it yet. (This assumes she's fed at the same times every day)

 

[walden]

Long story short, this dog makes me nuts!

Last fall, my family voted to get a puppy. Guess who was the lone dissenter??? I voted no. She is now an 8 month old Beagle, and is honestly sweet as can be buuuuutttt.....

1. She chews up things CONSTANTLY. I cannot afford to replace my kids' shoes, clothes, underwear (eww, I know but it IS a favorite of hers), etc. Can I get my kids to keep their stuff picked up? In a word, no. We have been around that tree hundreds of times.

2. She sneaks around and pees or poops where we are not. She will have just spent 30 - 45 mins. outside in our fenced backyard and comes in. Within 30 mins. she will pee or poop somewhere. This happens maybe once per day.

3. DH and kids said at the time. "Don't worry, we will take care of everything!" Well, guess who has to poke and prod and cajole the kids to...... (and I know this is very difficult) walk downstairs and OPEN the door so the dog can go outside. Do they need to stand outside with her??? No. Do they need to do anything else besides open the freaking door?? No. But everytime I hear, "Why me?? Why can't SHE do it??" etc.

To be fair:

1. She is a very sweet dog. No problems with the kids at all and I know at times they can bother her. She takes it like a champ.

2. She is still young. Maybe this is all because she is still pretty much a puppy?

I would really appreciate any helpful ideas or honestly, anything you Dissers think would help!!

TIA!!

Hi! A Beagle puppy! That is great because they are so much fun.

Patience is a great and essential thing, but I can't emphasis training and exercise enough! You have an energetic puppy there, and a good beagle is a tired beagle. Have you considered an obedience class? They can be lots of fun -- for the kids as well as the dog! It becomes a family activity and the trainer can help emphasize responsibility for the dog so it is not all up to Mom. Walking the dog is also really good for socialization (and keeping this person's weight under control!)

Potty training: I'm assuming there is no medical reason for the problem -- it is just that she has not been trained.

First you must clean, clean, clean indoors. Wherever you suspect she has messed. I'm not saying that you haven't cleaned up, I'm sure you have, but perhaps not well enough. . Doggy noses are sensitive, and places that smell like bathrooms to dogs are used as bathrooms by dogs. Rent a carpet cleaner if you have rugs. There are commercial pet odor removers but I think vinegar and water works just as well.

Someone must always go out with her. When she "goes" in the yard, why then you have a party. Lots of praise and a food treat, which you gradually phase out. Try doing this on a weekend or when you are all home all day, and have someone taking her out at least every couple of hours and after meals. You can also try leashing her to you in the house so that if she looks like she is about to squat you can rush her outdoors. Repeat until she gets it. It doesn't usually take long if you are consistent, but you must try to avoid accidents and clean them up. Don't punish her for accidents, that will make her sneak off where she can't be seen, but rush her outdoors as soon as you can.

Training to puppy pads will just make indoor peeing a permanent problem. Sorry. She should be able to hold it overnight by 8 months, perhaps try taking her out later at night and earlier in the morning?

On the chewing: I have to caution you that if she continues to eat things like shoes and underwear you will soon be paying for some very expensive surgery to remove them from her insides. Perhaps warning your kids about this will help them pick up things around the house. The list of house rules above was great!

As others have said, she needs her own toys to play with, not rawhide. Another suggestion is a hard rubber toy you can fill with kibble for hours of puppy pleasure. I use *Kongs* but there are other makers.

Hope this helps. Enjoy the puppy.

 

[doxdogy]

Of all the AKC groups, I swear the hounds are the most stubborn of them all. We had one dachshund that would go outside for potty time wander around the yard forever, act like she was going potty then come right back in and do it in the house.

As one poster suggested, praise the dog when it potty's outside. If you catch it going potty in the house, scoop the dog up and put it outside and tell it to go potty potty.

I can understand about shoes, my Simon chewed up a couple of pairs in one week.

 

[yoopermom]

You've had some excellent advice here, and it comes down to time and attention! We have 8 hounds, and I'm the strictest housetrainer ever, and still do not completely trust them until they're over a year. My two year old female will still want to go out in the night once in a while (even though all water is picked up at 8 pm and she goes out between 10 and 11 pm). I am an anti pee pad person, but some people use them. She must stay in sight of you at all times, and you must go out with her so you can praise her for pottying outside. Until she connects in her little Beagle mind that going outside is a "good" thing, you aren't going to see any change.

Please be patient, they are worth the wait !
Terri

 

[amez]

others have said it-but I will repeat it. Our Vet told us if we can't watch the puppy she should be in her cage (until she is trained) So if our puppy was chewing on something we would immediately see it and correct the mistake and give her her toy (he also stressed to only have one or two toys for her to choose from-any more and she may get confused thinking more things can be chewed on then just her toy.

our puppy is 4.5 months old today and doesn't really have a lot of problems that we haven't corrected. In the beginning she was a big chewer but now she is soooo good about only chewing her toys. I can't even remember the last time she had an accident in the house. She does do what your puppy does and will pee in her cage in the morning-usually a few minutes before I get up and then whines cause she wants out!! I've been trying to get up a few minutes earlier then usual and put her out. It's working pretty well-apparantly her internal clock is running about ten minutes ahead of me.

Even though she is doing so well, I still won't let her run amuck around the house without watching her. I think she could easily switch back to old habits since she is so young.

 

[disneymomofmyca]

SO much great advise here!

A PP mentioned that her dog rings a bell when it has to go out. Well, we have a 7 month old Great Dane and she would pee in the house every so often . It was because we weren't always exactly sure when she needed to go out. I read about the bell trick and we tried it. She has never had an accident after that. She rings her little bell that hangs on the door and sits and waits for us to take her out. We also still take her out on a leash to ensure that she goes. If we just let her out she thinks it is play time and not potty time.

Have you ever heard of a Buster Cube? It is a fun little toy,kind of like a Kong. Alot of times dogs chew when they are bored. Lilly really only chewed a few items when she was losing her baby teeth, but, I have always had a Buster Cube or another treat dispensing toy available for her to figure out.This way she isn't just chewing the toy...she is trying to figure out how to get at the food