Expert: Have4Paws - 4/27/2010

Question
So my Beagle is really a good dog he NEVER barks in the house unless we are playing with him and get him very very excited to play. But he really hardly ever barks except when we are gone and he is in the yard. He will bark and howl constantly! But never when we are home only when we are gone. It has now become a problem with the neighbors that he barks during the days. We feed him in the morning and that always lasts him until we get home he has plenty of water and toys. But he just likes to bark at birds and when he hears people walking around the outside of the fence. The neighbors are very upset and tell us that he should NEVER bark, but i don't want to train my dog never to bark because he is a hound dog and he likes to bark at birds and stuff. I don't know what to do they told us we need to keep him locked up inside and that is wrong to be locked up in the house when we have a yard that he could be playing in.... I don't know what to do?

Answer
Sorry for the delay, my four year old beagle got hit by a car while the dog walker was walking him and I have had my hands full, he will be ok but it will be a long haul.

You do have a dilemma with the barking issue..... when people ask me about getting a beagle I tell them don't do it unless you can put up with the barking and baying.... this is pretty much hard-wired in them to do so, when they are used to hunt, their job is to track the rabbit and alert the master and they bark and bay all the way! Have you ever heard a pack of beagles on a hunt, it can be deafening..... While it is possible to get them to not bark incessantly you cannot get the bark completely out of a beagle in my opinion. My four year old mentioned above feels it is his life's duty to monitor the back yard and bark at every sound, smell etc. I am sure my neighbors don't like it either but thankfully none have complained. A few years back though at another house I had another male beagle who barked as well and my neighbors threatened to sue me... of course her grandkids ran up and down the fence indirectly directly him all day too...The diffculty lies in that he doesn't do it when you are home so it is even harder to train him with something like a shake can which is what I use to signal that's enough. There are citronella collars and shock collars etc etc etc but my experience has been that they eventually become desensitized to it and bark anyway. I don't know how long your beagle boy is home alone but it might be better and safer to keep him in the house. One always has to worry about nasty neighbors that are angry about the barking trying to poison him or throw things at him. Mine have a doggie door that they can go in and out of and they much prefer to lounge on the sofa in the family room (the only room they can get to when I am gone)all day than hang outside, they go in and out but arent out there all the time, mostly inside. I also leave the radio on so it masks "some" of the sounds outside and provides some distraction.

Incessant barking while a trait of a beagle is also a sign of boredom and lack of interaction. Beagles as I said are pack animals and they literally crave companionship, be it canine or human, he is most likely also lonely. Is there any way you can come home at lunch time or can afford to have a dog walker come even if it is a couple times a week to walk him and exercise him? This is the best solution so that all that pent up energy is released and he will be pooped out and relaxed and sleep instead. You can vigorously walk him in the mornings before you leave but in my experience that wears off in a few hours and the whole day is still ahead.

Hope this gives you some ideas and wish you the best of luck.