Expert: Have4Paws - 4/9/2010

Question
Hi we are a family of a 7 month old beagle.  We rescued him when he was 6 weeks old.  He was only 2lbs when we got him, abused, under nourished and very sick.  Well he is 18lbs now, very healthy and loves us and we love him to death.  We have never had a dog before as I always knew the work would end up on me and as a mom of 4 children I knew it would be like having another child.  Will it is……lol, but I LOVE him.  My oldest son who is 16 has really bonded to him and he has become his primary owner.  He is the one who baths him, brushes him, feeds, walks, trains etc.  Our beagle loves my son so much and cries when he has to go to school out in the evenings.  My son cannot even go to the bath room without the puppy sitting outside the door crying.  He is “really” like a baby.  If my son is sitting on the sofa with him, our puppy will climb up with a toy and then drop it on the floor so my son will pay him some attention and pick it up for him.  Just like a baby right?  
Anyway, I think because this puppy was taken away from his mother so young and being abused he has real separation anxiety issues.  But we are dealing with this ok.  He sleeps alone at night in a crate and is ok when we have to leave to go out, if we leave the TV on for noise.  He is GREAT with our kids and kids in general, but BOY DOES HE BARK…………….

So this is my problem……….  I know beagles are “barkers” and I am ok with this and having 4 children we are a noisy house anyway.  He gets lots of exercise in the evenings when the kids are home and they take him for long walks and the kids LOVE to play with him.  He is NOT an aggressive dog at all and loves people.  So when we are out on a walk he will bark at EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY so very loud and you cannot get him to stop.  Or if someone rings the door bell or knocks on the door, he is at it again with the barking.  It is SO loud it actually hurts your ears.

I would like to learn how to train him to not bark so very much.  I understand that he is a dog and a beagle and wants, actually needs to bark.  But I was wondering if there was a way to control it so it does not go on so long.  So if someone comes to the door he will bark for about a few seconds then stop.  

I would LOVE to be able to send him to get “training” lessons from someone qualified, but unfortunately in this economy we cannot afford it.  I was reading a lot about using an anti-bark or shock collar; has anyone ever used one?  Any success with using them?  Are they harmful to the dog?  We will not use anything that will hurt our puppy and only want to be able to train him to be polite and well trained.  

Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated.  Thanks…..

Answer
Lisa, I am so happy to hear that you rescued this little guy and what a wonderful and loving home he has, it is the perfect place for a beagle, four kids, chaos and tons of people to lavish attention and love on him. It is like he found Beagle Nirvana, lol!

You are right that beagles are barkers/bayers, as you may know this is hard wired into them and as hunting dogs their job is to chase and alert, alert alert...... It is tough to curb barking in a beagle and I am so pleased to see that you get this. Many other people write me and want to extinguish something that is inate for them. So that being said.... Personally I would never use a shock collar on a beagle or any other dog but that is my opinion.

I would like to introduce you to the shake can...... it is an aluminum soda or beer can (better because they are softer alumninum) filled with about 10 pennies and then duct taped on top. You will need an arsenal of them. Now here is where the tricky part for you is going to come because although I said having all those kids is a good thingit can be counterproductive if they are all shaking the cans and throwing them and not doing it at the right times which will confuse him. So my suggestion would be that only you, your husband and the oldest who is his "dad" have or are allowed to use them. So...make up a bunch of them and then start with the behavior in the house first. Remember that if the kids are all yelling and jumping around he is going to do so too, they are his pack. Also if you yell at him for barking he will think you are just joining in.

So when he barks and you don't want him to you are going to interrupt the behavior by throwing a can at him. Dogs have very short attention spans. This also works for when two dogs are fighting by the way. You do not want him to see you throw the can at him, we dont want him to become scared of you! So it takes some sneakiness and as I said an arsenal of them... when he barks pitch a can right at him, it will startle him and he will stop and go into submissive body posture. Dont say anything just let it happen. If he then goes back to barking do it again. After several days of this he will come to asociate the sound of the can with "Uh oh I better knock it off" After many weeks of this it will get to the point where you will be able to just touch the can and make it tinkle ever so lightly and he will as I say STOP and DROP.

I have used these shake cans on every beagle I have ever had and trained them to them from pups, I am now able to stop ANY behavior with the sound and they remain stationed around our house and even one at the front porch and one out in the backyard where I can easily get to it.

I have lost two beagles in the past couple years to old age but right now have a 3 y/o who is as we call him "the devil in the beagle suit" because he is a handful, and he is a much worse barker than any of my other ones ever were and this works on him.

My other suggestion is you could try a citronella collar, some people have success and others dont but eventually I hear that they all end up getting to the point where they just ignore it. Beagles sare darn smart and very stubborn, they are the ones that can figure out an invisable fence with electric shocks and finally find the weak spot by challenging it until they find it and then off they go.....

Once you get him to be responsive to the cans at home then start to carry it with you on a walk.

Good luck and check back anytime!