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Canine Behavior/My sneaky beagle

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Expert: Lee Charles Kelley - 4/12/2008


Question
Our family has had Boston for a little over a year now.  He is a generally well behaved, very loving, and a very attached 1.5 year old beagle.  He seems to be very trainable despite some of things I've read about beagles.  My problem with Boston is that I can't take my eyes off of him.  He likes to get into my kids toys, especially small stuffed animals and destroy them.  We have toys for him but only a few because he is the ultimate power chewer.  I have found only a few that are suitable since he can destroy most dog toys within a day.  Sometimes when I go to look for him he drops his ears and tail even though I can't find any evidence of what he may have done.  His behavior leads me to kennel him more than I'd like.  Any help is greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi, Matt,

Thanks for the question.

You're right that Boston's chewing habits fall outside of the normal range. I have a few questions:

Have you had Boston since he was a puppy? At what age did you get him? If he was from a shelter, do you have any background on his past history. How much hard vigorous playful exercise does Boston get every day? You say he's trainable; what training methods did you use (force, where you push or physically manipulate him into a sit, for example, or purely "positive" training, where you only used treats and no punishment)? How old was he when you trained him? What behaviors has he been trained to do? Since you describe him dropping his ears and tail when you come to look for him, I'm going to assume that he's either been scolded or punished for some past infractions. (Dogs only behave that way if they're "afraid" of you.) Have you ever spanked or hit him, especially for mouthing or nipping as a puppy?

I know these are questions may sound tough, but it's important for me to know where Boston's overly-oral behavioral needs come from.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

LCK

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Lee Charles Kelley

Expertise

I've been training dogs in New York City for nearly 20 years. My training approach and philosophy are based on the way police dogs, search-and-rescue dogs, and detection dogs are trained--through the prey drive, inherited from the wolf. It's true that there's been a shift away from using the "wolf model" in dog training recently, and to some extent, there's a good reason. That's because trainers have been using the wrong model, the one that says you have to be the "alpha" or the pack leader in order to control your dog's behavior. This simply isn't true. In wild wolves there is no dominance hierarchy, no "alpha" wolf, and no pack leader (not in the traditional sense). The pack instinct only exists to enable wolves to hunt large prey by working in harmony. (Wolves who live near garbage dumps, for example, and who don't hunt together, don't form packs.) So if wolves don't have an instinct to "follow the pack leader" or "obey the alpha wolf," how could dogs have inherited it from them?

Years ago, before I became a dog trainer, I noticed that the happiest, most obedient, and best-behaved dogs I met weren't the ones who'd been to a dog trainer or behaviorist; they were the dogs whose owners always had Frisbees and tennis balls on hand. And while it might seem that my approach would only be relevant to high-drive dogs who love fetch and tug-of-war, it isn't. Even something as seemingly unrelated as a housebreaking issue or greeting behavior are often the direct result of a dog's predatory energy not having an acceptable outlet.

All behavior is an expression of energy. So when a dog's energy isn't utilized in a way that feels satisfying to his or her instincts and emotions, that's when behavioral problems develop. Giving the dog an acceptable outlet for its energy will almost always bring the dog's behavior back into alignment with its instincts

Feel free to ask me questions about any training/behavioral issue.

LCK

Experience

20 years as a dog trainer. I'm also a bestselling author, writing a series of dog-related mystery novels for Avon.

Organizations
Dog Writers Association of America

Education/Credentials
Just a natural gift I have for understanding and training dogs

Past/Present Clients
Too numerous to mention.

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