You have finally got the Beagle puppy you wanted so much. Now what? When does the training start? Many Beagle owners start training at the wrong time. Some may start too early when the pup isn’t ready to hold his bladder and is far from ready to learn basic commands or obedience. Beagles are often noted for being stubborn in training. That’s partly because some people wait until their teens to start their training, which is too late. This article is about the when and how of your Beagle early obedience training.
What is the best age to bring home your Beagle puppy?
Keep in mind that a Beagle puppy should not be separated from his mother and siblings before he is 8 weeks old. His Beagle will learn many of the basics of his social standing in those first few formative weeks. Puppies removed too soon will often have aggression problems and may even become biters or have other social problems. It is very important that you socialize your Beagle a lot with people and other dogs while they are young and old. Under no circumstances should a Beagle have interactions with other dogs or people before they are 15 months old.
When should you start taming?
Housebreaking should not begin until your Beagle is 10-12 weeks old and only after your pup has acclimated to your home. She must be old enough to have the physical ability to hold it. Most trainers will tell you that crate training is the best method of taming your Beagle. Don’t let your human emotions make you think of crate training as caging your Beagle. Beagles, like all other dogs, are a type of burrowing animal and come to regard their cage as a den; a safe place of its own where it will make a nest. Another good thing about crate training is that it reduces the chance of your Beagle getting separation anxiety. For box training instructions, click the link to my website under my name.
When is the best time to start basic obedience training?
Basic obedience training includes simple commands like sit, stay, lie down, roll over, fetch, etc. This type of training should begin between 3 and 6 months of age. Start with the easiest ones, like sitting down, and work your way up from there. This is also a good time to leash train your Beagle. Beagles are easily distracted while walking, so visit my website for good instructions on how to leash train your Beagle. You can house train your Beagle or, better yet, you can both take an obedience class. You can usually find one through a local kennel club or even a local community college. Believe it or not, the human has more to learn than the Beagle when it comes to teaching him to walk and other obedience tasks. The basics are very easy and with the right approach can be taught in just a few days. To make the process even easier, you may want to consider clicker training. Clicker training is a style of training where you first teach your Beagle that a click equals a reward. Actually, this can be done very quickly, in a matter of minutes. Once you think of clicking as a reward, the training process will speed up dramatically. See my website for more information on this. The link is under my name.
By teaching your Beagle when he is young, you instill in him that your role is that of pack leader. This is very important for a good long term relationship and a well behaved Beagle.
What comes next?
After your Beagle has completed his basic obedience training, you have plenty of time to train him in other ways. The old adage that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks is totally untrue when it comes to Beagles. Basics are usually enough for most Beagle owners, but other people want to go further with more complex tricks. Beagles are highly skilled when it comes to agility training. Agility is a sport where dogs are timed as they run through a variety of obstacles and Beagles are one of the favorite dogs for this. Check with your local kennel club to see if there are any agility clubs in your area.
One thing you won’t have to train your Beagle to do is sniff out game animals like rabbits. They are sighthounds and have been bred to do this naturally and this is why so many people use Beagles when hunting. Not only do they have an amazing sense of smell, but they also have a remarkable howl to stay in contact with the hunter and communicate their location and what is going on in the hunt.
If you decide to take your Beagle beyond the basics, make sure he is old enough to handle the physical stress. It must be fully grown before it jumps, runs, or dives.
For more information on how to train your Beagle be sure to visit my website below. It not only contains information on obedience training, but also on how to handle problems like aggression, biting, chewing, barking, etc.