Seeking Suggestions on Housebreaking Beagle Puppy

Hey C.,

I have two beagles of my own and had 1 beagle prior to the two I currently have! I have had my fill of beagles! First of all, you have to know that beagles are extremely stubborn and willful. This it makes it more difficult, but not impossible. Since you are living in an apartment, I would keep the pup with you at all times. Try and keep track of how often s/he needs to go out. The rule of thumb in my house was whenever the dog would refill with water, she would go out to pee. When you do take her out, try to go to the same spot each time and after she goes praise her like crazy, reminding her pee pee outside, poo poo outside, good dog. She will eventually learn, it just takes time. The thing you want to try to do is get to her before she has an accident in the house. That will make it a much more positive experience for both of you. If all else fails, you can always praise her with a tiny treat, not to big because beagles tend to put on the weight. A lot of trainers don't like treats, because it is hard to have them with you all of the time. Praise is the best! Remember to use the same potty language when you go out. They will get to understand that. Also, if you don't have kids yet, keep your pup social with little ones. This will make it a better kid friendly dog if you ever decide to have kids. I wish you the best of luck training your beagle. Please email with any questions if you have any! I would love to try to help someone who is going through stuff that I have been through! Be patient, it will not happen overnight, but when she is finally trained, she will be great dog, just like my two(a little nuts, but great)!

D.

1 mom found this helpful

Here is what I suggest...

First, you should pick a word you're going to use, like "potty" or "outside". If she starts to go in the wrong spot get her attention by saying you're word.. let's just say it's "potty!" You can clap or make a loud sound to distract and stop her. Immediately put her in the correct place. When she goes in the correct place say "Good Potty!" in a praising tone of voice. That reinforces the word even more. It also helps to have the same feeding schedule each day and to give her plenty of opportunities to go potty.

DO NOT stick her nose in her pee or poo. If you can't catch her in the act it does no good to yell at her or stick her nose near where she went, she wont understand.

The main thing with puppy training is to associate good things with good behavior and bad with bad behavior. When she does something you like, give lots of praise or a treat. When she does something you don't like you can make a loud sound like shaking a can of pennies or slapping a rolled up magazine on something.

Another thought is, even though you are training her to go on a pad in the house, it may be a good idea to get her used to going on grass as well. I think it usually should take only a few weeks to housetrain a puppy.

Make sure you socialize her and get her used to anything you want her to be used to (car rides, different people, animals and surroundings etc).

I hope this helps. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. I love dogs. We are currently training our new Australian Shepard puppy (: Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

Hi there!

Karla G just summed up everything I was going to say! I have 2 Beagle babies! Well, they arent really babies anymore! We trained just like she said and it worked wonders. Our first Beagle took us about 2 weeks to train to go to the door when she needed to go out. Our second one took only 2 days... but I think she just was following the example of the older one.

The only thing I do suggest is to be careful using treats as rewards... Beagles are VERY smart and VERY VERY stubborn! Mine learned that they get treats when the come in so they would come in and then get a treat and turn around and go right back outside. This went on for hours sometimes. They also refused to come in if I did not offer them a treat. One night they were out for hours in the rain since they are very stubborn... I was even more though then them! lol In the end I finally stopped buying all treats for awhile and now I will only use them when they do not try to steal food from the baby or cry non stop while she is eating.

Beagles are chow hounds!!!! My oldest one is 50 pounds... VERY overweight... she is on a diet with green beans and 1/4 the food she would normally eat and we take up the dish when she is done. She is fed on a schedule. THe other one is also on a diet as she weighs in at 34 pounds... not as severe of a diet but she definately needs to lose weight too. So be very careful about treats! Praise is really the best thing to use. Kindda like you wouldnt want to give your child candy each time they did something good!

Good luck training your Beagle baby!!
Blessings!

We have a mut, which is part beagle. When we adopted him he was about 4 months old and not potty trained. We brought him home and did everything possible to potty train him, including taking him outside all the time which was suggested by the trainer in his doggy day care. What we later learned is that beagles have a delicite bladder and take a lot longer to potty train than other dogs. Try googling potty training a beagle. So I guess just be patient. If you see your pup in the act say "NO" and put her nose close tot he accident (no hitting necessary, a stern quick "NO" will get through). Remember if they potty and you do not see her do it, do not put their nose near the accident because they have no clue what your doing. Caught in the act is great. But again, just be patient with their little bladder.

C.,
Congrats on the new puppy!
I would suggest buying the puppy training pads. They have a scent in them that attracts dogs to it. I would also see about asking a vet or taking the puppy to Petsmart or Petco for trainging classes. If you are looking for a vetrinarian in the south suburbs, look up my cousin, Dr. Joel Mills at Palos Animal Hospital! Good Luck!

My dog new every trick except to do her business outside. while 2 months is still young there is only one way to potty train the dog. many people are against this but it has been used for centeries- put their nose up to it. say no no and use a rolled magazine and swat the bottom and then take them outside. after a few times of consistant training they get it.

do you have a crate? a lot of people think crating is mean but it really turns into your pups "safe house". my 4 y.o. dog will go into her crate when things are getting crazy in the house and just chill out. there is a book called "My Smart Puppy" that is a great resource. I don't have experience training on pads but a lot of people have success with them. good luck!

My friend uses a pee stick. I was amazed when I saw this. They would have the dog smell it and within seconds her dog would pee. As soon as your dog wakes up have her smell the stick and then put her on the pad. Hope this helps.

I couldn't have done it without a crate. They won't poddy where they sleep. Now, 3 years later, his crate is his safe place. the place he loves to be if we aren't home.
I don't even close the door, he chooses to go there on his own. I am sure there are books on it. Even google it.
Any dog trainer I've ever known highly recommends it. It is safe you YOU, safe for the Puppy.

I strongly recommend the books by The Monks of New Skete (e.g., The Art of Raising a Puppy, etc.). Housetraining is a little too complicated to really explain in a brief e-mail and they provide good, detailed info (including an hour by hour schedule) that really does work. My advice would be to crate train, to be patient (at this age, puppy's can only hold their bladder for 4-6 hours), and to work really hard at it for 2 or 3 weeks, which is all it really should take. If you put in some real effort/attention now, it will pay off in that you will not have to put in effort for years with a dog that is not housetrained. Their books are also really great with regard to just basic training principles and more general stuff and will improve your relationship with your dog because you will both have a better idea of what to expect from each other. I think it is great that you are already being so proactive and responsible! Enjoy your new dog!

The only way you are going ot not have to go up and down is to make sure that he is going on the pads. When he has an accident somewhere you have to bring him to the pads so he knows. Also I would suggest getting a crate. It sounds mean but I have crate trained all of mine until they were old enough to be left out and not potty or chew anything. Usually what I do is let them out and take them out right away. Let them run around and play a bit and take them out again becuase the excitement is going ot make them go again. Put them back in for a while. They are like babies. Instead of a crib it is a cage. Don't forget the middle of the night or you are going ot have a big mess to clean in the cage. The one thing that i say is a hoax is that they won't go in their cages. My 10 month old dog uised to poop from one end of his cage to the next no matter how many time I took him out at night.

Puppies are just like babies -- they cannot control their bladders (pee/poops) until they are one year old is what I was told.

You need an area you can keep her in with an easy clean floor, like a laundry room, bathroom, or kitchen. If you think you will always want the option of her going inside since you live in an apartment, then I wouldn't pick the kitchen! You need to be able to confine her in that area when you are not home. Use a door or get a gate. Cover the whole area with newspapers. That way, wherever she goes, she goes on newspaper. You can gradually decrease the area until the newspapers are just in one corner. If you are planning to always use puppy pads, use those. They usually like to go in the same spot and by smell. Sometimes it helps to keep a litle soiled newspaper when you change it so she will smell and want to go there again. Puppies have to go a LOT. You need to watch them and figure out how long it takes them to go after they eat or drink. Remember, what goes in, comes out. Do not give her free access to water. She needs certain times to have drinks so you know when she will have to pee. Crate training is nice, too. The crate is their cave and their home and usually they will not potty in it. If she came from a pet store, that may not work. I used to put my dog in the crate at night. It's also nice to have one for travel, or when you have company that doesn't appreciate a dog. Good luck! I love my dog, but the housebreaking was tough!

We would always take the puppy outside after they eat to get them used to that and then we got them on a schedule of different times to take them out other than after meal times. I've always taken my dog outside. I only put a pad down for night time or when we left the house and kept the puppy in one room like the kitchen. It's just a matter of doing it over and over again and cleaning up a lot of messes along the way. Good Luck!