Training a 2 year old

[Demonic69]

Morning all. We've got a 2 year old Beagle Spaniel cross. Had him since a pup and he's somewhat trained, but could be better. Neither of us really know what we're doing, so we've relied on classes etc. He'll follow instructions, recall 90% of the time and is generally well behaved, if excitable. I would like him to be better though, especially when we move as there could be a risk of him legging it through our gate.

I'm not sure how to teach him boundaries, like don't go past that gate. He's currently fenced in in the garden, so not really had to worry about it. He's also a barker, even though he's told no as soon as he barks and usually gets a scutch (I think he's a bit thick TBH ;)) and I'd love for that to stop; he's got the most annoying bark!

 

Any help appreciated.

Cheers

[Lloyd90]

Sorry to be blunt but it’s a beagle cross. 
 

Beagles are literally designed to run off and follow a scent trail for hours and hours on end without giving up. Then throw in some hunting and energy of a spaniel into the mixing pot!  
 

Im pretty sure Beagles are also designed to “give tongue” (bark and make noise)... so your up against the odds from the off. 
 

Now that doesn’t mean you can’t train the dog, but it’s just going to be harder. (This is why I stress to people to get the dog that suits the job you want it to do). 
 

Re the dog darting out the gate, initially you’ll just have to be a lot more aware of where the dog is and what it’s doing before opening the gate, you could get the dog near the gate and just open and close the gate hundreds of times, stopping the dog running out and then give him a treat / reward for not running out and waiting inside whilst you go out and come back inside. 
 

 

Re the barking, you can tell him to shutup when he is doing it, depends what he does it for and why? 
 

There are lots of different ways to consider approaching nuisance barking, do consider however that the beagle part of your bark has kind of been designed to bark and make noise, so might only be doing what comes naturally to him? 🤷‍♂️

[Demonic69]

On 16/10/2020 at 10:00, Lloyd90 said:

Sorry to be blunt but it’s a beagle cross. 
 

Beagles are literally designed to run off and follow a scent trail for hours and hours on end without giving up. Then throw in some hunting and energy of a spaniel into the mixing pot!  
 

Im pretty sure Beagles are also designed to “give tongue” (bark and make noise)... so your up against the odds from the off. 
 

Now that doesn’t mean you can’t train the dog, but it’s just going to be harder. (This is why I stress to people to get the dog that suits the job you want it to do). 
 

Re the dog darting out the gate, initially you’ll just have to be a lot more aware of where the dog is and what it’s doing before opening the gate, you could get the dog near the gate and just open and close the gate hundreds of times, stopping the dog running out and then give him a treat / reward for not running out and waiting inside whilst you go out and come back inside. 
 

 

Re the barking, you can tell him to shutup when he is doing it, depends what he does it for and why? 
 

There are lots of different ways to consider approaching nuisance barking, do consider however that the beagle part of your bark has kind of been designed to bark and make noise, so might only be doing what comes naturally to him? 🤷‍♂️

Thanks for the reply. I'm honestly glad to hear it's not just our bad training! He is pretty obedient, I suppose I worry that we should be doing more.

Good idea with the gate, he usually responds well to positive reinforcement so we'll give that a go.

Cheers

[WalkedUp]

On 16/10/2020 at 10:00, Lloyd90 said:

Beagles are literally designed to run off and follow a scent trail for hours and hours on end without giving up. Then throw in some hunting and energy of a spaniel into the mixing pot!  
 

Im pretty sure Beagles are also designed to “give tongue” (bark and make noise)... so your up against the odds from the off. 
 

Now that doesn’t mean you can’t train the dog, but it’s just going to be harder. (This is why I stress to people to get the dog that suits the job you want it to do). 

Good advice.

My wife’s grandfather was President of the Royal Rock Beagles before Labour ended it all. The only training they used to do was shoot the slowest and fastest dog in the pack after each outing.

They are not bred to be biddable but headstrong and follow their nose.

[Lloyd90]

3 hours ago, WalkedUp said:

Good advice.

My wife’s grandfather was President of the Royal Rock Beagles before Labour ended it all. The only training they used to do was shoot the slowest and fastest dog in the pack after each outing.

They are not bred to be biddable but headstrong and follow their nose.

Why would they shoot the fastest? 
 

😬

[WalkedUp]

Keep the pack tight. 

[ninjaferret]

Get used to the barking.

[Demonic69]

3 minutes ago, ninjaferret said:

Get used to the barking.

It's not something you can get used to. He's managed to perfect a pitch that's too low to be a yap, too high to be a proper bark. Just right for causing excess vibrations in the ear drum and loud enough to be a health hazard indoors. He's like the Pavarotti of pooches.

It's not like he barks a lot, just bloody annoying when he does

[Bowlander]

On 16/10/2020 at 09:07, Demonic69 said:

Morning all. We've got a 2 year old Beagle Spaniel cross. Had him since a pup and he's somewhat trained, but could be better. Neither of us really know what we're doing, so we've relied on classes etc. He'll follow instructions, recall 90% of the time and is generally well behaved, if excitable. I would like him to be better though, especially when we move as there could be a risk of him legging it through our gate.

I'm not sure how to teach him boundaries, like don't go past that gate. He's currently fenced in in the garden, so not really had to worry about it. He's also a barker, even though he's told no as soon as he barks and usually gets a scutch (I think he's a bit thick TBH ;)) and I'd love for that to stop; he's got the most annoying bark!

 

Any help appreciated.

Cheers

Remember your training a hound ! Nose on ears off ! Dogs learn boundaries by correction . However no matter how good you think they are that , certain stimulus will trump the training so that makes it a management issue as much as a training one .