Need Help with Puppy

For the chewing petsmart has bitter apple spray spray a little on the things he is chewing helps a lot.

The best suggestion I have is a crate and a book on crate training. It should not take long to housebreak him plus it creates a safe place for him if needed.

Hi R.! First of all, I am no expert, but I've raised alot of dogs in my day & politically correct or not, these are some things that worked for me. One pup we had took 9 mos to housebreak! Finally, I read to put him on a puppy pad by the door when he starts to go. After awhile, move one pad to right outside the door, leaving one inside. After a week or so, get rid of the one inside. Hopefully, he'll follow the pad! Mine did. As far as the chewing...when he starts on one of your things, take your index finger & bring it down on top of the bridge of his nose (not real hard or anything) & say firmly, "NO!! This is MOMMY"S!!" Then, immediately give him one of his own chew toys to gnaw on & say, "THIS is so-&-so's! Good boy!" I have 4 inside dogs right now! (pomeranian, rat terrier, & 2 Jack Russells. All male!) They all learned this way. Hope it helps! S. :)

Crate train! As for the chewing, like someone else said buy a bunch of Nylabones! We literally held them for our puppy while she chewed on those. I do know that the crate training method works! Our dog to this day LOVES her crate. She gets anxious if we don't put her in it when we leave the house to run errands or at night when we go to bed.

As a Once-upon-a-time Vet Tech, and a mom to many of animal kiddos, I have to say you have received some really good advice.

CRATE TRAIN! Number one thing to do and it will save you tons of grief later on.

If he does soil in your house, a little pop on the nose or butt after taken to the spot of the crime will do the trick. I'm not saying to beat the little guy, just a flick on the nose. Then clean up the spot immediately, either use vinegar afterwards or Urine-gone works really well also. Both will get the smells out.

My little Westie would poo in our formal living room in the same spot everyday. It drove me nuts, so I've been there. So not only did I use the aboved mentioned, I also used Pepper and sprinkled it where he would usually try to go. When he went to sniff out a place to go, he got a not so pleasant surprise!

No one is going to have the absolute best answer for you, you are just going to have to try different techniques and figure out the one that works best for you and your new little animal family member. And remember he is still young, it's a learning process. Don't give up too soon!

We take our dog on walks twice a day, and he has a twin bladder to yours. He'll stop about 4-5 times to pee, to mark different territories. For messes, they both get a "time out" in the laundry room for a little bit (20 mins.) There is nothing for them to do but lay at the door and put their paws under and want to get out. Then, I go in and reassure them that we love them and let them out.

As far as chewing on stuff, ours chewed a little when he was younger, but not now. I would get the chewed item and show it to him, at the same time, firmly stating "NO!" It didn't take him long to learn.

I have no idea if this will work for your dog. I use a water bottle for our cat; don't know how a dog would react. lol Best of luck!

Hi R.,

Sorry you're having such a rough time with the baby mutt! We have a 1 yr. old black lab mix, a 10 year old Miniture Dachshund and a 14 yr. old Boston Terrier. The Doxie was the hardest to housebreak, possibly because its a boy. I found that if you take him outside as soon as he gets up from a nap, finishes a meal, and after playtime and let him stay outside for a good 10 minutes, he should be done with his potty by then. Those are the prime times when the puppy needs to go outside. When you leave him alone, do you put him in a crate or dog carrier? Get a crate that is fairly good size, put blankets and toys he can't choke on, and then leave him in the crate. Put a radio on so he can hear people's voices. It helps keep the puppy from feeling so lonely. Give him lots of praise and reward for going outside. If he potties in the house, scold him and immediately take him back outside. If you are consistent with this he will get the picture.

Now for the chewing problem: Our black lab is still into the chewing thing. I have found that when I keep all my shoes, socks, garbage cans out of her reach and make sure she gets her exercise (walking on a leash, swimming, playing tug-of-war) she isn't nearly as destructive.

I hope that helps.

Good luck!
T.

a little about me:
married to a wonderful man for 5 years. 3 step-kids who are adults, 6 grandchildren.

I have a 3yr old Beagle and he was the worst puppy I ever had! We just made sure that after he ate we took him outside and if he went potty he got a small treat. While we were gone, we would locked him up in our laundry room with a baby gate only to find out that he was scaling it when he had to go potty and peeing by our front door. When we got home he would be back in the laundry room like nothing ever happened. No telling how long he was doing this. He also chewed on our woodwork and baseboards in the house. You can get the bitter spray at pet stores, which I think it helped some. He eventually grew out of it and he is now the best dog ever. He goes to the backdoor when he needs out and then barks when he wants inside. He can be very stubborn at times and very persistant, but he is great with our daughter and I wouldn't trade him for anything!!

Housebreaking puppies is much like potty training with children. It requires close watching of the puppy and everytime you see him stop to sniff or start to pee, grab him and take him outside. It may require that you stay with out with him until he is successful and then praise "good dog/puppy" until he goes. Have a constant word for going to "potty". If he makes a mess in the house and you see him doing it forcefully say "no", carry him out, and set him where you want him to go. People used to take the dog back to his mess and rub his nose in it, that theory is no longer considered effective because they lack a time period cause & effect.

We have effectively used Woolite's floor and carpet cleaner for dog messes to discourage a repeat at the same spot. Our current puppy, a 1 year old Lab and always at my side, recoiled from the scent of the cleaner. It seemed to help in repeat performances. Also, it has worked for us to always keep the dog in the same room with us---close doors until he was dependable. When we are away or at night we crate him in his safe kennel "cave." It keeps him safe and saves the furniture, rugs, shoes, etc. In the meantime, keep treasures off the floor. We have been known to take off shoes in a motel/hotel and instinctively place them on the bureau out of reach. We laugh about how the dog has us trained.

J.

When I house broke ours I kept him in a travel crate at night. Dogs won't use the bathroom where they have to sleep. After a few days he got "it", that he was supposed to go outside. Then he would go sit by the door.

Some dogs do not have the muscle control to be fully potty trained until they are between 4 & 6 months old. So you may just have to keep reinforcing that he needs to go outside and be patient. One of my dogs did that but the day he turned 5 mos he didn't have an accident and never had one from then on.

As far as him chewing, you can get a spray called Bitter Apple at pet supply stores that tastes really nasty to them but won't harm your items or the dog.

My favorite method on that was to keep a spray bottle of water handy and mist him in the face when he chews on something he's not suppose to do (or anything he's not suppose to do). It has always worked great with my dogs. In fact, I can just pick up the bottle and the stop. Just make sure you get a spray bottle that has a mist setting as you don't want them going outside wet in the winter.

Good Luck!

Been there....done that. Except we ended up giving our beagle puppy back to the original owners because I couldn't handle pee on our carpet anymore. Hang in there!

Go get some training classes & talk with professionals. It's just like potty training a toddler...patience & persistence.

About the chewing, put all your stuff up. If you can't with kids, then close the doors to the rooms.

I also have a beagle, she is now 14 months old and finally house trained. Your puppy may not have full bladder control for the first year. My vet told me 4-7 months for full bladder control but I think mine was more like 9 -10 months. She is the best dog, loves kids, people and other dogs. At first I thought she was retarded but I have come to realize that she is so smart that she fools me! The little turd! The key is to keep the puppy in a routine of "potty out" time and try to catch her in the act so that you can discipline accordingly. Every time she did good "potty out" she would get a treat, beagles seem very motivated by treats. I also keep her in a crate during the day when I am at work... this has worked out great for us. She now runs into the crate and waits for her treat when she sees that I am almost ready to leave for work. Every once in awhile we still have an accident but that is usually because I am sleeping or not paying attention to her "signs" to tell me that she needs out. I have house trained three dogs and the beagle was by far the most difficult, it takes time. As far as chewing, I make sure she has a big rawhide bone at all times because she did chew up some furniture before I figured out that she just needed something to chew on. I also redirect her to chew on her toys, and she does prefer to chew on my remote control, my phone, etc... I don't know why beagles are so adamant about that but the rawhide bones have been so much help.
Good Luck!
A. :)

R., I have a 7 year old Beagle and they are one the most hard headed, stubborn dogs that I've ever come in contact with. Be consistent with it; take him out side before he eats and after. Take him to the same place EVERYTIME. And I know that people say to rub their noses in it, but that never worked for me.

Regarding the chewing thing, I honestly don't know what to tell you. Mine still chews on things. About 5 years ago I bought a brand new love seat. Well my darling, cute Beagle chewed a seat cushion in half and chewed up a pillow. He's gotten better the older he's gotten, but still has his moments. Right now he's peeing all over the house marking his territory since I had a son almost a year ago.

I have 3 suggestions:
1.) take him to puppy training classes like at Petsmart or Petco
2.) If you don't already, get him a crate because they will rarely use the restroom where they sleep. He will begin to love a crate because it's secure. Also, if everytime you let him out take him to the bathroom so that it becomes routine.
3.) Get him "fixed" if you aren't planning on breeding him. Mine isn't, but is going to be with in the next couple of weeks. We should have done it years ago, but I held out hope that I was going to breed him because he's got perfect markings and before the baby came, he was so well mannered.

Hope some of this helps and if you need any other info into the Beagle breed, email me @ ____@____.com and I will try to shed some light on what to look forward to.

~J.

Crate training works wonderfully!!!! I potty trained a lab a few years ago. Confining her to kitchen and using puppy pads did not work. After a week or so in the crate, she was good to go. By the end of it, I had her trained to ring a bell that I hung on the door knob of the front door to let me know when she needed out. Also, it is extremely important during the training phase to put food and water out at specific times (i.e., in a.m. and then again in p.m.). Leave it out for a limited amount of time (about 20 minutes), then take it up. Give the pup about 10 minutes or so for food to digest, take her outside and place her where you want her to go potty, and tell her "go potty" or some similar phrase. Use the same phrase every time so she begins to know what the command is. Every time she potties in appropriate place, profusely praise her. If she doesn't potty, she comes inside and goes back into her crate. After a little while, let her out of crate and take her directly outside to go potty. Repeat until she eventually goes potty and then praise her. Pretty quickly, she will stop using potty in crate and will go outside. Dogs are pack animals and do not like to go in their "den," and since she will be spending time in her crate during this training phase, she will eventually start going when taken outside. After she gets the knack of going outside and you can trust her to run around in the house, you can leave water out for her all the time. It is still a good idea to put the food out and then take it up at certain times, though (this cuts down on obesity issues). Also, if you want to bell train, use her paw to swipe the bell at the door every time you take her out, just before opening the door, and say "let's go potty." then open the door, put her out and tell her to "go potty." repeat until she starts doing it on her own. these techniques worked for my lab. good luck!

Puppy potty pads work great for us.

I would chek into crate training your puppy. that's what we have done with all four of our dogs, BUT, it can take up to six months for a dog to finally get house broken, depending on the individual dog. Basically your puppy lives in the crate, you let him/her out periodically during the day to go potty, you feed him at the same time every day so you can be in control of his bodily functions (he'll get on a schedule), and you only let him out of the crate when he is being constantly supervised. YOU cannot leave an un housetrained dog alone in the house at any time! Believe me, I know! it's a lot of work, just like potty training a human. They require almost as much attention as a human! let me know if you have any other questions. i could go on for hours.

I have had beagles all my life until now. My 16 year old beagle passed 2 christmases ago. He was a great dog!

To potty train:

Whenever they go in the house, clean it up and then wipe the area with vinegar. The smell will disappear and vinegar doesn't hurt the carpet, but hounds hate the smell of it. Let them watch you clean it up and tell them no. Then swipe their nose with the vinegar and put them outside.

Water should be taken up at least an hour before you go to bed. Just like kids, pups have little control of their bladder.

For chewing:

Tobasco sauce. Make sure you have plenty of water handy.

For digging (this will come) and poop eating (this may come):

Cayene pepper poured in the dirt or on the poop whatever the occasion. This only takes one or two times. Again, have water ready.

As for crate training, your pup should never be left alone out in an open area when young. The crates should be sized according to the size of the dog, so you need a small one to start with and gradually get bigger as he does. The more room they have the more likely they are to continue peeing or pooping. At 6 months, you should start time intervals of letting him have more freedom with little to destroy. After a year to 18 months, you should be able to start letting him sleep out.

Lastly, beagles are a hyper breed. They need daily walks. They also need to be trained to chase you into the house. They will run from you as a game and get lost because they get caught up in smells. So train him now to chase you.

Have fun with your new pup! They are great!

R.-

As others have said Crate training will help with the potty accidents. It will take a while but whenever you cannot watch him or are leaving the house put him in his crate (use the word "Crate" when u do this too then he'll learn the word and when he is older he will go to his crate on command.) Dogs hate "going" where they live/sleep so eventually the accidents will stop. As for the chewing, dogs teethe just like babies so you are doing the right thing by giving him chew toys. I've noticed that dogs with chewing problems sometimes do so out of boredom too so make sure he is getting his daily walks and plenty of attention. Also if you see him chewing something he shouldn't give him a sharp "no" and then provide a toy he can chew on immediatly. I have had Beagles my entire life and they are by far the best with kids and very sweet. I'm a pet sitter and see a lot of different breeds in my profession. Hang in there and good luck with the pup!

Crate training is what did it for our puppies. Get yourself a crate and anytime you can't watch the dog or you are gone, put him in the crate. This, in my opinion, is the quickest way to potty train a dog. Dogs do not want to go to the bathroom where they sleep and he'll learn to hold it. Obviously, I wouldn't leave a puppy longer than 4 hours in the crate before he's let outside to go potty. I would do this in addition to what other's have said about taking him outside when you are home every 20 minutes, especially after he eats, to go potty. Reward him when he does go potty outside and make a big deal out of it.

Puppies are a LOT of work and it takes patience, time and some real leadership to help them become the great dogs we know they can be. As far as chewing, we like Nylabones, too. Some dogs chew worse than others but this is something our dogs just had to grow out of. This is where the crate can come in handy. If you can't watch him or you are gone, crate the dog and he won't tear up your stuff. My dogs were crate trained and when they were about a year and a half old each, they became trustworthy enough to have free reign of the house when we weren't home. We were able to get rid of the crates and now they are almost 6 years old and are great dogs. They never go to the bathroom in the house and do not tear things up. We had to teach them that they had their toys and that is what they could chew on.

One final note, a dog trainer friend of mine told me..."a well-exercised dog is a well behaved dog." Make sure your dog isn't bored and that he gets plenty of time with the family and time for playing/exercising outside. Walks are great. Be careful not to jog a puppy, though. I am not sure what age experts recommend that you can start jogging with your puppy, but I bet you could look that up online.

Good Luck!
N.

Are you crate training him? This will help tremendously. I am a veterinarian and I recommend it for any dog. You need to get a crate that is big enough for him to stand up and turn around in, but not any bigger. If it is larger they will use one end as a bathroom. Put a comfy towel or bed in there. Make that where he goes when you are not home, and most importantly at night. He will whine at first but it's like letting your child cry it out, you have to be tough. Also, take him out often, and when he goes use positive reinforcement. Give him a treat. Also make sure he is using the restroom when he goes out. Sometimes puppies, like children with start to play and forget that they have to pee and realize when they come in and go on the carpet. Follow him, make sure he is peeing. And, if you don't catch him in the act of going on the floor,he has no idea what you are yelling at him about, rubbing their nose in it does not work. Crate training really works well, and then if you need to leave him with someone, or the vet clinic if you go out of town, it makes their life much easier because he is used to being in a kennel.

You've gotten some great advice! We live on a farm and have/have had tons of animals. Crate training is a must for all of our dogs. Our dogs are part of the family and are out with us any time we are at home and awake, but they are in the crate or outside when we're gone. After the initial training, they seem to really love the crates and go their for comfort (like when it's storming). I also agree that many dogs don't have the muscle control to be able to be house trained until they are 4 months old or so, so that may be part of the problem you are having. Also, out of all of the dogs we've had, the only one we've had to find a new home for was a beagle. She was simply too hyper and stubborn. She was also aggressive with our children, but I haven't typically heard that about beagles. I know others who have great luck with beagles, so hopefully that will be the case with you. I hope so. :-)

You need to take puppy outside, and watch him do his business...saying "Go potty" each time he does this will help him to learn that as a command later in life to pee/poop on demand. Simply letting him outside on his own and assuming he's done his business is not enough for puppy at this age. And, yeah they really don't have good bladder control until 5-6 mths of age so expect this to happen.

Using a crate: puppies are neat freaks and will learn to hold it b'c they don't want to mess up their precious little space. Keep puppy in crate unless your playing with it and know it's already done its business outside, otherwise put in crate. Our lab is 3 yrs old now and she loves her crate. it's her own space which dogs love to have.

We put her in the crate and later used babygates to keep her in one room with tile or linoleum flooring to clean up piddle. For more tips and advice, you may consider checking out one of the dog training and caretaking books by the Monks of New Skete. It was recommended to us and we used it alot. they have one specifically on puppies.

For chewing, get a puppy nylabone. It's safer than rawhides and will last alot longer than a stuffed animal toy. Then, puppy will learn to only associate chewing on his nylabone and nothing else. Once again, our lab is an aggressive chewer and was terrible as a pup but with maturity she learned that her nylabone was it for chewing. she still uses these today and they're super long lasting--the durable kind for adult dogs lasts over 1 year for ours. It's the only thing she hasn't chewed up in 10 seconds. they come in different types for ages/size of dog. you can get them at any pet store and sometimes target/walmart carry them.

I hope all of this helps..our dog was a real pain in the behind as a puppy to train but it was worth it, and we'd do it again.