Beagle Training Tips & Hints

Beagles are a popular breed of dog, however, they can be difficult to train. Beagles are smart, and they will often use that intelligence against their owners. In addition, beagles can be quite stubborn and want to play, instead of obey. For these reasons, it is essential for beagle owners to train their beagles properly. Fortunately, there are a few tips and hints beagle owners can follow to get their dogs trained quickly and successfully.

  1. Praise

    • Praising your beagle is one of the best ways to encourage it to obey you. Beagles are hunting dogs that thrive on scents and rewards. If you let your beagle know it will receive a treat as its reward for obeying you, it will likely strive to continue its good behavior. Therefore, whenever your beagle does what you ask, give it a treat. Make sure it’s something especially fragrant and tasty, such as peanut butter or liverwurst.

    Consistency

    • Consistency is key when training your beagle. This is because of how stubborn the breed is, states the Beagle Savvy website. Beagles generally want to do it their way and the instant you give in and let that happen, you’ve shown the beagle that it can do what it wants. If you are forceful sometimes and give in at others, this confuses the beagle and makes training difficult. Therefore, never let the beagle display behaviors you are attempting to prevent. That is, if you are training your beagle not to bark when the doorbell rings, you need to employ the same training method and technique every time. You can’t allow the beagle to bark because you are in a rush to answer the door—you have to implement your training techniques at each occurrence. If you allow your beagle to display that bad behavior even once, you have reinforced it, which is a sign to the beagle that it is allowed to bark.

    Exercise

    • Along with its tendency to bark, one of the best-known traits of the beagle is its high activity level. One should not expect a beagle to concentrate and pay attention during a training session when it has loads of energy running through its little body. Therefore, walk your dog or play with it before you attempt to teach it a command. Once your beagle has gotten that energy out of its system, it will learn better. Play fetch with your beagle, or let it catch a ball or flying disc. Beagles also generally enjoy walking and jogging, which also provides a good time for you to bond with your pooch. Once your beagle is worn out a bit, then try your training session.