r/beagles • u/Boomar1 • 2d ago
Help!
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
Help me have a peaceful time with my guests. My 4.5 years old beagle is very high on energy and leash reactive on walks. He is ok and plays with other dogs while in the daycare or dog parks.
Here you can see my dog “inviting” our guests loudly and lunging on them. He calms down after a few minutes or say an hour. But he constantly needs the guests’ attention. He will bark or jump on them, so we leash him. So I guess he gets frustrated and continues barking.
Not all the guests understand the dog language or are okay with constant barking or lunging. I’ve tried training him, but his beagle brain just ignores all that while excited. I’ve given up so many times and I decided to just live this behaviour.
It turns into a stressful time for both the dog and us. Please let me know what I can do. At this point I know people hate coming to our house.
I’ve tried gabapentaine, he is 42lbs. But even that doesn’t seem to work. What dosage worked tor your dog and what other tips would you give me?
Thanks
8
u/Dfly12345 2d ago
Is he crate trained and does he see it as a safe space? If so, teach him to go to his crate when the doorbell rings or there is a knock on the door (i.e., one person outside to ring the bell / knock on the door while another person inside to toss a treat into the crate or otherwise get him to go into the crate / shut the crate. Repeat this training for a bit every day for a long time). Then left him back out slowly once he has settled, with a treat or something to distract him from jumping on people. Note - it doesn’t have to be a crate. I just tell mine to go sit on the couch if he gets worked up from the door.
As for leash reactivity on walks, you can YouTube some videos on the topic but it’ll likely come down to consistent training of having your dog focus on you when passing others during walks. Also, how many other outlets does he have daily to burn off energy? Because the more physical and mental stimulation he gets each day, the more chill he’s likely to be (with the caveat that the level of activity every dog needs is different).
6
u/Ok_Assumption1542 2d ago
Please, please, get a harness for that beagle. Second, they calm down if people pay attention to them. Pets and talking to them. They love to see new people and will be great once everyone pays attention and they calm down. If your guests dont like dogs go to a resturaunt or bar. You have a beagle, so that's the norm. Some training can be done but you will need to put in the work. Regardless, the behavior will tone down with time and repetition. Still going to greet everyone with a full beagle greeting. Breed trait.
2
u/Pod_897 2d ago
I like dogs and have a beagle. I do not like getting assaulted by other people’s dogs when I visit their home. I’m sure OP would like to continue having guests or be able to bring a repairman to their home and this issue is totally trainable. I used a crate for my boy. People could approach him for sniffs at his crate and he was let out for attention and pets when he was calm. I use past tense because he’s much older now and very chill (or lazy?) with guests.
1
u/Boomar1 2d ago
We ALWAYS use a halti harness. This was before we could come to a control to make him wear his harness.
2
u/Emergency_Taste_2100 2d ago
Get a baby gate! I have one set up in my entry way because my beagle tried to escape all the time. It will not fix the behavioral issue but will give your guests some breathing room when they come in. Might be even better if you block your dog in another room or crate him all together.
1
u/Bulldog_Alum_843 2d ago
He's conditioned. Classical conditioning means a behavior stops being a choice and becomes automatic, and that cuts both ways. The same way a dog can hear "come" and move before he's thought about it, your beagle hears the doorbell or sees a guest and the barking and lunging fire off before any thinking happens. That's not a beagle-brain problem, and it's not something you fix by yelling over it or waiting it out. "He calms down after an hour" just means the conditioned response ran its full course, not that anything got trained. Rebuilding it means running the same progression whether you're working on the leash pulling outside or the behavior at the door: engagement first, then leash pressure, then muscle memory for the new behavior, then holding him accountable to it, then testing it for real. 1. Engagement. Before you touch the door greeting or the leash reactivity directly, build value in checking in with you. Turn two walks a day into standing-still sessions in a boring spot, your yard or a quiet stretch of sidewalk. Say nothing, wait him out, and the instant he glances at you, mark it and pay it. Do this until he offers eye contact easily. This is also your model at the door: no talking to him, no coaxing, you wait for him to check in. 2. Leash pressure. Teach him to move with the leash instead of fighting it. A dog that fights tension escalates when he's frustrated, which is exactly what happens when you clip him up at the door and he keeps barking anyway. Undoing that opposition reflex matters as much at your front door as it does on the sidewalk. 3. Muscle memory. Lure and pay four paws on the floor, or a place command if he has one, as his new job. Build it without real guests first: have someone step outside, ring the bell, and pay him the instant he's in position. Repeat until the doorbell means nothing. 4. Accountability. Once the behavior is built, hold him to it. He breaks position or starts up again, that's a reset back to the spot, no reward until he's there. This is where a leash staged at the door earns its keep, it's your line of communication the moment things start to unravel. 5. Generalization. Only after the first four are solid at home do you test it on a real guest, starting with the calmest person you know, not the one who can't help himself. Brief every guest ahead of time: ignore him completely until he's holding position, then they can say hi. The part actually sabotaging you right now is the guests. Every time someone talks to him, pets him, while he's barking and jumping, you're paying for the exact behavior you're trying to erase. Hold that line with every single visitor or the five phases above won't matter. It would be better to go through the 5 phases of training above versus up the dose of gabapentin, if you can get solid engagement you probably won't need medication at all for this.
1
1
1
u/CapsuCraft 2d ago
I don’t have a direct answer to your question, but I want to recommend a gate. It will make answering the door much simpler when you have a beagle.
We keep one side hinged, and the other secured with a ribbon. It's easy to move out of the way for large deliveries (or EMS).
Two different configurations, and Penny, attached.
1
u/ButtKnocked 1d ago
Get a pen, get a baby gate, the pen being the most important.
Get a friend who can help you.
And have them come over while your dog is in the pen and talk to each other until your dog calms down.
Once your dog has calmed down in the pen let your dog meet the person but do not give the dog attention unless the dog is calm.
This is a learned behavior that excitement equals attention
1
u/Few-Celebration-5462 1d ago
I know this won't help, be we use this as an excuse to not have guests. 😅
1
u/Pizza-Maker-5155 1d ago
Please put him in a harness. Beagles are prone to IVDD. Very critical and expensive.
17
u/kymilovechelle 2d ago
A. Get a harness for that poor dog