Stray Beagle

Question
About a week ago my husband and I found a stray beagle in our yard.  I have done everything I could to find his owner but no one has claimed him.  We took him to the Vet, he has Lymes Disease but is on meds and doing wonderful.  We also got him some vaccines in case he never had them.  We were going to try to find him a new home but have become attached to him so we are going to keep him.

The vet said he is probably between 4 and 8 (we think closer to 4 though).  He is a very sweet dog but constantly cries (all day unless he falls asleep) to go outside.  I take him on plenty of walks but he wants more (it is currently 10 degrees where I live so I can not stay out with him for more then 15 minutes at a time.  Any suggestions on what we can do to calm him down?  He is not neutered but we made an appointment for him to get neutered next week.  Will this help?

We our going to keep him crated while we are not home since he is not house broken  (but has only had 2 accidents so far so he is doing well).  Any suggestions on getting to like his crate?

Also we have a lot of woods around us and live on 2 acres.  What can we do when the weather gets nicer to keep him outside more.  I don't want him to run off and getting a regular fence is not an option.

Thanks it is much appreciated!

Answer
Hi Rachael, kudos to you for adopting him and getting him his shots etc! What a lucky biy to find someone who cares so much. Unfortunately you are going to have an uphill battle to fight. It is very common for beagles to be found stray as they are guided by their real brain....their noses! Beagles cannot ever be 100% reliable to not run off no matter how much you train them which is why they need secure fencing, alot of training, and to always be on a leash. It sounds like he has been out wandering for a while too since he craves being outside and cries to be let loose. If fencing is not an option then you need to build a dog run where he can safely be outside. You could also try putting him on a long tether ling but most beagles I know that have had this don find a way to chew thru it and /or break it and off they go! Electronic fencing is a possibility BUT I have heard many a story about how smart beagles are and they eventually find the weak spot or are willing to take the shock and once again, off they go...

I cannot help you with the crating, I do not personally believe in crating or have expertise in this. You can find lots of articles online about how to do this. I believe that a dog needs to learn to live in a human household and be able not to destroy things or have accidents in the house so I train them immediately to be able to be loose in the house. This is a gradual process however starting with one room and then eventually expanding their world.

YES! He needs to be neutered, this is another one of the reasons he loves to be out and about, following his nose, looking for females in heat. Ideally neutering should happen as early as possible when a pup so it shuts down the hormones and if lucky they never get the surge at all, a dog who is 4-8 years old will have experienced the full range of his hormones. At his age it will help but not eliminate his desire to wander, however it will calm him down a bit, protect him from testicular cancer and eliminate him making "deposits" all over town and contributing to the overload of unwanted puppies/dogs

I can also give you some housebreaking info if you would like, just let me know.