Can I teach my old dogs some new tricks?

Question
My husband bought 3 beagles about 8 months ago to rabbit hunt. I was very reluctant to have that many dogs but now i have gotten really attached to one of the females and would like to bring her in and housebreak her. I am not so sure she will be as open to this as I want. She is about 2 years old and just had her first litter of pups. She is a really great hunter and my husband fears that if we let her stay in with us then she will not perform so well while hunting. How can break her from eliminating in the house and will treating her more like a indoor dog affect her hunting?

Answer
Hello Erica!
If she just had puppies she needs to stay indoors no matter what, for a while. If she was to stay outside it could mess up her milk. I would recommend for at least 3 weeks she stay indoors, because there has been instantises where the milk can mess up if she is outdoors. Now, training a beagle takes a lot of time because they are so stubborn. But a normal beagle usually doesn't learn to become house trained until about two years anyway. Mine is not far off from being 2 and she just finished classes at Petsmart, and she is wonderfully housetrained.I would recommend taking her to a facility like that because she is now a adult dog. Petsmart is great, petco, or your local SPCA. The classes usually last for 8 weeks and you take her once a week. Until you can get her trained use the puppy training pads the scent on them will bring her to them and she will go on them. I higly doubt that brining her inside will affect her hunting skills, but she needs to be indoors right now. Hunting skills for beagles (after they learn how) is just like riding a bike they will know how to do it when they go back out. Of course if you spoil her then she might be hesitant to go, but she will. Good luck and if you have any more questions please e-mail me.