Beagle Training-Special Considerations

When carrying out Beagle training, all the normal training principles still apply. This would include house training a puppy and dog obedience training. When training your puppy we still feel that reward based training rather than punishment based is much more effective. The Beagle has over the centuries been trained specifically as a hunting dog and is to this day used for rabbit hunting. Even if you don't intend on using your Beagle for hunting, there are some natural instincts that have been bred into the Beagle that will definitely influence your normal obedience training. Being aware of these strong instincts will assist you in catering for them and adapting your training accordingly. This is important in all the dog training methods.

By its very nature, rabbit hunting is an activity that the dog does alone. He will automatically go into hunting mode as soon as he picks up a scent, and will then tend to ignore everything you say. You will therefore need to be stronger than most trainers on ensuring that your Beagle listens and pays attention to you when you speak. The best way to perform this is to use the dog's name as a prelude to any command. Saying the name and waiting for the dog to respond by looking at you before than following up with the command e.g. sit or come. To get your Beagle to do this, make sure you have lots of treats with you at all times during your Beagle training stages. Reward the puppy every time he reacts to his name and the command that follows. Practise this a number of times until you are sure that your dog reacts every time you speak his name, no matter what the current distraction.

As part of rabbit hunting, Beagles 'give voice' (i.e. howl) when they pick up a scent. It is therefore inevitable that beagles are more prone to howling than most other breeds. If you pick up that your Beagle has picked up a scent in the garden and therefore gives voice, there is not much that you can do to negate years of instinct. Taking the dog away from the scent and, if possible, eliminating the scent are about the only options. When Beagles are left alone often there is also a tendency to howl. I would recommend that you strongly consider getting a playmate for your beagle in these cases.

If you do intend using your Beagle for a hunting hound, the best way to train him would be to let him hunt with an experienced hound. Just as children learn best by following the example set by adult, your Beagle puppy will copy the actions of an adult hound very quickly and in no time at all the instincts will come into play and he will soon become a proficient hunting hound. One word of caution on this subject: make sure you select a good hound as a mentor and example. Choosing a hound that is old or has a cold nose will not achieve the desired result.

Donald Fannin has discovered a new technique to deal with the beagles and this time beagle training will be quite different from the rest of the dog training methods.