Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We just adopted and 8yr old beagle mix from the humane society. My husband has had a lot of beagles growing up, but I have never had one. They told me at the humane society that he wouldn't be good with kids, but he is wonderful with our kids. Although he is a wonderful dog we have 1 major problem with him. Right from the get go, he has slept on our bed(we have only had him 1 week) I thought it was fine for the first night, to make him feel welcome. Now I can't get him off of the bed. I bought him a special pet bed and we have a crate, but I would prefer not to put him in the kennel at night, that is only for when we are not home. Is there anything I can do to get him off of our bed and the furniture or is it a lost cause? Also, he won't eat any kind of treats, and if my husband opens a can of pop or makes a sudden move, barney is very skittish, he almost drops when something startles him? Will this go away with time?

>>We just adopted and 8yr old beagle mix from the humane society. My husband has had a lot of beagles growing up, but I have never had one. They told me at the humane society that he wouldn't be good with kids, but he is wonderful with our kids. Although he is a wonderful dog we have 1 major problem with him. Right from the get go, he has slept on our bed(we have only had him 1 week) I thought it was fine for the first night, to make him feel welcome. Now I can't get him off of the bed. I bought him a special pet bed and we have a crate, but I would prefer not to put him in the kennel at night, that is only for when we are not home. Is there anything I can do to get him off of our bed and the furniture or is it a lost cause? Also, he won't eat any kind of treats, and if my husband opens a can of pop or makes a sudden move, barney is very skittish, he almost drops when something startles him? Will this go away with time?

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What you might try is whenever he gets on the bed, you get out of bed, get him a treat and/or a great chew toy, and put him in the crate with that. If he stays off the bed, he doesn't have to get into the crate. Also make sure you have a very comfortable bed FOR HIM.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com

The treat thing would be great except he doesn't eat any treats and he doesn't play with any of the toys we bought him (there are a lot). And we did buy him a bed, a therapeudic one. Anything else I can try?

Why don't you want to crate him at night? If nobody is home during the day and he's in the crate for many hours I understand, but a crate becomes the dog's sanctuary, like a teenager's bedroom.

If someone is home all or most of the day and he's only in the crate a little during the day I would just crate train him for bedtime. If he needs to be in a crate while you're away, which is usually because they're destructive in the house or can get into trouble, will you be able to watch him any better when you're asleep? It's really not cruel or mean, most dogs grow to love the crate and will sleep in it and play in it whether the door is open or not..

I had a beagle for a while when I was younger and she was the most stubborn dog I'd ever seen.. The only other thing I can think of is to teach him the off command and use petting and praise instead of treats for rewards. Either that or ban him from the bedroom all together and put his crate in a very public room in the house. Eventually he'll learn that you don't go into his bedroom, and he doesn't go into yours. I would use a baby gate rather than a door to keep him out though. It might make him feel easier if he can see what's going on inside the room, so that he doesn't feel like he has to be worried something scary is lurking in there.. Also with a baby gate eventually you should be able to remove it all together and he'll still realize that there's a barrier there, be it mental or physical.

Was he used for hunting? I know a hound that was used for hunting but given to a friend of mine because he became sort of shell-shocked and started getting very upset at any loud sudden noises. He would wet the floor every single time and run and hide under the furniture or in a closet. They had to be especially careful to make sure he was not in his crate during a thunderstorm because although he loved his den he needed to be curled up to his people during a storm.

In some cases establishing that you are the pack leader might help, because he'll trust you to protect him from harm and won't need to be on edge watching for danger. Then gradually his reactions to loud noises will fade away as he realizes that if it was something really bad, you would protect him from it anyway.. And since you're not doing anything special, it must not be a big deal..

The "I'm not worried about it, so you shouldn't be either" thing might work too if you are consistent in not really cuddling him and running to pet him and calm him when he gets frightened.. That way you're not trying to calm him down for something that he doesn't need to be frightened of in the first place. I would check with a trainer on that though, because some dogs would take that very well and learn quickly but depending on how terrified he really is he might also take it to mean that you don't care and won't help or defend him from dangers..

I guess we could put him in the crate. I think it's more of a "I feel bad/guilty" for putting him in there. He is in the crate for just about 4 hours a day M-Th. It's funny you mention the hunting thing, he jumps and cowers whenever we open a can or make any sudden moves. I don't think he fully trusts us yet. We have had him for a little over a week now. Will this eventually go away with time?

I honestly can't say if it will go away but it will definitely improve if he can start to trust you.. Depending on his background though it might take considerably longer than most other dogs for him to warm up to you.. One thing that might help him learn to trust you is giving him his meals at regularly scheduled times every single day.. He'll learn that you bring him his food and he'll start to look for it at that time of day, and when he knows that he can rely on you to deliver it that should help with the trust.

Also make sure that he gets one on one play time. If he's still too shy to want to play just set aside a half hour or so a day to pet him and cuddle him and gradually work him into some gentle obedience commands like sit and down.. Training these commands is kind of fun for you and the dog and he'll gain confidence in himself if he learns that he can consistently do things that will make you happy with him. Just never be harsh and always use positive reinforcements like praise..

Don't feel bad about putting him in his crate over night, it's for his safety and your sanity. He'll be safe and he'll learn that he can always truly relax in his crate. It's his space and nobody will invade it, he knows that it's safe. And if he's not getting into things at night while you're sleeping you'll sleep better because you're not waking up every twenty minutes to check where he is and you'll be less likely to scold him for ruining something when you're groggy and not quite awake and thinking..

It sounds like he just needs lots of love and patience.. Teaching him basic obedience commands will help his confidence level and at the same time make him more reliable in your house. Eventually you won't need to close the door to the crate at night, you'll find him sleeping in it anyway.. It's good for everyone involved

I was doing some reading yesterday and came across a book that says to get him used to the loud noises and such either buy a tape of a thunderstorm or tape the noises that scare him and play it near the dog, very, very low volume at first so it won't disturb him at all and give him treats or his meals atthe same time.. Then gradually increase the volume over a few weeks, once or twice a day.. He'll also start to associate those noises with good things, like his breakfast..

It's a desensitization program, so he'll gradually learn that it won't hurt him.. The author suggested starting the tape at different spots each day though so that he doesn't really get used to the pattern of the noises.. Then eventually when he hears a loud noise out of place, like an opening pop can, it will just seem normal to him..