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I'll try to be as thorough as possible so this may end up being a bit long but any help would be appreciated.

My husband and I have a male beagle who is almost 4 years old. We've had him since a puppy and during that time we cannot rub or touch his belly, he doesn't seem to even liked being pet and has always been aggressive. We handled him a lot when he was a puppy so him not liking to be pet I don't think has anything to do with lack of human contact. He has a ton of energy and we walk him 2 miles a day (one mile twice a day) and play fetch the ball with him quite a but. He is also neutered and has gone through the basic canine obedience class.

I admit that when we first got him, we'd punish his bad behavior by giving him a spanking on the rear. Nothing hard but enough to get his attention. After taking him to class (he was 6 months old when he started class), we learned that is not a good way to punish a dog. Instead, we will yell really loud at him to simulate barking. Or sometimes, we have to hold him to the floor, which sometimes is the only way to get him to calm down without him actually biting us.

There have been many occasions where he will get aggressive with myself or my husband. Most of the time he will get excited while playing and snap and growl at us if we try to pet his side while playing. When that happens, we will 'bark' at him and that often calms him enough. He will also growl and bare his teeth at us when we try to make him to something that he doesn't want. For example, if he got up on the couch and we tell him to get off and he doesn't, if we were to try to pull him off, he'll bare his teeth and possible snap at us. Anytime we try to physically try to move him, he gets nasty.

There also have been instances when he gets downright viscious, very aggressive, and scary. It doesn't happen often but it's happened enough that we are getting a bit scared of our dog. When it's happened in the past, we've been quick enough to not get caught in the crossfire of his teeth but last night, my husband got bitten by him.

Each night before we go to bed, my husband takes him out on his leash to pee. Usually he'll go right to the door and there is no problem. Last night, he did not respond when my husband told him it was time to go out and pee. Our dog was sleeping in his chair and my husband tilted it enough so our dog had to get out of the chair. My husband then bent down and put the leash on him and as he pulled his hand away, our dog got extremely viscious and actually bit my husband.

We don't know what to do. We don't know what we are doing wrong. We don't know if there is anyway we correct this behavior. We are afraid he will do it again and if he does, we will probably opt to have him put down. Is it us or is it the dog or a combo of the two? Please, can anyone help us?

I read your post and shook my head up and down the whole time- I've been there done that with a dog in my life so I know what you are going through.

Beagles are typically not a dominant breed, but I will aggree with your assesment that this guy certainly is.

Your post addresses so much, it's going to be tough to tell you what to do in a single post.

First- I HIGHLY recommend you find a new obedience school. One that does NOT resort to growling or physical means to control this dog. Positive reinforcement is the only way you are going to be able to work with this dog. An animal behaviorist would be your best bet if you can find one in the area.

There's a book called "So, Your Dog Is Not Lassie." It's one of my favorite books. It's really good at training the handler to communicate effectively with breeds of dogs that are independent and stubborn- both traits your dog seems to have in abundence. There's also another book few books I'd recommend called "Culture Clash" and "The Other End of the Leash." Both books again illustrate how humans can effectively and easily establish a working relationship with our dogs without resorting to tactics of mimicing being a dog. (In my opinion any time you try to pretend to be a dog to establish yourself as pack leader, you as a human fail miserably. We just can't be dogs. It's like an American going to China and pretending to know how to be Chinese and live in the Chinese culture without speaking the language. It's tough and although it can be done, it takes way too much work for the average person to do.)

I wish you luck in dealing with your dog. I know it's frustrating, but a professional behaviorist, trainer and some books will help you regain some control over this guy.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles

I do agree in this case that a prof. behaviorist would be the best route.

I've never used one, but I expect that there will be an in-home full evaluation of your every interaction with the dog. You will have to comitt to the expense & effort.

As you said, no way to detail everything in a post, & there is so much that all of us do without realizing it, when we are with our dogs.

Its possible that by changing some subtle but important behaviors on your part (other than the yelling/holding which should definately not be done) you will be on the way to a totally different relationship with your pet.

We have an adopted beagle mix that has exhibited some of those same behaviors, & though he does not trust others (just never risked it) he has done very well with us.

one method that helped our situation, is to treat-lure him saying 'up' to get up in the chair, then treat-lure him 'off'. enough brief, seperately set up, sessions of this over a few (maybe longer if your fella has issues) days, being cheerful in tone, getting him to respond to 'sit' both in the chair & after he has gotten off, makes obedience a fun game, and more importantly gets *results*.

just an example, its not really hard to do, but you are having to overcome a 4 yr 'habit', so you have your work cut out for you, being consistant & patient.

All behaviorists are not equal, so check references & trust your instincts.
agressive treatment of your dog will only increase agression, & that includes using a collar for corrections. to set up many situations where your dog will easily respond in the right way,and get cheerful praise/treat, will overcome the past.

I've intended to offer encouragement, but after a dog has bitten, I can't imagine that any of this is easy to consider.
best wishes

Sorry about the length of this reply, hope it helps though.

Reading your post bought up alot of stressful memories. I have a little [bleep]zu cross Maltese. She is very small, but has a rather misguided veiw of herself, and has extreme problems with dominance.

With me, she is very sweet and gentle, but disobient. (this is changing).

The behaviour started very young, but I didn't really notice, or worry about it.It kept getting worse, but she was fine with me, so didn't really think about it. It got to the point though that one day out on the street, she attacked someone. Being so little, she didn't manage to even break the skin. I instantly took permanent measures, but quickly realised it was still getting worse. She would stand in a stance in the middle of the street and not let people past barking a growling madly. I tried to stop the behavoiur each time, no success. By this stage she was 3 and half years. Then one day, she attacked the 3 year old boy I was living with at the time for absolutly no reason. Luckily I was there, and the child was fine. I instantly rung a behavoural trainer whos number I had having already considered such an option. It cost, I won't say it didn't, but it was worth it.

6 months on, I can trust her with most people coming to the house, (shes still a bit tempermental with large males LOL), and most people on the street. She obeys me most the time (BIG CHANGE). She is still the same naughty, dominant dog, but the second my command voice gos on, shes there, and behaving. I was even very shocked last week when I let her loose out the front, and she didn't run away (the first time in her life).

I highly recommend getting in a proffesional. It costs, and I found it personally extremly difficult, but within two weeks the changes were astounding.

I used DogTech, but I don't know if this company is around where you live.

The one thing I found most succesful was a small metal money tin filled with small nails. (easy to make).

Every time she was aggresive, there was a system.

First time, I would say "ENOUGH"

Second time "UHUH" loudly

Third time "UHUH" very loudly and shake the tin at the same time.

If there was more then two minutes between the behaviour, then start back at enough. I believe I have only had to shake the tin 3 times. She picked up on the first time, and now stops at enough.

Among other things were to pretend eat from her bowl before giving it to her. She had to sit and wait. If she jumped or growled, put it back on the bench and walk away (leave 10min), then try again. This shows the dog that you are higher in the pecking order and if it wants its food, its going to have to obey. My experince of beagles is they are very keen on there food, so this may be an easy way to start.

Of course with any training where you are working with dominance you have a risk of the dog becoming more aggresive before it gets better, as they sometimes try to keep there place. I was told there are three normal reactions from the dog, Desperation to please, Sulking, or in the least circumstances, aggression followed by one of the others, so please be careful.

The other thing I was warned is that a dog who has bitten can never be trusted not to do it again. Keep this in mind with training.

I can gladly say though that my dog, though tempted many times to bite the child again, after the training, was able to restrain herself just in time. (would snap at the air infront of him, then roll over for a tummy rub, and lick him as if to apoligize.)

The day before the training started she bite him on the face and cut him.

Good luck, and don't give up.

>>I'll try to be as thorough as possible so this may end up being a bit long but any help would be appreciated.
>>
>>My husband and I have a male beagle who is almost 4 years old. We've had him since a puppy and during that time we cannot rub or touch his belly, he doesn't seem to even liked being pet and has always been aggressive. We handled him a lot when he was a puppy so him not liking to be pet I don't think has anything to do with lack of human contact. He has a ton of energy and we walk him 2 miles a day (one mile twice a day) and play fetch the ball with him quite a but. He is also neutered and has gone through the basic canine obedience class.
>>
>>I admit that when we first got him, we'd punish his bad behavior by giving him a spanking on the rear. Nothing hard but enough to get his attention. After taking him to class (he was 6 months old when he started class), we learned that is not a good way to punish a dog. Instead, we will yell really loud at him to simulate barking. Or sometimes, we have to hold him to the floor, which sometimes is the only way to get him to calm down without him actually biting us.
>>
>>There have been many occasions where he will get aggressive with myself or my husband. Most of the time he will get excited while playing and snap and growl at us if we try to pet his side while playing. When that happens, we will 'bark' at him and that often calms him enough. He will also growl and bare his teeth at us when we try to make him to something that he doesn't want. For example, if he got up on the couch and we tell him to get off and he doesn't, if we were to try to pull him off, he'll bare his teeth and possible snap at us. Anytime we try to physically try to move him, he gets nasty.
>>
>>There also have been instances when he gets downright viscious, very aggressive, and scary. It doesn't happen often but it's happened enough that we are getting a bit scared of our dog. When it's happened in the past, we've been quick enough to not get caught in the crossfire of his teeth but last night, my husband got bitten by him.
>>
>>Each night before we go to bed, my husband takes him out on his leash to pee. Usually he'll go right to the door and there is no problem. Last night, he did not respond when my husband told him it was time to go out and pee. Our dog was sleeping in his chair and my husband tilted it enough so our dog had to get out of the chair. My husband then bent down and put the leash on him and as he pulled his hand away, our dog got extremely viscious and actually bit my husband.
>>
>>We don't know what to do. We don't know what we are doing wrong. We don't know if there is anyway we correct this behavior. We are afraid he will do it again and if he does, we will probably opt to have him put down. Is it us or is it the dog or a combo of the two? Please, can anyone help us?
>>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The only way to get an accurate assessment of this dog's temeperament is with a veterinary behavior specialist IN PERSON. Ask your veterinarian to help you find one. Yelling at the dog as you describe and holding him down to the floor could all by themselves have created the aggression you are seeing. There was not necessarily anything wrong with this dog's temperament in the first place. But you need an evaluation in person to determine that, and also to help you learn better ways to handle him. You need to stop both of these things, instantly.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47