Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We have been dog owners for years and have never seen anything like our newly adopted beagle.

he is almost 3 years old.

besides the espected depression of seperation anxiety he has been displaying some really odd behavior.

1. he seems to have taken to me fairly well and we had thought he did with my wife. however all of a sudden he is ignoring her, biting her and not getting excited when she comes home from work

2. he has pretty much decided to stop doing anything that he has learnt eg lay down, roll over etc.. besides sit

3. he barely eats anything unless its a peice of meat from our food.

4. he will suddenly get scared when you want to take him for a walk or need to get something out of his mouth.

5. cars he hates them which I know some dogs don't like but he drools like mad, sometimes pees and throws up... does this go away in time with beagles?

Generally his behavior just seems really odd. Almost as if something upstairs in not right. I am almost at a loss of words here.

Any suggestions?

thanks
Jeff

Congrats on the adoption, but what you are describing is tough. Do you have an opportunity to go to an obedience class with this dog? You might also want to consider checking out a specialist- talk with your vet for a referral. This dog needs help. It's just hard to say exactly what kind.
-----
PHReign
Email me: HReign@pethobbyist.com" target="_blank">PHReign@pethobbyist.com
Dear dog,
I can not buy anything larger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think that I will continue to sleep on the couch to ensure your comfort. Look at videos of dogs sleeping, they can actually curl up in a ball. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to your fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straigt out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space used is nothing more than doggy sarcasm.

Actually I am starting to think that this dog was abused, and beaten into submission by the last owners.

He is fine around men, once he stops barking and gets to know them.
Around women that's another story. If a woman walks by on the street he growls, but not to men. He bit my girlfriend when leaving for work, the 3rd time he has bitten her. He has lunged at 3 different women and at one child.

Without getting into the entire story I cannot keep him. Although he has only been with us for a week this is not seperation anxiety or depression. We both have been around and have had dogs all our lives. His behavior when let outside is not normal, in many different ways. I cannot take on the legal responsibilities if he attacks someone, as I live in a neighbourhood with many children and lots of foot traffic. Nor can I risk him attacking my girlfriend or when we have children of our own.

Unfortunatley I feel as I was misslead into believing we were adopting a well mannered properly trained dog.

This is not a decission I want to make but I feel I must.

I'm sorry you had to make that choice, but I understand why. You are right, the legal issues alone are incredible. I'm really surprised a rescue organization would adopt out a dog with these issues. Most would have kept it as a foster for further evaluation.

I'm sorry you had to go through this. I feel sorry for the dog as well. It's a horrible thing to have to live in constant fear.
-----
PHReign
Email me: HReign@pethobbyist.com" target="_blank">PHReign@pethobbyist.com
Dear dog,
I can not buy anything larger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think that I will continue to sleep on the couch to ensure your comfort. Look at videos of dogs sleeping, they can actually curl up in a ball. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to your fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straigt out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space used is nothing more than doggy sarcasm.

Have you noticed an other odd behaviors such as pacing, licking, staring into space, or "fly biting" (nipping at the air)? Does he sometimes bump into walls, furniture?
This doesn't sound like sepearation anxiety at all. Instead it sounds though there may be an underlying health issue going on. What you described has the ring of how a Beagle will act before or after a seizure. Sudden personality change can be one of the first signs that something catastrophic is going on inside the brain and I've seen first hand a Beagle go from outgoing to a nervous mess anywhere from weeks to months before the first seizure arrived.
Even if that is not the cause of the new behaviors, something drastic is going on, and I'd strongly suggest you consult a Vet & do a full blood/thyroid panel. VERY IMPORTANT. Check his ears for a smell/waxy discharge. Beagles are very prone to ear infections and they are extremely painful. Pain is a great motivator for behavior change.
Also, try a simple change of diet. Some foods just don't agree with all dogs & diet most definitely is responsible for behavior/mood.
Keep us posted!

I was doing some research and came accross epilepsy in Beagles. The one thing I noticed was staring into space, but what I found was very odd was that it would only happen when he was put out on a lead. He would shake, almost vibrate for a second stop for two then shake again for a second. He would do this constantly. He would go to the very end of the lead sit facing away from you, slightly turn his head so he could see you in the corner of his eye then look off into space and shake on and off.

Only in cars would he pace, drool and lick allot, then he would throw up so I would imagine that is just car sickness.

I had to take him back to an adoption agency. Unfortunatly he was getting progressively more violent towards women, one of them my girlfriend, whom he bit, drawing blood when she went to pet him.

His ears were cleaned on a weekly basis.

I think most of his behaviour comes from that he was trained by being beaten into submission and since we don't hit animals he was starting to act up until he bit her. I will admit in an act of self defence I raised my hand to him at the moment he did that, and he instantly went to the floor cowering as he knows what that means.

I have left it to the adoption agency to deal with the possible abuse situation. We feel very bad for having to take him back but I could not take the chance of him attacking my girlfriend.