Why are beagles so stubborn?? Share your beagle stories!

One of our dogs is a beagle and I am constantly saying, "you're lucky your so cute."  The problem is I think she knows I wouldn't do anything negative anyway .  When she's in the yard it's like her ears turn off, I can go right up to her and call her name and she doesn't even flinch.  We keep her on a 30' lead in the yard so that I can make her come in w/o chasing her all over the yard (which would only make it worse, if worse is possible).  She has learned that 'get in your box' means go get in your crate, but that took > 2 yrs to be consistent.  We're working on having her sit before she goes out to potty (the rest already know they have to do that but she's stubborn) and she just acts like she doesn't hear us giving her the command.  Dusty will cuddle though, if you have a nice soft blanket, she loves to burrow into the softness, its so cute.

So yea, from experience and everything I've heard Beagles are stubborn, but not immpossible to train.  Keep working w/ him and you'll get there.  Have you done a training class?  That might help.  You may want to try a long leash so that he can't 'fail' when you do a recall.  Also, maybe giving a reward for coming into the house?

Beagles are stubborn because that allows them to do the job for which they were used for hundreds of years....to get on a scent trail and stay on it.  Part of their brain is turned "off" when they are on a trail.  They really can't hear or see anything but the hunt.  

The drawback, of course, is that most beagles aren't used for hunting anymore.  So that leaves us humans in a precarious position.  We have a dog that has the energy to run 4 or 5 or more hours non-stop on a trail with 100% focus on task, but we have nothing for him to chase.

The real solution is finding fun methods of training that use food, games, play and other good things as rewards.  Hounds, beagles included, love a good game.  So if you can find what your beagle likes to do and find a way to make it into a game, you'll be able to train him to have great recall, call him off a trail (because being with you is fun!)

Some hounds, especially from hunting lines, aren't the best of cuddlers and some don't want or seem to need physical affection at all.  That's unique to the dog and he may or may not grow out of it.

 

 I am a former Beagle owner, and currently own a larger scenthound.  To be honest, I don't find them stubborn, but I do find them independent.  They are normally quite food motivated, but people often have trouble training them because they don't understand how to use food as a motivator (reinforcer) and not as a "bribe".  Hounds are very smart, and quickly learn to "play" their owners.  My Beagle was a great girl, and had a complete repertoire of cute parlor tricks in addition to her regular obedience skills.  She was trained with lure/reward training.  My current hound was clicker trained, and has earned his CGC and therapy dog registration, as well as also having good skills, parlor tricks, and an excellent recall.  I do find that hounds are not as easy as some other breeds, since they are so self-serving LOL, but they can still be trained!  I found that the first step was to ditch the label "stubborn" and replace it with "unmotivated".  Then, it became my job as trainer to find out how to motivate my hound:-))

Spiritdogs is right!  Stop thinking of your dog as stubborn - that is a self-fullfilling prophecy.  You hound is just harder to motivate, giving you a chance to learn, grow and be creative.  Sometimes this is good; sometimes it is just frustrating. 

 

Read this:

http://www.flyingdogpress.com/difficult.html

They are an independent breed due to being independent hunters. For years they have had the independence bred into them. It is very possible to train them, but it takes time and patience and consistency. I have various types of mentalities in my hounds from smart and willing to please, to down right refusing to listen. My hardest one was eventually trained, it just took time. And now at 3 years old, she is very well trained and in competition work, although she still turns her ears off on occasion. It looks like your Beagle might be a puppy. They do not understand at that age that you expect certain things out of them. I have a 6 month old who we have nicknamed "The Devil" because she is so difficult. We even named her Haydees because of it. She is one of those hard headed pups that will require a good amount of training and patience to get her to listen. Eventually it will come, it is just a matter of teaching her what we expect and how to listen.

Read this, "the complete idiots guide to beagles"  Not that your an idiot, its just the title.   Its a great little pamplet, online and free - it will help you. 

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=_LxElyXLcUUC&pg=PR16&lpg=PR16&dq=beagles+being+stubborn&source=web&ots=g_wsbyq_n_&sig=x-n3tNeI16-FKOwFRIJFZS-Hycc#PPP1,M1

I've never had a Beagle, but I'm a sucker for them!  I like walking them at the shelter.  I was walking a Beagle girl once and sat down on a bench to adjust my shoe.  She hopped up on the bench, sat next to me, and just started howling at the sky!  She just howled and howled and howled.  I had no idea why and I just rubbed her back and let her howl.  I felt bad for her b/c she was stuck at the shelter, living in a cement cell.  After a few minutes, she stopped, hopped off, and on we went.  *shrug* 

I own a seventeen acre dog park and we always give new Beagle members bells to wear on their collars as a matter of course.  When we first opened we had a Beagle member who was "lost" for eight hours.  Honestly, he spent eight hours smelling all the scents in the tall grasses and ignoring his owner who was calling him.  Part of the problem was that his owner was unwilling to leave the path grab him.  My boyfriend (park manager) was notified that the dog was ignoring his owner and he went into the tall grass to catch the dog.  The dog was dead tired, covered with scratches, but still straining to get away and hunt some more.

 From then on, the Beagle wore a bell.  People would be walking the paths and catch a brief glimpse of the Beagle in the grass.  It was like sighting an elusive wild animal on the plains of Africa.  It is sad that we have no Beagle members right now, they have all moved out of state, but they sure were fun, if you weren't the owner.

 Thanks for all your reactions! And also thank you for the good information you provided.

 I'm glad that my dog is normal, that it is a type of dog that is harder to train. We went with him to a puppy class, but it didn't work at all LOL. He woudn't do anything that we want and it's just that we're not consistent enough. We give him constantly food and attention while he doesn't 'deserve' it. But he's too cute ;)

 To give a reaction: we do play games with him, he likes pulling a rope or go after a ball or stick, but he never brings it back. We have to chase him to get it back and he likes that sooo much. But the game is over, because we can grap him..LOL

 If other have a nice beagle story, I would love to hear it!!! Please share your story!