Ask Me Help Desk - We are losing hope in our dog.

We rescued an 8 month year old beagle/hound mix and have had him now for two months and are losing all hope.

He is to the point where he won't urinate or deficate in our presence but is still far away from being housetrained. We originally left him and our other dog in the laundry room at night and he would frequently go to the bathroom on the floor and even on his own bed and sleep in it. Therefore we decided we needed to crate him. So we began crating him at night and sometimes during the day to keep him out of the heat (yes we took him out before bedtime). I tried establishing a routine of taking him out on a leash every time we let him out of the crate and would initially give him a treat after going to the bathroom. Regardless he still pees and poops his own crate at night (or day) and doesn't seem to be phased by it. We threw out his bed after a few incidents in the crate and moved on to a towel which still didn't help. The only thing I know to do is leave him in the crate without any sort of padding or bedding.

In addition he also keeps managing to escape from our fenced-in backyard and roam the neighborhood. He will dig holes to sneak out under the fence (not completely planted in the ground) and has chewed apart our wooden fence. The backyard is a nightmare. It's totally torn apart. I know we can probably keep him from escaping with some sort of electric fence but the problems seem to be deeper than that. It seems we can no longer keep him in the backyard because he will tear it up. If we leave him inside he will go to the bathroom in his crate or somewhere else. Either way seems to be a lose-lose situation. My fiancé and I both work full-time but she works right down the street and can come home from work to let him and our other dog out at lunch (or put them inside if it's really hot outside). He's never left in the crate for more than 4 or 5 hours except at night.

We are debating returning him to the Humane Society because he seems to be too much of a problem and we don't have the time to be able to look after him all day nor the money to take him to a professional trainer. We have a great home with a great backyard and treat him very well. Our other dog we got as a pup and she has turned out great (except for some exceptionally high energy at times). We hate to take him back but think he might be better off somewhere else. We are at wit's end with him and he is really starting to disrupt our daily lives. Help??

Nobody here will want to see that happen, but mistakes made with a dog before it is 12 weeks old, can be very difficult to correct later. The reality is that if you return him to the shelter, he will be killed. If you don't, they may have to kill some other dog, perhaps one that would be a successful placement in your house. I hate that, but that is the way it is.

K, this is a though one, if you return him to the shelter, he could eventually be put to sleep, or be in another home, where he will still have the chance of being brought back, although his chances of being adopted are better since he's a puppy, haven't you gotten attached to him at all? I think that if you really care for this dog, you should spend time with it, and that doesn't entail locking it in a crate day and night, so, if you don't have the time for him, then returning him to the shelter would be the only option, or placing an add your local newspaper or something like that.

How much exercise is the dog getting? It sounds to me like he might be bored, and thus digging under the fence to get some excitement. You may think to yourself "he has a huge yard, so he can run around all he wants", but dogs are like humans. They would much rather lay around in the backyard than exercise! So, if you aren't walking him daily, I'd suggest starting that.

The housebreaking is going to be harder. If the dog is willing to sleep in its wastes, then you will have a harder time with all the traditional methods. Still, it might be worth talking to a behaviorist about. Yes, they are expensive. But you can get a lot of useful information from them, and it shouldn't be an on-going expense.

Finally, if you are going to give the dog back, consider contacting a beagle rescue group. They may be willing to take him, even if he is a mix.

Hi eji. That what labman is stating is correct. Froggy has also brought up some very good points. One of them is the boredom issue. With the destruction that is occurring, he isn't being challenged or exercised enough, so he is finding ways to channel that pent up energy. I talk about that more down further when I speak about the breed.

Okay, here it is in a nutshell, there are some shelter dogs that require a lot more hands on retraining/rehabbing than others. They are in a shelter for a reason and those reasons vary from dog to dog. From your description of the problems, it is apparent that this dog needs a lot more one on one attention to work through his issues than you or your fiancé have time for. Please don't beat yourself up over this and please don't give up on adopting another shelter dog in the future. This situation is not your fault and these things do happen from time to time. You both have to work to pay the bills. Your dog needs specialized attention that you just cannot give to him.

The second point that Froggy brought up is searching for a Beagle (or a Hound) rescue in your area. I would go this route first before I would bring him back to the shelter. If you tell us where you are located, the state and all the larger cities or major metropolitan areas that you are close enough to that aren't a huge inconvenience if you need to surrender the dog to one of them, I will give you a link to the Hound and/or Beagle rescues nearest to you. If you know what breed of Hound, it would be helpful for you to post that info back here.

Hounds and beagles are high energy dogs. They are known for following their noses and will go for miles and miles if allowed to. If there is a good scent going on, they will do whatever it takes to get to it. So, your fenced in yard is not an ideal situation for him. He will continue to escape and damage your property without the proper hands on training and guidance. Rather than see you chain him up, I would much prefer to see you put him in the hands of someone who knows these breeds, can take the time necessary to work with him, and eventually adopt him back out to another person who is familiar with, and loves the breed(s). You will need to be very specific about his problems when you talk to the rescues so that they know what is going on and can find the right person in their group who is capable of retraining him. So, please give me a starting point as to your area, and I will provide links.

RubyPitbull is a great asset to this site combining a deep knowledge and love of dogs with a gift for words.

I will add 2 things: If Ruby doesn't find a good rescue foryou, try One of the best sources for dogs with a predictable personality is the rescue
Dogs. These are dogs that lost their home, but were taken into a foster home
To be retrained as necessary and placed in the right home for them. You may
Find a rescue near you starting at
American Kennel Club - Breed Rescue dog dogs puppy puppies The rescues charge a fee to help cover their expenses, but is much less than the price of a puppy plus all its medical expenses the first year.

Dogs Deserve Better: No Chained Dogs!

Thanks for all the posts, guys.

To answer a few questions or make a few points up front:

1) Yes, we have grown attached to the dog
2) We have another dog who is very high energy for him to play with so we're not just "leaving him in the backyard" by himself
3) We were walking him about 3 or 4 days a week until the last few weeks when we have had record 100+ degree temperatures consistently which has discouraged us from partaking in much outdoor activity.
4) And although I said we were considering taking him back to the Humane society (not a kill shelter), we know there are other resorts where he'll be taken in

My fiancé and I talked in depth last night and we're going to try our best to work our way through this. She talked to a consultant today who told us a lot of the behavior probably stems from separation anxiety and that it just takes a long time for rescue dogs to develop trust and be able to relax. So, we're keeping lots of patience in mind.

Other dog characteristics of the dog which make training difficult:

A. He is very skiddish. We have tried to teach him commands like "come" and "sit" and have treats waiting for him, but he'll deny them and scurry away. We have tried all sorts of food to keep his attention but nothing has worked so far.

One answer to working a dog in hot weather is to wet it down. I have made extensive use of it in the last week. As I just said in another post ''Dogs can't take much heat. I really had to work the last few days keeping my year old Lab, Holly, from cooking. In the last week Holly and I spent 2 days working at the gate to a fair, and 3 days working at a festival. Even with keeping her wet down, I had to let her spend the peak of the one afternoon lying in the shade.'' You may still need to avoid the peak afternoon heat. Swimming is another good hot weather activity, and a good way to cool the dog down before a walk.

I agree with Labman about dogs and the heat. I have a black greyhound, and they have a tendency to overheat very easily. I took a spray bottle with me to the dog park last Sunday, so that I could mist her down, and she still decided it was best to stay mainly in the shade until I took her home. And that was early in the morning, before it got blazing hot.

Just a comment... I've had Trinkett about three months now. And she's just finally started really coming out of her shell. At first she wouldn't respond to treats (and she still won't if we are out in public, or she is really nervous or excited), but she has really come around recently. Now she's looking for them when we come in from the walk, and before going to bed. And she'll nose my hands when I am holding them, which is making working on training easier than it was at first. (Hard to teach them anything when you can't get them a reward!) When I think back to how she was when I first got her, the transformation is amazing. I remember thinking like you sometimes at the beginning... she was so reserved and stand-offish, I wondered if I had made a big mistake. But it has gotten so much better, it's hard for me to even remember what it was like at the start. So hang in there... yours may come around as well.

Well eji, it is nice to see that you and your fiancé are dedicated to doing whatever it takes. That really is the key. I couldn't tell from your post if you are bringing in the trainer/consultant to help you in resolving the problematic issues. If you aren't, it would be a wise move to do so. Do it for a couple of hours on a day off that you both have during the week. A few good solid sessions should work wonders in giving you a number of different training techniques to handle the problem areas.

Regarding the skittishness, take the dog into a small room where he can't retreat from you too far. Sit down on the floor holding a "smelly" treat (small piece of hot dog, ham or a dog treat that he appears to like). Then hold the treat out in the open palm of your hand and quietly but firmly say "Come (dogs name)". Wait it out and don't repeat the command. When he finally comes to you, praise him with "Good Boy (name)" and gently pet him under the chin, not on top of the head. He needs to gain confidence in you. By petting him on top of the head, you are pushing his head down, which is a control that dogs lacking confidence don't like. By scratching or petting under the chin, you are gently pushing his head up. He will respond to that. Once he seems to be totally relaxed, command him into the "down" position (lie down). Start rubbing his belly, chest, and legs (where the leg muscle/joint meets his body). Sort of like a doggy massage. This will relax him further and will help you to begin the process of his putting his trust in you. You are showing him good and nice things will happen when he takes your direction.

This is going to be a long haul. You do need to make as much one on one time as possible for him. It took him a long time for his "head" to get where it is at. It is going to take a long time to undo the damage it has caused him.

One of the other things you need to understand is that even though he is left with another dog outside all day who has high energy, he hasn't bonded with your dog yet. That is the reason for the destruction. He isn't interacting with your other dog the way he should. He also needs to be taught not to be destructive. He doesn't know any better. So, again, on one of your off days, you need to hang outside with them and wait until he starts the destruction. The only way he is going to learn that it is a no-no is if you catch him in the act. As soon as that occurs, you need to correct it. Tell him "No" firmly or make an "Chi, chi, chi" sound. Sort of a quick staccato sound. It will get his attention. Then redirect him to what you want him to do. Bring a sturdy rope pull toy, such as the one mentioned in labman's sticky at the top of the dog forum, and encourage him to play with that. You need to direct him to something positive.

With the housebreaking, unfortunately, that may be the hardest to curb. There are a couple of problems here. He was never housebroken before he came to you and was left too many times in his cage at the shelter without being walked. So, he is used to emptying himself as soon as the urge hits. Since he is being left outside all day, you aren't there to praise him for his pottying outside. So, he is getting a "sometimes" praise. Consistency in the housetraining is the key and this is not happening. You might want to try using an old sock. Tie it over his genitals and up over his back. Not too tight, but not loose. Create a sort of sling band/diaper. When he urinates, he won't like the wetness on his skin. If you can't create something, check your local pet store. They sell items that are used for doggy incontinence that will work with the same effect. Just remember, when he urinates or defecates in the house, if you aren't there to catch him, you need to ignore it and clean it up. If you catch him in the act, you need to give him a sharp "Chi, chi, chi" or "ah, ah, ah" to get him to stop what he is doing and focus his attention on you, then get him outside immediately. Whenever he does his business outside, you need to praise excitedly with a "Good Boy" and treat him if he is food motivated. I would suggest you both work with him as much as possible when you are home. If you fiancé can manage to get back during the day to walk him, that will help tremendously. You may want to consider crating him when you are at work for the time being instead of leaving him in the yard. This will give you more control over his behavior and will allow you more consistency in your training.

Well, I think that you are doing a good thing for an animal that you love, I have had a dog and a cat,(which my parents got before I was born), that have passed away, and those were very depressing days for me, anyway, I think that you have a very open mind on this, which is excellent, and you are doing great, stay consistent and you will train your puppy!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ejisdabomb2000

We rescued an 8 month year old beagle/hound mix and have had him now for two months and are losing all hope.

He is to the point where he won't urinate or deficate in our presence but is still far away from being housetrained. We originally left him and our other dog in the laundry room at night and he would frequently go to the bathroom on the floor and even on his own bed and sleep in it. Therefore we decided we needed to crate him. So we began crating him at night and sometimes during the day to keep him out of the heat (yes we took him out before bedtime). I tried establishing a routine of taking him out on a leash everytime we let him out of the crate and would initially give him a treat after going to the bathroom. Regardless he still pees and poops his own crate at night (or day) and doesn't seem to be phased by it. We threw out his bed after a few incidents in the crate and moved on to a towel which still didn't help. The only thing I know to do is leave him in the crate without any sort of padding or bedding.

In addition he also keeps managing to escape from our fenced-in backyard and roam the neighborhood. He will dig holes to sneak out under the fence (not completely planted in the ground) and has chewed apart our wooden fence. The backyard is a nightmare. It's totally torn apart. I know we can probably keep him from escaping with some sort of electric fence but the problems seem to be deeper than that. It seems we can no longer keep him in the backyard because he will tear it up. If we leave him inside he will go to the bathroom in his crate or somewhere else. Either way seems to be a lose-lose situation. My fiance and I both work full-time but she works right down the street and can come home from work to let him and our other dog out at lunch (or put them inside if it's really hot outside). He's never left in the crate for more than 4 or 5 hours except at night.

We are debating returning him to the Humane Society because he seems to be too much of a problem and we don't have the time to be able to look after him all day nor the money to take him to a professional trainer. We have a great home with a great backyard and treat him very well. Our other dog we got as a pup and she has turned out great (except for some exceptionally high energy at times). We hate to take him back but think he might be better off somewhere else. We are at wit's end with him and he is really starting to disrupt our daily lives. Help????????

Beagles/hounds are like this. They do grow out of it.