[beagle_owner]

I am a new beagle owner whose name is molly and is 10 weeks old. The breeder from which I purchased Molly did not housetrain her. I did some research and I hear that beagles are hard to housetrain. Well I'm stressed out because here I am with this cute puppy bad see pees and poohs everywhere... im doing everything I can to provide her with good training but I am losing somewhere... for one she can not sleep anywhere but on my bed next to me and she snores sooooo loud... my wife hates it because she wakes up in the middle of the night and tries to play with our other dog who is sleeping also with us... but anyway back to the story... she pees and poohs all in the bedroom... we have tile so I don't mind the pee but her poop is very very smelly... just recently I put her in a kennel to train her this way... she will not pee in there I will give her that... but she poops in there!. I will take out of the kennel and bring her outside she pees and I praise her up and down... but 10 min after coming she poops somewhere... I need help on what to do... im thinking of getting rid of her but I really don't want to... I just need advice...


THANK YOU

[labman]

I have heard that Beagles are hard to train too. Last experience I had with them was over 40 years ago when I was way lower on the learning curve. The racks in the crate I mention below are much more effective on urine than stools. I have wondered about, but never used wood shavings. One more thing, when you take her out before bed time, make her walk around. Exercise stimulates bowel movements. I think they are all sudden accidents at that age. Walk her around until it happens.

The hard surfaced floor does make it easier. We ripped out the carpet in the family room and put an industrial strength urethane on the hardwood floor 9 puppies ago.

At bed time, with a new puppy, I have found lying down in front
Of the crate like you were going to sleep and speaking softly to it, or
Singing, until it settles down and goes to sleep works very well. Follow the
Pattern, a period of active play, outside to eliminate, and then into the
Crate.


Much of housebreaking is not training the puppy, but making it easier for your
Puppy, you, and your carpet while its body to catches up to its instincts. At
Around 8 weeks when the puppy goes to its new home, the time from when it
Realizes it has to go, and when it can't wait any longer is a matter of
Seconds. Only time will fix that. You can hardly be expected to be attentive
Enough to avoid all accidents There is no sense punishing the puppy for your
Inattention. It is not fair to punish you either, but you still have to clean
It up if you didn't have the puppy outside in time.

Housebreaking starts before you get home with the new puppy. If you don't have
A crate, buy one. I prefer the more enclosed, den like plastic ones. Skip the
Bedding. At first it gets wet, and later it can be chewed into choking
Hazards. A wire rack in the bottom will help keep the puppy up out of
Accidents at first. They are available with the crates, but a piece of closely
Spaced wire closet shelving from a home supply place is cheaper. If you
Already have a metal crate, covering it may help. Just make sure you use
Something the puppy can't pull in and chew. Dogs that start in crates as
Little puppies, accept them very well. Never leave an unattended puppy loose
In the house. If nobody can watch it, put it in the crate. I suggest letting
The dog have its crate all its life.

Choose a command and spot you want it to use. The less accessible to strays,
The less chance of serious disease. If it is a female, choosing a
Non grassy spot will avoid brown spots later. When you bring it home, take it
To the spot and give it the command in a firm, but friendly voice. Keep
Repeating the command and let the puppy sniff around. If it does anything,
Praise it. Really let it know what a good dog it is and how much you love it,
And maybe a treat. Note, being out there not only means you can praise it,
But it also keeps it from being snatched by a hawk. If it doesn't go, take it
Inside and give it a drink and any meals scheduled. A young puppy will need to
Go out immediately afterward. Go to the spot and follow the above routine.
Praising it if it goes is extremely important. If it doesn't go, take it back
Inside and put it in its crate and try again soon. Do not let it loose in the
House until it does go.

At first it is your responsibility to know and take the puppy out when it
Needs to go. It needs to go out the first thing in the morning, after eating,
Drinking, and sleeping. If it quits playing, and starts running around
Sniffing, it is looking for a place to go. Take it out quickly. You will just
Have to be what I call puppy broke until it is a little older.

By the time most dogs are about 3 months old, they have figured out that if
They go to the door and stand, you will let them out. The praise slowly shifts
To going to the door. Some people hang a bell there for the dog to paw. If
Your dog doesn't figure this out, try praising it and putting it out if it
Even gets near the door. A stern "Bad dog!" is all the punishment that is
Effective, and only when you catch it in the act and are sure you didn't miss
It going to the door. Clean up accidents promptly. I mostly keep the little
Puppies out of the carpeted rooms. Still I need the can of carpet foam
Sometimes. First blot up all the urine you can with a dry towel. Keep moving
It and stepping on it until a fresh area stays dry. A couple big putty knives
Work well on bowel movements. Just slide one under it while holding it with
The other. This gets it up with a minimum of pushing it down into the carpet.
This works with even relatively soft ones, vomit, dirt from over turned house
Plants, or anything else from solids to thick liquids. Finish up with a good
Shot of carpet foam. Note, do not let the puppy lick up the carpet foam.
Once the dog is reliably housebroken, your carpet may need a good steam cleaning.

[Leilah]

I completely understand your frustrations. It took us 1 year to train our toy poodle. We ended up hiring a pet behaviorist to teach us some training techniques. One of the things we were doing wrong was yelling at her whenever she pooped on the carpet. She ended up eating her poop to cover up the evidence. Poop is a delicacy for dogs and they love eating it.

Here's an excellent resource that really helped us a lot with training our dog:

Potty Train A Puppy - The Recipe For Success!

In addition to training her to potty outside, we taught her to go inside a litterbox with newspaper. To train her, my husband would take her outside in the morning to have her do her business and then we'd keep her inside a crate during the day.

When I got home from work, I would take her outside at a set time. I would tell her, "go potty." She would pee and get a reward (a small treat) and then would poop (and get another reward). Finally, she figured out that doing her business outside or in the litterbox was worthy of praise and a treat.

It takes a lot of patience, but hang in there. Your puppy will learn. Your puppy is confused right now and doesn't know where it's supposed to go.

[cookie721]

Hi, I don't have any advice but I'm a new owner of a 4 months. Old Beagle to. She does the same thing, pee pee outside but no poo. Then once inside it doesn't take long for me to discover poo in random spots throughout the house.

[linnealand]

I'm sorry to be so blunt, but anyone who can consider giving away a 10 week old puppy because it's not house trained has absolutely no idea what they're doing or how puppy training works. If you didn't want to deal with the responsibilities of an animal that pees and poops, well...

A puppy that young is just like a baby. Have you ever known of a baby who came out ready to use the toilet? no. similarly, there really is no such thing as an 8 week old puppy who comes home from the breeder's already house trained, or a 10 week old pup who's got it all down, or an older puppy who doesn't have an occasional accident.

Any puppy who is going to be living in a home needs to learn from an owner who has a complete understanding of what to do. While some pups have a better natural understanding of the system than others, it's not about the puppy figuring it out himself. It's about a consistent, positive and informed education. All of this starts with you.

I'm not sure if you got your other dog as a young puppy and trained him then, or if he came to you a bit older and already trained. In any case, I think reading at least one new, excellent puppy training book should be required for all new puppy owners. The potty training is only one small part of everything you need to be very informed about as it grows up.

On a physiological level, many puppies can't even begin to "hold it" until they're 4 months old. That's only part of what makes even considering the idea of giving her away now totally absurd. There will be a lot of ups and downs as the pup grows up, and anyone who decides to get a dog better be 100% dedicated to every responsibility that comes with it.

My absolute favorite puppy training book is the puppy whisperer. I also have a puppy (he's 6 1/2 months old now), and before we brought him home, I went through a whole stack of puppy training books. If I could only choose one book, that would be it. Puppy and dog training in general are now based on completely different methods than used to be used. The new methods are positive, easy to learn, non-violent, extremely practical... and most importantly, they work!

My second favorite puppy training book (which might tie for first place with the one mentioned above) is called how to raise a puppy you can live with. It's excellent. If you have the inclination, get them both.

Then, if you are looking for an extra book based completely on potty training, you can pick up a copy of how to housebreak your dog in 7 days. It's short, cheap and extremely helpful.

If you can't get them at your local bookstore or from your local library, you can get them from Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more. You can also read the book reviews there. A good book on care and training will save you more time, money and energy in the long run that you could possibly imagine.

Here are the links to these books for purchase at amazon.com (by the way, it looks like the first two are also on sale):

Amazon.com: Puppy Whisperer: A Compassionate, Non Violent Guide to Early Training and Care: Paul Owens, Terence Cranendonk, Norma Eckroate: Books

Amazon.com: How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With: Clarice Rutherford, David H. Neil: Books

Amazon.com: How to Housebreak Your Dog in 7 Days (Revised): Shirlee Kalstone: Books

One last thing: make sure you have a special cleaning product made for removing the smell of dog urine. And use it every single time. Your pet store should have a good selection to choose from. Make absolutely sure you're not using cleaning products that contain ammonia. They smell like urine to dogs, which makes them pee in the wrong places.

Your pup will pick up all the rules. It's just a matter of you being truly informed. As her teacher, you have to tell her how things work in a way she will understand. Get the books. They will change everything given some time and patience.