My Beagle suddenly "afraid of me?!"

[MrsMack1985]

Ok, so I have a 5 year old beagle, he is kind of a rescue, we just got him last Oct. (he was a failed hunting dog that had been tied to a tree all his life) But he is our baby now, happy, friendly, and sweet as can be, but not so good with commands.

So i have been reading up on treat training and decided to finally try it today, thought "sit" and "come here" would be a great start. After about 30 mins he seemed to understand both commands, but would only execute them while I still had treats...

Anyway...I left him alone to nap for a few hours, but upon going back out to see him, now he is cowering down at me?! Why?!

Please help, what did I do wrong here?

[ICNDonna]

It may be that he isn't actually cowering, but is yielding authority to you. You might try some "good boy" and pets to replace part of the treats so he will learn that your approval doesn't always mean something good to eat.

It may take a while, but please don't give up on training --- dogs are much happier when they please us.

Donna

[MrsMack1985]

I think you are right...he is doing better now, but seems to hate training...he will obey until I no longer have treats in one hand, then grunt and walk away. Goofy boy...still, i'll try to keep at it.

[MaryS]

Jenny,
This is my first post on this forum. I use this site for research and have found answers to my questions by reading the threads . I hired a dog trainer to help me train my lab.She believes in treat training but also says it is all about the approach. She said make it fun and exciting by giving treats and LOTS of praise . She said it is all about the tone of voice she believes in using fun silly playful voice verses firm tones and then showed me. She told me to call my dog. He came to me,but slowly. but when she called he came RUNNING FULL SPEED to her.She squatted down and said nikko come here in happy,playful,silly tone of voice and when he came it was a treat and LOTS of good boys in a happy sing song voice making a big deal for obeying command. Could be your dog had harsh training from previous owner so does not enjoy training sessions. Dont run out of treats and end the training session before he gets bored. Short sessions with lots of praise may be better if he is the type of dog that loses interest quickly. My dog will train for hours because of the method i use . He thinks it is playtime

[MaryS]

Jenny, one more thing. She said you must not become impatient or frustrated during training because it will make the dog less apt to comply to your commands. I had a beagle. she was smart but extremely stubborn. In three sessions my dog learned the commands : wait, come here , stay , spit it or drop it if he had something in his mouth that should Not be in there, leave it,(ifhe went after something he shouldnt touch) down, sit, quiet (if he is barking to much . I cant remember all the commands at moment but this trainer was AMAZING . She said there is no such thing as a bad or stupid dog. All dogs can be trained if you use positive training methods...she was right. MY dog is smart as heck an learned quick because he loves praise and loves treats..for special commands she made me use filet mignon steak to make him remember if he responds to this one command he gets a special reward....it was the urgent recall command..for instance if he was running into the road i have a command that makes him stop immediately and come back with no hesitation. Donna is right dogs want to please their owners we just need to teach them how.

[MrsMack1985]

Thanks

Thank you for all that info Mary! I have heen told by various people that Beagles are "not smart" and I refused to believe it. I appreciate all the tips...my main concern is to get him to learn to listen to me in an emergency situation. You have encouraged me to keep trying. I attached a pic of him below...please rate the cuteness on a scale of 1 to 10...

[ICNDonna]

I'd rate him a 9 --- if he had spots, he'd be a 10.


Donna

[MaryS]

Welcome

Well I am going to rate your beagle a "10" BECAUSE it looks like my old beagle.She was the same color but her muzzle was more brown then white but same color. My dog trainer said there is no such thing as a stupid or bad dog. It is all about positive training techniques. Hey lots of men use them for hunting so they have to be pretty sharp to pick up that skill. My dog was an escape artist and would always find a way to get out of the house or yard. Beagles are known to wander off because they tend to pick up scents and track them.She always found her way back home. Oddly my other dog chose not to follow her on her adventures and stayed in the yard even though she could have gotten out the same way.This beagle even chewed and scratched her way out of a wooden door. Cant call that stupid , she wanted OUT and made it happen. Though one day she got out and this time did not come home. Usually it is just a few hoursadventure but this time she didnt come home and i panicked we looked everywhere.Well my husband got on his mini motorcycle and just drove up and down streets ending up in the next town and he found her strolling down the sidewalk calmly. She managed to keep herself safe and not get hit by a car so she was very smart about crossing roads. He called her name and she came running right to him happy to have been found. She followed him all the way home right along side him.Needless to say she never ever wandered off again. I think this time she scared herself when she went to far off and couldnt find her way back home. None of my dogs have done this just her it think it is a beagle thing .the sniffing thing. she was lost for 3 days and i had given up hope.Beagles are so damn cute though!! i found dog training easier with professional help. I took my dog to obedience classes and also had in home private one on one training and this dog was the best trained dog I had and all the credit goes to my dog trainer she was amazing. the other dogs i had i trained myself. Just the basics tho, come, sit , down, stay. But my newest dog has loads of commands and HE LOVES TRAINING which makes it easy for me. Good luck and take it slow and be very patient Dogs can pick up on change in voice and your body language.

[MaryS]

Geez i cant figure out how to put a pic of my dogs on here........normally i sent pics thru emails.

[MaryS]

ok so i did it but dont know how ). but a bit small.

[MrsMack1985]

Awww thanks ya'll

Thanks miss Donna and miss Mary

Miss Donna, he does have a spotted belly...it looks very cow-ish. And miss Mary, here's to all beagle parents like us I bet your beagle girl was beautiful.

I had to shrink that pic down pretty far to get it on here, but at least you can see the NOSE really well....lol!!! The most important area of a beagle.

[MaryS]

You are welcome!! Yes, my beagle was very cute. SHe changed my husband from a non-dog person to a DOG LOVER. He grew up in an OLD WORLD ITALIAN home........no dogs...no cats ..NO animals...so he had no experience with them. I thought that was so sad. all kids should grow up with a pet.It teaches them to respect and love animals. I saw kids who did not own pets tease and torment animals. my beagle charmed him and we had 4 more dogs after her. She was sooo sweet an loving.