Is it possible to teach my beagle tricks?

[hjova]

Ok, so I have taught my 9 week old beagle Arie how to sit and she has it down so I thought I would move on to shake hands...lol. I swear I have worked on this with her off and on for a couple of days now and she just doesn't have a clue what I'm trying to teach her! This is something every dog I have ever had in my life has picked up very easily! Now I know she's a beagle, she's young and puppy's get distracted (especially beagles) but I'm starting to wonder if it's even going to be possible! If she never does anything but 'sit' as a trick I still love her she's adorable Just wondered what you all thought about teaching my beagle tricks...can she learn simple tricks?

[JennSLK]

Beagles or any hound are not like training other breeds. They could care less if your happy and want to know whats in it for them. Also she is only 9 weeks old. Give her a break. She is a baby. They are very stuborn and it will take longer to train them

[hjova]

Don't get me wrong, I know she's just a baby, it will take time and I have only been trying to teach her this no longer that 10 minutes at a time. She's so animated...she keeps us all in stitches! You should see some of our videos! She's so funny At what age do you think I should start her puppy classes?

[bubbatd]

She sounds like a lot of fun !!! I'd stick the basics before the tricks !!!

[JennSLK]

Get your basics down before the fancy stuff. Start classes as soon as her shots are done

[Maxy24]

Are you clicker training? I've heard that works very well for hounds (most dogs actually). If you were clicker training you would not have to wait for her to do the whole thing before giving her a treat. What you do is try and get him to paw at your hand. Move it around like you want her to play with it or put a treat in your closed fist and wait until she paws at it. As soon as she does click and treat. Slowly raise your hand up after every few times she paws and you click and treat. Eventually you'll shape it to the point where you can hold your hand at a normal height then start opening the palm without the treat in it and when she touches it click and treat. You don't have to use clicker training but this is called shaping which is usually done with clicker training.

With my dog we did something called molding, we would say paw, pick up his paw then give a treat and put down the paw, then repeat. The thing with molding is that dogs don't think while they are doing it, you're basically doing it all for them they take a while to realize they actually have to do something not just wait for you to do it. So shaping works well in getting them to use their own brains and figure things out faster.

Don't get discouraged and think your hound can't learn tricks, he can you just have to persistent and creative! Always think about what steps you can take to get to the behavior instead of trying to go all the way on the first try, then try and figure out what you can do to encourage him to do that first small step.

[lizzybeth727]

I think it's kind of an excuse to say that your puppy is hard to train just because she's a beagle. I'm working with a lab right now that's the SLOOOOOWEST dog I've ever trained! Some dogs learn faster than others, that's all. Just don't get frustrated or upset with your puppy, and keep your training steps small like Maxy was saying, and enjoy the process of teaching your puppy how to think and figure things out on her own!

[JennSLK]

Originally Posted by lizzybeth727

I think it's kind of an excuse to say that your puppy is hard to train just because she's a beagle. I'm working with a lab right now that's the SLOOOOOWEST dog I've ever trained! Some dogs learn faster than others, that's all. Just don't get frustrated or upset with your puppy, and keep your training steps small like Maxy was saying, and enjoy the process of teaching your puppy how to think and figure things out on her own!

So then you think saying I cant train my BC not to heard because its a BC is an excuse then. Its a breed fact! Im not saying they are untrainable but they are harder (now keep in mind not every dog in each breed fits everything). Its a know fact about anyhound.

As for your Lab well you just got as hard to train lab. However Labs are know for being stuborn.

Beagles are hard to train. Its a known fact about the breed and a breed trait. Group trait acually not an excuse.

[hjova]

I am happy to say my now almost 10 week old beagle Arie is learning so fast! She can sit, shake hands and lay down! She is also learning to come when called by her name, how not to be too rough with my pom Bean and potty training is going great too! She's an absolute doll and we are all in-love with her! I think she's going to very well in her puppy classes. Thanks for all the advice! I am very curious too about the 'clicker training'. I am planning to look into this. Arie is proving to be a such a wonderful addition to our family! And she is VERY smart

[PWCorgi]

I've actually found that beagles are quite easy to train, if given the right motivation. I've worked with a few that belong to friends, but I wouldn't say I'm an expert on the breed or anything. I wouldn't say they are the easier/harder to train then other breeds, you just have to find the right motivation (with all beagles I've worked with this has been FOOD! LOL).

So then you think saying I cant train my BC not to heard because its a BC is an excuse then.

Read this statement a few times, and I'm still sure I'm not processing it correctly (been a looong week), but I figure I'd add in that my flyball trainer actually is training a BC not to exhibit herding behaviors in class.