The first time she was sleeping on my bed and I startled her she bit my face, I know I have to not allow her on my bed, I know beagles are pack animals and look to be the leader. Anyways she in the middle of the night came up to sleep and I know I need to be more discilplined. I told her to get down but I was feeling sick with a flu and went to sleep and she was sleeping between my husband and I. I thought since she bit me when she was only with me for a month, that by now she wouldnt do that. So when I turned and she was there, I was patting her and without warning she bit my face again. It wasnt quite light out yet. Anyways thank God she missed my eyes. But I have alot of scratches. I want to hear from someone who knows beagles and can recommend what to do. I know now no sleeping on my bed, I had a long extendable leash, now I bought a short leash to let her know I am the leader of the pack. I will do what I have to do but I need advice. I love her very much, Help!!!!
2007-03-04 08:51:15 · 16 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Dogs
I will not allow her to be near children. She is normally a good dog. I feel it is my fault I should and need to provide her with training. I will not put anyone in harms way. She doesnt show anything not one bit of mental stress like she has been abused. I am going to give her every chance I can. I do love her.
2007-03-04 09:17:24 · update #1
I have this problem with our 7 month old Beagle. For most do not let her in your bed or your childrens. Alley only does this when she is being touched while sleeping. Now we make sure we talk to her and make sure she is fully awake before handling her. Other than this we have no problems (well she steals everything and hides it under the beds). But there is an old saying "let sleeping dogs lie" I think they wrote this for beagles. I've talked to the breeder were I got alley from and she says its common. Beagles are a really high energy dog and when they sleep the sleep deep. So always make sure there awake. The breeder also told me it is not really a good thing to put your face up into a dogs face. Good luck to you and your Beagle.
2007-03-04 11:07:24 · answer #1 · answered by dee g 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You have to understand a couple of things. First, remember this is an animal, animals bite. You also do not know where this dog came from, how it was previously treated, or how it got there. How would you feel if you were mishandled, taken from the only home you knew, put in a strange environment/cage, and then now in a strange new place. You'd be freaked, so is this dog. It will take more than a month for the dog to get used to and trust you and your home.
Second, since you've had a incident and now are worried the best thing you can do is educate yourself on shelter dogs. Go to the local library and find something about adopting dogs, shelter dogs, training dogs, etc... The Dummies series of books are not too bad, easy to read and understand. They should have a training, obedience or understanding dog books. Shelter dogs are fantastic but they need to be handled a little different because of their history or lack of. Don't give up...just be patience and smart.
2007-03-04 09:03:43 · answer #2 · answered by B.Woorley 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That must leave you feeling a little betrayed. But be aware, it can take up to a year for a shelter dog to unlearn previous bad habits and learn to trust again, depending on what happened to her before. She sounds as if she has serious trust issues.
And while biting the face is bad, if she was close enough to scratch you, she was close enough to deliver punctures, if that had been her intention. The fact that you received only scratches tells me she was scared and trying to warn you away, as opposed to really trying to hurt you. Small comfort, but comfort nonetheless.
Perhaps the bed it too much repsonsibility for her right now. Crate train her, and practice establishing yourself as controller of the resources. Have her earn all the goodies. Sit for treats. Sit for outside. You decide when to pet, and she sits for pets.
Being Alpha doesn't involve stupid things like physically dominating your dog, it is being in control of the resources. Hand feed her while you hold the bowl. This is a wonderful trust exercise.
And only use Positive Reinforcement with her. A dog with this background may have been traumatized and needs to know people can be trustworthy. Find a good positive reinforcement trainer with a background in understanding behavior. Not all trainers (and there are some wonderfu trainers who don't get it) understand behavior.
Try www.ccpdt.org
2007-03-04 09:18:13 · answer #3 · answered by rualass 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This is absolutely the absolute opposite of typical beagle behaviour! This is a dog who has serious temperament problems and since you got her from a shelter you have no way of knowing if she just has a genetically bad temperament or was turned that way through mistreatment.
Perhaps she should sleep in a crate at night, at least until you can get her sorted out. I think you need to find a good behaviourist or highly qualified trainer to help you figure out what her problems are. It sounds from the little I can tell that she startles easily and reacts (inappropriately) in her own defense because she's afraid.
If she's not snappy the rest of the time, I think not giving her the opportunity to get herself into situations where she has a bad reaction, combined with obedience training with lots and lots of positive reinforcement to give her confidence will help her the most.
2007-03-04 08:58:38 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Avoid that silly Cesar Millan crap. He is an idiot.
It takes 6 - 9 months for a dog to get used to a new home.
You need a good trainer with a background in behavior (real behavior, not that made up stuff the dog whisperer does)
There is a great booklet: "How to be Leader of the Pack and have your dog love you for it" by Dr. Patricia McConnell.
Find it at www.amazon.com or
www.dogwise.com
2007-03-04 08:58:07 · answer #5 · answered by renodogmom 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I was against putting dogs down until I saw the documentary "Shelter Dogs."
What's going to happen when your dog is around children?
The majority of dog bites come from animals that the child already knows. Your situation is just a crisis waiting to happen.
You need to be responsible. Get the dog temperament tested and see if training can work or she needs to be put down. Beagles can give serious bites and just because she is sweet most of the time doesn't mean she isn't dangerous as well.
2007-03-04 09:01:21 · answer #6 · answered by lexi m 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I wish there was a better answer but this dog isn't going to work out. My family got a dog from the pound. We took her to the vet visit that the pound covers and she attempted to bite the vet. We had to take her back. He told us that even though she was very sweet at other times, she was just as likely to just snap and go off- possibly on one of our young children (we had a 4 yr old and a baby at the time). It was heart breaking but it had to be done.
You've gotten some good answers here- like the person who said how much worse it will be if she hurts your friend or a neighborhood child. I'm sorry.
2007-03-04 09:07:37 · answer #7 · answered by Trouble's Mama 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I would recommend crating her at night. Dogs adjust to the crate and it becomes both comforting and relaxing for them - it's their own space! My parents had a dog who slept in a crate at night all her life and she never minded it. My dog goes in his crate when he's nervous or stressed, of his own volition.
Make it cozy/comfy for your beagle. Don't use it as a punishment. Put her in there with a treat and make sure she has a little bedding to make her comfortable. My dog (he has long hair) prefers the plain floor of his crate, but my dad's dog liked a little cushion.
Crate training is often used to relieve anxiety in pets.
I also recommend a book that helped us when our dog was still a puppy: Good Owners, Great Dogs. I can't remember the author right now, but you could look that up on Amazon.
Good Luck!
2007-03-04 08:58:18 · answer #8 · answered by Linda J 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Obviously you don't want to put her down, I would try obedience training, and possibly a muzzle (I hate the things, but if a dog bites I see the nessecity of them). Along with that I would go and see if she has had a distemper shot and get her one if it is needed. Also keeping her off the bed might be the best solution so far.
2007-03-04 08:56:53 · answer #9 · answered by clytisciasha 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You have a serious behavior problem going on and you really should work with a professional trainer that has experience dealing with aggression issues. You are right that she should never be allowed on your bed and I would extend that rule to all furniture as well. It's a serious problem and it shoud be dealt with seriously.
It may be that she is not the right dog for you, but it may be worth working with a trainer first.
2007-03-04 08:56:37 · answer #10 · answered by ? 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋