Can hounds be trained? You obviously know what my opinion is :) But many people believe they are too stubborn. I get a lot of mail from people all over the world who want to train their beagles but are told by trainers that it can't be done. It makes me very mad. Sure they can be trained, have patience! Since Xsara is my first dog I can't compare working with a beagle to other breeds but now that we know each other it's easy to work with her. It used to be hard in the beginning but we had talented people who helped us. We still had to do all of the actual work ourselves, but it was easier. So, my opinion is:
they can be trained, they are amazingly smart animals, you just need a different approach.They won't work unless they want to so you need to convince them this is what they want. You need to reward them a lot and it's better if you don't do a lot of repetition because they get bored.
Otherwise not many news to report. Xsara is in heat again, she is unusually lazy during this period and doesn't have as much appetite as otherwise. I try to maintain the same level of activity with her but it's hard because she needs to be on leash on our walks. And she wants to cuddle all the time, which is really sweet.
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14 comments:
yup..i believe all dogs can be train, including the bloodhound...but maybe each breed hv they own specialty...
n poor me being spayed since young...
A lot of people don't think us Siberians can be trained, either. It's all in giving us the right incentive and especially for us, the right exercise! :) When a Good Samaritan tried to give our Zim a home (found him running free, tried him out, then dumped him at the shelter), a local "dog training expert" said he was a coyote hybrid (HA!) who couldn't be trained. Well, heck! He couldn't trust yet and had never been walked on a leash even though he was about a year and a half old!
We saw her in the park a few months after Zim joined our family and she couldn't believe he was the same dog. Of course, Zim had already walked a couple of miles and was starting to trust all of us. :) He was yearning to learn and to have the right leader! That would be ME - Stormy! Oh, and mom and dad, too. :)
Tail wags,
Storm
You are definitely right! Certain breeds are easier to train while others may take time. For Goldens like me for instance, we are very moderate dogs. Everything about us is moderate. We are calm, intelligent & willing to learn. For Beagles like you, they are very hyper-active dogs, intelligent too, can be stubborn at times(so as other dogs) so these kind of dogs need to be trained properly so that they will calm down & be more attentive towards their owners. I've seen a stubborn Beagle at Pre-Novice level before but now he's in Novice & his recall is bootiful! Better than how I do it... Hound dogs love to sniff the ground & are usually doing their own thing. Same like my sista Faith but she's no hound dog. She's a Dalmatian, blurr Dalmatian as people like to call her. Always in her own world, has no interest in food or toys. Now she's in Novice level but until now, she can't pass her Novice exam, twice already! It will take time. Some dogs can take for years just to get up to Novice level! But it also depends on how much effort the owners put in to train their dogs. They can't just say they are stubborn just by hearing what others say about that breed. They haven't even tried hard enuf to train them & that's why they always criticize that certain breed. All dogs need intensive training & training is for life! There's no end to training & ALL dogs can be trained even mongrels!
Love licks,
Solid Gold Dancer
l fully agreeded that all of us can be train if the theat is right.....woopeeeeeeee
Hear hear!
Great blog, Xsara! We LOVED your agility video!
Whippets are hounds too, sighthounds rather than scenthounds. They get a bad rap for being hard to train, too. But we are just very sensitive, and when we do something right and then the human does it again we worry that we didn't do it "right enough". And then we get sad.
But when we do something right and the human has a party with treats or a fun toy, then we stay happy, happy, happy!
We love agility too!
It was very nice to meet you!
the whippet waggle and their Servant Patience
Hi Xsara :-) I'm not a beagle but I'm being puppy trained!!! I'm doing pretty good at it. I'd like to do tricks like you one day. Thanks for coming over to my blog and saying hi, it's always nice to meet new friends from far away.
*licks*
Christaligia
ya.. we believe everydog can learn pretty fast.. just that they need different approach
Hey Xsara thanks for stopping by my blog!
Your blog looks amazing I love all the photos of you, not only are you beautiful but you look so talented too!
River
Hi Xsara,
We like doing our own thing most of the time but will do what mum wants when the treats or attention are right. We are also tired of reading IQ lists that put us beagles right near the bottom. We are smart in our own special ways and with effort and consistency can be trained. Some other beagle owners here whose beagles are a little out of control often tell us how well behaved we are and ask our mum how she trained us that way. We are members of a beagle group here as well and get to see other beagles who can do tricks and agility well. Its all in the up bringing.
Licks
Jazz and Dixie
You are so right, patience is key. I'm pretty easy to train and Mum got spoiled since I'm her first dog. But Gracie is different, she needs lots of patience and Mum is learning. But the nice thing is Gracie will do anything for food!
Woofs, Johann
I think that discovering what your dog's passion is makes working a lot easier. Some are eaters, some are players, some are attention seekers, some work for the work itself, some have their unique passions and some are all of the above. Find out what makes your dog crazy!
Your words are wise.
Beagles and other scent hounds have certain tendencies but one needs to work WITH those tendencies and the results can be wonderful!
That's a good point, Glenn. I think many people try to kill their dogs' tendencies instead of working WITH them. With hounds, for example, they fear the dog will run away if he gets into scenting mode. It's good to be able to distract your dog if you're on a walk and he starts sniffing around, but in training you can do great things with this drive.
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