Any Beagle Owners Out There, to Give Me Advice on Barking and Using an Anti-bark

There are different types and settings of collars. There is the spray collar, but I have heard that that can shift and then has no affect. There is the no-bark collar that gives a little jolt when they bark. I used these on my grandmother's little dogs (yorkie and chiuaua mix) after she passed because all they did all day was bark. It worked after about the third time they went on a barking rant. You can set the sensitivity of these as well. We set it very low at first, and the dogs didn't even notice it. Then there is the training collar. With that, it is a collar that has the ability to emit a high frequency noise, or shock. So, you could try it with the noise, and if they didn't respond to that, you could then shock. It wouldn't be an automatic thing, and wouldn't have an affect if you were gone (don't know if neighbors are a concern or not while you are away), but is more of an interactive training tool. The sensitivity can also be programmed with those.

There are some collars that are not "shock" collars but rather they vibrate ...... maybe that would help?

Shock collars are painful, but not overly if they dont keep barking with it on. It just gives a jolt. On America's Funniest Home Videos, a dude sent in a video of himself trying one out, you could tell it hurt, but he was purposefully setting it off over and over, eventually you would think he would quit due to pain.

If you cant take him to training classes but dont want to do the shock collar thing, you could go to the library and check out some books, perhaps training books specific to beagles or something by Caesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer, or even see if you can check out episodes of his show. The way he describes getting dogs to behave on walks is to make sure you are the "pack leader" and that the dog responds to your leadership. The best time is to do it while they're a puppy, I would think, start them off with good habits. Good luck!

One of my dogs likes to bark. There are two types of bark collars. The frist one we tried sprayed a Citronella scent that dogs don't like. It only work for a short time. Our dog learned to bark and not have it spray. Although I didn't want to, I bought a shock collar and spoke with a professional dog trainer. Before I put the collar on my dog we put it on the palm of my hand and had it go off. It did not hurt. The dog trainer told me the collar is meant to get the dogs intention and does not hurt the dog. The collar worked for us. Now, when I need to remind my dog that the barking is unwanted, I put the collar on...but I don't turn it on! - She already knows not to bark. Sometimes I just put the collar on the table and I can see it in her face...she knows I want her to stop.

beagles are smart/stupid dogs. lol and they are thee breed to be known best for barking. we have cross a beagle/pit bull great combo i know. we rescued her at a young age. she was pretty big barker too. what worked for us was a simple spray bottle of water and it didnt take long though she was 6 months when we got her. i have never used a shock collar. another thing that helps is a companion. we got another dog about 6 months after our first so not being alone really helped. obviously you have a very full house already :) maybe you could find a certain thing that the dog attaches to other then your son. when you put it in the crate put a special toy or stuffed animal with it. a few may get destroyed so be prepared. our dog is almost 5 years old and only parks at "danger" like when someone is at the door or there is a cat outside :) Good luck!

We don't have a beagle but I do have a Golden. She just loved to bark at everything, so I bought a squirt bottle. When she barked I would squirt her. She soon stopped barking all the time.

i personally am against shock collars. I just think they are mean and they make me sad. :0( we had those same issues with our blonde lab! we adopted her from the pound. She was also abused, has epilepsy, and is extremely attached to me. She sat at the pound for 6 months. Poor thing. She is a BIG dog though, not a puppy. When we first got her we had the same issues you are having. If i would so much as let her outside to potty and not stand by the door, she would start to do this panic yelp. It was high pitched and really hurt your ears. But we couldnt really adequately punish her for it, because when she would see you she would stop, so there was no real point then because she wouldnt understand WHY she was in trouble!

we opted to get a spray collar. we bought ours off of ebay. it is similar to a shock collar, but instead of shocking them it sprays up toward their nose. Similar to squirting them with a squirt bottle, but its attached to them for when you arent around. it only took a month with the collar and she stopped!

i hope that helps!

We also have two adopted dogs. Mutts. One of them is a BARKER, so believe me, I feel your pain. We have the spray collars. They work very well. They can learn to move them, but you just go move it back. Nothing else worked for our dog (we didn't try the shock collar). Now I just have to say "Sally, do you want to wear your collar?" and she generally quiets down.

Just FYI, the barking ONLY stops when they are wearing the collars, so its not a good method if you are looking to really cut down on barking across the board, as they can't wear the collars all the time. We usually put our dogs' on when we're having company come over or our little one is napping, as they go ballistic when the mailman comes to the door.

Good luck.

We have a basset hound - they are also great barkers! I have to agree with posters who say they don't use a shock collar. I think it's cruel. We tried a noise machine by the door that emitted a high-pitched sound when the dog barked- but it didn't really work after a little while. I do know other hound owners who have had good luck with the spray collars.

in the end we went the old fashioned route- spray bottles and shake cans to startle him. Honestly, sometimes it works, sometimes he ignores it. I really think barking is a part of dealing with this breed. Obviously you want to try and moderate it- but I think you will just be dealing with SOME barking no matter what! Good luck!

Beagles are wonderful! I don't have one, but have know many. The shock collars can make it worse and can hurt the dog or scare them.
You can put barking on cue and then teach a quiet to go with it. One of the ways to do this is ring the bell, let him bark a couple of times, then give him something that will keep his mouth busy (ie a treat, lick or PB, a toy) and say quiet/enough when the barking stops. After a couple tries, he will probably start anticipating the reward and will bark once or twice and then look for the reward, which it sounds like is what you are looking for.

When out for a walk, take treats or a toy and before the barking starts, reward for quiet. You can have him stop and sit and body block the other dog, so he can focus more on you when walking. When there is another dog he is allowed to greet, if he barks or pulls when walking towards the other dog, turn around and walk a couple of steps in the other direction until he stops and then turn around again and head back towards the other dog or people. It may take a long time to get to them to start, but it will work.

Hope that gives you some helpful hints. As a puppy it would be great to take a puppy group class, helps with socialization and basic manners and there are usually ones that are too expensive for about 6 weeks. Or if you have some friends with dogs that can get together to play and work on training around the other dogs too. If you are looking for a show to watch for some helpful hints, It's me or the dog with Victoria Stillwell is good, she uses positive techniques and it helps to let the dog learn the correct behavior on its own. Clicker training is also a lot of fun and if you search for it you will find lots of information, but it really makes the dog think and is great for special tricks. I've used it to teach our dog to to recycle, among other fun tricks, and it took a couple of days with 1-2 10 mins sessions each day.

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