I have a year old female beagle who I'm having trouble training. She's so food oriented that she looses focus on everything, and she won't respond to her name. Without food in your hand she won't even so much as look at you. I'm just having a tough time with her because my Mini Aussie is a very quick learner. I've never had a dog that was so hard to teach :dogsad: I'd like to at least teach her the basics, she know hows to sit, but you have to have a treat or toy for her. She's even hyper and rarely stops barking. Any help I can get is appreciated, I wasn't sure if this was a training issue or a behavior problem or not, so I put it here.
Teaching a beagle
- Thread starter boo48675
- Start date
szecsuani
Experienced Member
Maybe you could try doing this.
If you use a clicker.
put a some treats on a shelf, so the dog can't see.
Try to make the dog sit down WITHOUT a treat/toy in your hand.
Even is you have to push her butt down on the ground, click.
then clamly walk to the shelf, take a treat, and give it to the dog.
If you do this enough times, she will learn she has to focus on you, and not on the food or toy.
And just a question. if you use a clicker, when you were conditioning the dog to the clicker, did you always give the treat from your hand, or did you throw it on the ground sometimes,and gave it from various places?
If you use a clicker.
put a some treats on a shelf, so the dog can't see.
Try to make the dog sit down WITHOUT a treat/toy in your hand.
Even is you have to push her butt down on the ground, click.
then clamly walk to the shelf, take a treat, and give it to the dog.
If you do this enough times, she will learn she has to focus on you, and not on the food or toy.
And just a question. if you use a clicker, when you were conditioning the dog to the clicker, did you always give the treat from your hand, or did you throw it on the ground sometimes,and gave it from various places?
snooks
Experienced Member
hiding the treats is a great suggestion. are u moving either hand?? don't. put both behind ur back and don't move. if she doesn't respond reset, move around, and recue. maybe u could lower the value of the treat if that is just too exciting. try another place to train like the yard.
as for the hyper, this is a working hunting dog and they do have a need for lots of exercise. how much is she getting daily? at least two hours of good hard exercise a day will make her happier. not just running the yard; and walking may not be enough. fetch, biking, running are all great if she's clear to do so safely by a vet depending on age etc. tired dog = happy less hyper dog. have u considered doggie daycare even for a short time. nothing tires dogs out like playing with other dogs.
for barking u can try clicking for quiet, even if it's just on an inhale. gradually the time of quiet will increase and u can up the criteria for the click. add a quiet voice cue when you get to about 80% success. I also have a hand cue like finger across my throat. if she's barking at things going on outside distract her by calling come and click/treat. make her come get it. start close if u need to get her attention. this may be a way to relieve stress and pent up energy so you need to preempt it to avoid it being a relief mechanism for her.
i did this to stop the barking at deer. she see's deer and growls i say come, click/treat just as she starts to begin turning her head. after a while you get a good come c/t. if you work long enough and don't allow uncontrolled barking the stimulus for barking soon becomes a stimulus to come to you. my dog now sees deer and runs to me. I am still reinforcing that at 100% since it's not rock solid yet but my dogs don't go out and rave at the deer any more. we moved and these were new creatures. :msneek:
i now have a sort of ping pong thing going with no barking and tired dogs because they are always checking with me. I'll fade the treats to random as we get more solid. This does mean that if she is allowed to bark all day which may be a stress relief and therefore self rewarding or the object runs away and again rewards cannot be allowed. You need to be there and catch every bark with distract, redirect, reward.
when i first started i would call my older barker into the house and do mini obedience lessons very up and fun for 1-3 mins. this allowed her to forget most of the time that she had been barking at something. so i redirected her and it was fun and positive. if she went out and barked again i called, repeated and then didn't let her back out for a while. it took a few months of very diligent work but now both dogs lie on the deck as deer, elk, bikers, dogs go by and just watch. yay!
best of luck from a fellow former barker victim. :msngiggle:
as for the hyper, this is a working hunting dog and they do have a need for lots of exercise. how much is she getting daily? at least two hours of good hard exercise a day will make her happier. not just running the yard; and walking may not be enough. fetch, biking, running are all great if she's clear to do so safely by a vet depending on age etc. tired dog = happy less hyper dog. have u considered doggie daycare even for a short time. nothing tires dogs out like playing with other dogs.
for barking u can try clicking for quiet, even if it's just on an inhale. gradually the time of quiet will increase and u can up the criteria for the click. add a quiet voice cue when you get to about 80% success. I also have a hand cue like finger across my throat. if she's barking at things going on outside distract her by calling come and click/treat. make her come get it. start close if u need to get her attention. this may be a way to relieve stress and pent up energy so you need to preempt it to avoid it being a relief mechanism for her.
i did this to stop the barking at deer. she see's deer and growls i say come, click/treat just as she starts to begin turning her head. after a while you get a good come c/t. if you work long enough and don't allow uncontrolled barking the stimulus for barking soon becomes a stimulus to come to you. my dog now sees deer and runs to me. I am still reinforcing that at 100% since it's not rock solid yet but my dogs don't go out and rave at the deer any more. we moved and these were new creatures. :msneek:
i now have a sort of ping pong thing going with no barking and tired dogs because they are always checking with me. I'll fade the treats to random as we get more solid. This does mean that if she is allowed to bark all day which may be a stress relief and therefore self rewarding or the object runs away and again rewards cannot be allowed. You need to be there and catch every bark with distract, redirect, reward.
when i first started i would call my older barker into the house and do mini obedience lessons very up and fun for 1-3 mins. this allowed her to forget most of the time that she had been barking at something. so i redirected her and it was fun and positive. if she went out and barked again i called, repeated and then didn't let her back out for a while. it took a few months of very diligent work but now both dogs lie on the deck as deer, elk, bikers, dogs go by and just watch. yay!
best of luck from a fellow former barker victim. :msngiggle:
snooks
Experienced Member
found my barking example that was very similar to what the karen pryor trainer i use recommended. it worked 4 me. :dogsmile: http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001c/manicbarking.htm