kermat

Yesterday morning after I had left for work and hubby was having his breakfast, our beagle Max decided to drag out the Nintendo Wii cable from behind the TV and have a good ole chomp on it - its very unusual behaviour for him as he usually doesn't chew anything other than his toys and is very well behaved, Judd is the naughty one!! - anyway hubby hadn't noticed until he heard several loud yelps and saw poor Max scuttle across the room, he went and hid in the corner in the toilet. Upon inspection hubby found the cable chewed almost all the way through.

Max seemed fine, so my husband went to work and then called me to tell me what happened, and I was like, "WHAT??!!!". I would have bundled Max in the car straight away and driven him to the vets!! Anyway that got my husband worried so he called the vet who said that if he seemed ok afterwards (and he did, after the initial scare he went back to chewing one of his toys, couldn't see any burns in or around his mouth) then he was probably ok but just to keep an eye on him. He's booked in for a check up at the vets this morning as neither of us could get off work yesterday. I had my mum go around to our place yesterday afternoon to check on him and again he seemed perfectly normal!!

What we're hoping is that the surge protector powerboard that the cable was plugged into cut off the power before it really gave him a zap, I think 240V across the chops would have done a lot more damage!! But I was so worried all day yesterday.....!!! Has anyone else had their naughty doggies chew through a power cable before??

I'll post an update after my husband gets back from taking him to the vets to see what he said - but again Max seemed fine this morning, still had his normal appetite and was behaving like the perfect beagle!!

My boys get sardines (great for Omega 3's) and scrambled eggs once a week, and their coats are nice and shiny and soft. I read somewhere too that you shouldn't feed raw eggs because they could have salmonella, which is why I cook mine, but a lot of people seem to be happy using the eggs raw so maybe it is ok!!

Hi marcos, I've got two beagles also, both boys, and they play-fight quite a lot - initially I was worried as it sounds a lot worse than it is, but I find that when one of them has had enough, they'll either leave the area or let the other one know!! They do tend to nip each others ears and neck, but from their body language (tails both in the air and wagging!!) I can tell they are only playing. It can be a bit unnerving to watch at first though. I only step in if they get a bit carried away - that is, volume goes up and they start tearing around the house like maniacs!!

Hi Ruthless - keeping a diary yourself might be useful as well. We've recently had a neighbour pop a letter in our gate (it was a standard template and some information they'd obviously printed off the council website) regarding our dogs barking - it is only one dog and we are certain its Judd as he's only 1 year old and tends to get carried away when playing, especially if Max has had enough and doesn't want to play anymore.

Basically we just record times when we're not home, and if we're home and Judd starts barking we record that too (and we stop the barking of course!!). If we're home and the dogs are not barking, we make a note of that, so if the complaint gets more serious we can prove the dogs weren't barking during particular periods. And we also record the times we take them for walkies or out to the park. My husband also went and parked his car around the corner one day and sat there for awhile listening - strangely enough, no barking!!

Its frustrating when someone makes a complaint anonymously. I suppose I can understand if you don't know your neighbours, they might be worried about your reaction, but I'd really prefer that if Judd's barking was proving a nuisance, that our neighbours would come and have a friendly chat with us. We've spoken to our immediate next door neighbours and they have said they haven't noticed the barking being a problem. Its particularly frustrating from the point of feedback - Judd IS quite vocal and I'm not doubting he barks when we're not home, so we bought an electronic anti-bark collar (an Innotek, with different level settings), however we can't ask whether its made an improvement, because we can't identify the complaintant!! :rolleyes:

I just received my new Furminator from Clipperworld, and I am very happy and impressed - they seemed to have the cheapest price online (some online stores were charging up to $80-$90 for the medium!!) and the transaction was very hassle free, and my Furminator arrived overnight.

I am also very happy with the Furminator's performance - I've got two beagles so my floors/furniture are covered with a lovely mix of white/brown/black hairs and my vacuum cleaner is about to explode!! But the amount of loose hair that comes off with the Furminator is amazing, I can now cuddle my beagle boys without getting covered in hair!! And its also nice to be able to pat them without sending little fluffy hair-bunnies flying off into the air!! Their coats look so much better without all the loose hair too.

Highly recommend the Furminator!!!

This coconut idea sounds fantastic, I am definitely going to try it!!

I am also going to check out Clark Rubber and put their "chew proof" bedding to the test - so far my beagles have destroyed the last 4 or 5 doggie beds we've bought so now they get a few blankets on the floor (which they still chew, but only to a point because its not as fun as tearing stuffing out of a futon or basket, I presume!!).

Thanks this thread has been most helpful!! ;)

We walk our boys after they've eaten - purely because they get a lot of energy after their meals and we need to burn it off!! But our boys have never been fussy about food (they're beagles, they'll eat anything!!) so if you need your puppy to work up an appetite, walk before the meal. But then you might find they're still a bit hyper afterwards - then you can always just play some games or do some training with them to tire them out.

I remember how exciting it was after Judd got his 12 week vaccination and we could finally take him for walkies - have fun!!

My beagle puppy is 10 months, he was desexed at 6 months and he lifts his leg occassionally - but its usually just a very lazy lift, only just off the ground!! He usually just stands to pee, he doesn't even squat. My othe beagle however is 2 years, and he was desexed later at about 12 months and he cocks his leg on EVERYTHING - we call him the three-legged dog. Its a bit gross when he cocks his leg on the outdoor table or the BBQ, whereas my other boy just stands and pees in the garden. I would definitely desex a boy earlier rather than later...

My beagle puppy will occassionally decide to have a taste of my other beagles poop - we call him The Poover. Best way to stop it is to make sure you pick up the poop soon after it has been deposited. I've heard it can be a dietary issue but we're not worried, our beagles get a great diet and it seems to be a common beagle-thing to do!! (I've no idea why!!)

I've been looking into the DAP diffuser, but I'm not sure where would be the best place to plug it in. The boys are outside during the day, but they can get in and out of the laundry through their doggie door. Not sure if the diffuser would really work as well if it was plugged in outside, but would it even have an effect if I plugged it in in the laundry, and the boys are running around playing (and barking) outside??

Thanks for all the advice so far everyone, it is much appreciated.

So far we have done a letterbox drop to all our neighbours, apologising for any nuisance and letting them know we are doing our best to address the problem. We also encouraged them to give us feedback on whether or not the situation was improving, either by approaching us personally (we're not scary!!) or leaving a note in our letterbox.

My OH has started getting up earlier every morning and taking the boys for a walk before work, so hopefully that might make some difference. I've printed off several different Kong recipes and have been trying them - although the problem seems to be that Judd always wants whatever Max has got, even though he's got the same thing, and he'll just keep barking until he gets it!! Or if he wants to play and Max has had enough, he will bark at Max "play with me play with me!!!".

I like the idea of leaving a radio on so I might try that, and as a last resort we thought about one of those collars - a friend has a citronella spray collar that she is not using (because it didn't work for her dog!) so she has said we could borrow that to try, if necessary. I really don't want to have to resort to one of those electric shock collars, or debarking. I do hope Judd will get better with age, and that this is just playful (adolescent) puppy behaviour. Max only barks very rarely (he is 2 years old) so we're hoping he'll teach Judd some manners!!

I've just had a call from our Strata company to inform me that one of our neighbours has complained that our 9 month old beagle Judd has been barking during the day.

She emphasised that they weren't nasty about it, they just wanted it bought to our attention. They said its only during the day when we're not home, and that they realised the dog was only young. We recently adopted Max, another beagle, who is 2, so that Judd would have a friend during the day. But what I think must be happening is that when Max has a bone or a toy, even though Judd has his own bones and toys, he wants whatever Max has got, and will just sit and bark at Max nonstop.

She said that they don't want us to get rid of him or anything - but I am afraid that it could head that way if we can't get him to stop. I really do think he will grow out of it, as I said he's only 9 months and Max is 2 years and doesn't make any noise at all!! But I think we should be seen to be doing something........... The only things I can think of are locking him in the laundry, which would mean either locking Max in the laundry as well or just Judd and leaving Max outside, which is cruel to both of them either way, or getting Judd one of those citronella anti-bark collars, but I don't really want to do that either.........

If anyone has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated as I'm really upset and worried about this, I don't want to annoy our neighbours but I'm not sure what we can do!!

My two beagle boys get their mince raw, but they're beagle - so they'll eat anything!!

It takes me long enough to cook their rice and mush up their veggies, if I was cooking the mince too I'd be in the kitchen forever!! :D

My dog chews the walls as well - I had never heard of dogs chewing walls before!! At least we're not the only ones. I'm going to give Aeroguard a go!!

Oh - I saw a "working" beagle in customs at the Int airport a little while ago, the handler weighed the beag on the scales in front of me and it was almost 17 kg! It was very tall and leggy... freak beagle!

My 8 month old beagle puppy is taller than all the other adult beagles I've seen, he's not fat but he does weigh about 16-17kgs. Hopefully he won't grow much bigger than that, otherwise he won't be able to get into his doggie door!!

He just has oodles of energy though, we take him for a run every night and then give him his dinner which must then give him an extra boost because he doesn't get tired until quite late!!

I too have just stumbled across this thread, I've just purchased a clicker on the internet and can't wait to try it with my very mischievous beagle puppy.

I bought mine from Oz Pet Shop online www.ozpetshop.com.au. Its called Click-A-Trick card set with clicker, $24.95. The training cards are based on Karen Pryor's methods and I have heard recommendations for her. Here is a pic

Just wondering if anyone had some ideas of how to settle down a puppy during car trips?? We've been driving our nearly 8 month old beagle puppy Judd to the park most nights and every weekend since we got him (which was early December), we've got a metal clip that attaches to the back seatbelt that then clips onto his harness so he is restrained but can still move around the backseat - we thought he'd get used to travelling in the car after awhile but he still whines and cries and moves around alot and keeps trying to get into the front seat with us and ends up getting himself all tangled up. He is quite happy to jump into the backseat when we're leaving so it doesn't seem like he's afraid of the car, but its just while we're actually driving he will not settle.

Any thoughts?? Could it be travel sickness??

I can totally sympathise - my 7 month old beagle puppy is doing all the exact same stuff you describe. My partner and I are pulling our hair out.

I was thinking of looking into getting a dog walker to come over during the day and take him out for a walk to break up the monotony - neither of us can really get home during our lunch breaks. We do walk him before we go to work and also take him to the park when we get home, and when we leave for work we give him a big juicy bone. We invested in a Hanging Ball from Aussie Dog (I think someone has already posted the website), who make all sorts of toys that are supposed to keep dogs interested if they're home alone, although he hasn't worked out how to use it yet but hopefully once he does it'll keep him occupied. Kongs only seem to keep him interested for a few minutes.

Lets just hope its the puppy phase and they'll grow out of it soon!!

Don't worry we are taking it extremely seriously. Short of us climbing over the fence to get out of the yard, its very difficult to get out without him trying to squeeze past. We can't leave him inside while we're out because he'll destroy the house. If we put him in the laundry and then try and run to the gate, he goes straight out his doggie door and beats us there.

We may have to fence part of our yard off, which we're hesitant to do because it'll mean he has less room to play during the day. But it may be the only way.

And he only escaped again last night because he jumped on the gate and somehow managed to pop the latch open - from now on we are keeping the gate padlocked at all times.

It happened again last night - Judd has learned that if he jumps up on the gate hard enough, he can actually make the latch pop open. We're now having to padlock the gate all the time even when we're home.

Anyway off he ran down the complex, so I jumped around and acted playful, and kept running back towards our house - he would come as far as the carport, but no further. I kept running around trying to get him to play chasey with me, then I'd run back to our house, peek behind me - and he'd either be standing there staring at me, or running in the opposite direction. I only managed to catch him because he ran into someones yard and I stood by the gate until he tried to get past me.

The definite solution is to not let him escape at all - I mean we've been trying that but we'll just have to try harder, being extra careful when we open the gate and making sure we padlock it at all times. He is one determined little puppy, we're starting to think maybe he doesn't like us!!

My beagle puppy eats raw pet mince mixed with rice (cooked with garlic) and veggies, and that gets mixed with Science Diet puppy kibble. The food I was feeding him previous to making up our own at home he would sometimes leave, with this raw mince mixture his bowl looks so clean it could have just come out of the dishwasher!! He also has a fish oil capsule once a day in his dinner.

Initially I was a bit wary of buying pet mince, because I was worried it was full of fat and offal. I was going to try Lenards chicken mince but was told it was full of fat and smells a bit gross. But the pet mince we buy from the butcher is made from the leftover human grade meat, so no snouts or hooves or anything like that. It doesn't smell and almost looks good enough for us to eat - although I'm not quite willing to give it a try!!!

Last night as I was bringing some grocery shopping in through the front gate, my 7 month old beagle puppy managed to squeeze past me - and he was off!! We live in a complex of townhouses but he ran all the way down the other end, and fortunately for me he turned right - if he'd turned left he might have discovered the little stairway down to the adjacent complex, from which he could get out onto the road which is very close to a very major road!!

Nothing I could do would make him come back. He would stop and look at me when I called him, then as soon as I moved towards him he ran off (I think he thought it was a great game). Eventually he managed to corner himself in someone's garage and I scooped him up and took him back home.

Does anyone have any suggestions of things I can do if this happens again?? Obviously I am going to be a LOT more careful when opening the gate, as I was really shaky and terrified afterwards just thinking about what might have happened!! One suggestion I've heard is to lie down on the ground, I guess maybe the dog is supposed to think you're injured and come running back to help - at the time though I just didn't think to try that. Also we've bought a dog whistle and were going to try and use it to train him for an emergency stop - would that work??

Thanks!!

Our pup is doing this too and its driving us nuts. Persistence and consistency are the key I think!!

Our beagle is the same, he is 7 months old. We take him to the park after work and let him run around and play with other dogs, then when we get home we have our dinner then give him his, but after that he just won't settle. Maybe its his dinner making him hyper and giving him more energy, but we've been having some dominance issues with him and so we're really trying to feed him after us, but then its too late to really take him anywhere........

So I'd be interested to hear everyone's thoughts!!