Has anyone else experienced this.....

[spike's mama]

We have a beagle, his name is Spike and he is now 14 months old. We had him neutered on September 15th of this year. Since his neutering he has become very aggressive, ie jumping on people, barking, snarling, growling at my daughter & fiance. His bowl is full of food but he jumps up on the dining room table, grabs food off the counter, gets into the garbage, ripped up a rug that we had screwed to the floor to (try) and prevent him from chewing up the carpet at the main entrance. He has begun "doing his business" inside; we take him outside, he does both while out there and as soon as we step outside the door and leave him inside he does his business again...on the carpet and today on my bed. He has always been a barker but even that's gotten worse. He doesn't bark when there's a knock on the door, he barks when he's left home alone which is never for any great length of time. According to our neighbours he starts when we leave and stops when we return home. We have tried the different anti bark collars and none of them have worked, in fact it actually makes him worse. Any suggestions are greatly welcome, I honestly don't know what to do.

[AmericanBullMom]

I would say that he is just acting out.
How often is he walked? Or get vigorous excerise? A tired dog is a happy dog. A good walk for a dog is 20-30 mins long. And in the best instances more than once a day... I take ym puppy to the dog park usually 3-4 times a week, and also 20-30 min walks every day after work, and before bedtime.
Also, Obedience training would be well worth your time. Contact your local pet shelter, they usually have low cost pet training....
he's still young... a year and two months is still almost puppyish age! But thats no reason he cant learn to behave...

[Soter]

It sounds like you have a trouble maker on your hands!
I think he has a case of misplaced dominance (IMO)
This is only a guess at what it might be, by the way



He is the leader of his pack, him, you and whoever else. So he would jump up and growl at your daughter and fiance because they are invading his pack, which he as leader must protect. Also when he barks when left at home he probably isn't wondering 'wheres mummy and daddy' he's probably wondering 'where are my pack, darn it, i'm supposed to be looking after them, i'm their leader!!' About the doing his buisness inside thing, if you were leader, would you abide strictly by the rules, no, you are leader and you make or/and break the rules. He has chosen to break the current rules made by you, and make his own.


Try a little research online to 'Jan Fnnell, dog listener' and 'Ceasar Milan dog whisperer'

Might help

[MommaKat]

Originally Posted by AmericanBullMom

I would say that he is just acting out.
How often is he walked? Or get vigorous excerise? A tired dog is a happy dog. A good walk for a dog is 20-30 mins long. And in the best instances more than once a day... I take ym puppy to the dog park usually 3-4 times a week, and also 20-30 min walks every day after work, and before bedtime.
Also, Obedience training would be well worth your time. Contact your local pet shelter, they usually have low cost pet training....
he's still young... a year and two months is still almost puppyish age! But thats no reason he cant learn to behave...

Well said AmericanBullMom . How is he with other dogs? a class would probably be in his best interest because Beagles are really high energy (especially when they are young) they need physical as well as mental stimulation. Good luck with your pooch .

[spike's mama]

Thanx for your suggestions...the answers to your questions are as follows...he is walked every morning when I walk my daughter to school and again in the afternoon when school's out. It's a total of 35-40 mins each time.
He does try his best to dominate my daughter and my fiance, he snapped at me once and quickly learnt who the leader was when I pinned him and gave him firm "NO!" in his ear. He quickly submitted and hasn't done it since. However, with my daughter and my fiance he pretends to submit then as soon as he's released he's back to the same growling, snarling behavior. I will however call and check out the price of obedience classes, hopefully it won't cost as much as his neutering ($367.00).

[spike's mama]

mamakat, when he is with other dogs he's rather rambunctious and right in their faces but when they make any sudden move towards him, playing or otherwise he automatically submits. And as soon as they turn their backs, he's right in their face again.

[MommaKat]

Hm well in the time being what I would suggest (this goes for daughter and fiance) for the aggressive issues, don't let him walk in a door or up/down stairs before you . If he is laying/sitting down in your way don't step around him or over him, I would actually make him move out of your way. When you feed him (providing he knows the commands) I would make him sit and stay until you tell him it's Ok to have it.

Lastly, For your daughter (if she's an older child that is) and Fiance you could put a leash on Spike and wrap the other end around one of their waists forcing the dog to follow them from room to room as they go about their business, to show him he's not top dog. I would also do this to stop him from peeing and pooping in your house. For barking while your gone, Is he crated while your gone ? if so put a Kong or favorite toy in with him, other than that no clue .

Good Luck

Edit: these suggestions are what we did for my parents Malamutes aggressiveness, and even though she's still not perfect, she is LOADS better than before.

[spike's mama]

Thank you for your suggestions...they will definitely be tried. My daughter is 8 years old, he literally wrpped his entire mouth around her wrist at times when she tries to show him he isn't boss. When we go out he isn't put in a crate, he'd bark the walls down if he were. The crate makes him bark so loud that the people who live across the street complained about it. Which was when I tried the anti bark collars, no success.

[Dog Dancer]

You've got some good advice so far. Spike is at a very rebelious age and this type of behavior is meant to test you all. Your daughter should be in charge of feeding Spike (in a monitored situation though so you can step in if he gets out of hand). But she should also make him earn it, NILF - nothing in life is free. You must sit to get food. You must lay down to get food, that type of thing. You would all definitely benefit from having him go to obedience class. But the classes are as much about teaching you how to handle him as teaching him how to behave. A good class will teach you to be in control. As a hound you may always have noise issues unfortunately. Good luck to you.