Are your neighbors complaining that your beagle barks all the time when you are not home? Here are some useful tips that you can implement today to help solve the problem:
TIP 1 – Give your beagle everything they need when you are not home
This includes water, interesting toys, and a comfortable place to relax and sleep.
TIP 2 – Train your beagle to be home alone
There are several aspects to this but you can start here:
Avoid Making This Mistake – Reassuring your beagle every time you leave your home. If you give lots of attention to your beagle every time you leave and when you return home, you are creating the false assumption that your beagle can affect whether you are home or not and your beagle will bark when you are about to leave. Your dog just wants you to come back so you can provide attention and they will keep barking until you come back.
Do This Instead – Ignore your beagle 15 minutes before you leave and 15 minutes after you come back home. You are teaching your beagle that you are not going to give them lots of attention as soon as you come back. This way, your beagle doesn’t have anything to be anxious about and learns to relax when you are not at home.
TIP 3 – Train Your Beagle To be Home Alone
Dissociative training alone is not the solution. You should take the time to train your dog to be happy when you are not home and to know that you do return.
Train your beagle to actually be alone. Start gradually by leaving your beagle in a room, in their crate or in a ply den for short periods of time and gradually increasing that time.
Watch expert Emily Larlham crate training a dog to be happy alone at home:
TIP 4 – Give Your Beagle Plenty of Physical and Mental Exercise
Make sure that your beagle gets plenty of exercises before you leave. Walk your dog every morning. Spend time with your beagle playing and exercising before and after you leave.
If your beagle is bored, they can start barking for the sake of barking. Leave your beagle interesting toys and puzzles to play with. You can also leave the radio or the TV on.
TIP 5 – NEVER YELL
If your beagle barks, yelling is the worst thing to do. You are making your dog more anxious, nervous or afraid. When your beagle is aroused, their bodies generate tons of stress hormones that make them even more aroused.
Yelling at your beagle when they bark when you are about to leave is not a good idea. Your beagle will either think that there is a good reason to bark – you are joining them in the barking, too, after all – or that this is the way of getting your attention.
