Beagles are hounds genetically selected for hunting. When they find a trail, it’s hard to regain their attention. If you are wondering how to train a beagle to come back even when it is focused on sniffing something, this post would help.
Getting our dog to always come to our call is one of the principles of basic dog obedience. In fact, if we can’t trust him to come back to our side when we call him, we can hardly let him loose anywhere.
A reliable call is the best accident prevention and the greatest guarantee for our peace of mind while walking with our dog. In the case of Beagles, sometimes it is difficult to get them to come to the call because they are dogs with a very powerful sense of smell that, many times, “hook” to an olfactory trail and do not even hear when they are called. So: How to educate a beagle to come back to our side when we call him? The key is well-oriented and correctly scheduled training that respects the dog’s learning rhythm. The guidelines are as follows.
How to Train a Beagle
Like any other dog breed, the Beagle responds better to training based on positive reinforcement than punishment. That is, the idea is to enhance all those appropriate behaviors through rewards to ensure that they tend to be repeated, rather than repeatedly punishing inappropriate behaviors. In addition, in the field of dog training and education, it is of great value to encourage collaboration between dog and guide (owner). The Beagle, like all dogs, is a social animal and enjoys collaborative contact with us humans.
It is important that, during any dog obedience training, our Beagle enjoys with us. The dog has to feel that he is playing while learning. In this way, we reinforce the affective bond and, in addition, we achieve effective learning. That’s the key to knowing how to train a Beagle.
If the Beagle does not have a good time while learning dog obedience orders, it will be difficult to achieve solid learning. In addition, you may associate the fact that we ask you to do something with an unpleasant feeling, which will not encourage your obedience at all.
Guidelines for educating a Beagle and teaching him the “Come Back” Command
Calling a dog and getting him to come is the art of getting your dog to find you fun and interesting enough to stop doing what he’s doing and get back to your side.
To do this, the main thing when answering the question of how to train a Beagle is to know that we must always associate the call with a reward. What do you need to train the “Come Back” order?
- Rewards for your Beagle: These prizes can be toys, edible snacks, petting, encouraging words, etc., depending on what motivates your dog the most.
- A long strap: At first, it is advisable to train with a strap of about 5 meters, fabric and flat to avoid accidents. It must be flat to be able to step on it with your foot in case you need to stop the dog.
- A prize bag: To store edible snacks if you are going to use them as a reward. By the way, you can read these instructions on how to correctly use the prizes in dog training to avoid nutritional imbalances.
- Patience: It is the basis of any dog training.
Phases of Training
I will explain how to train a Beagle to obey the “Come Back”, and for this, I will divide the training into two phases: at home and on the street.
At Home
- Start training in a quiet place without distractions: the best way to educate a Beagle is to start obedience training at home. It is the environment with the least distractions for the dog since it is a known environment that he does not need to discover. In addition, it is a safe environment.
- Wait until your Beagle is distracted and call him from a distance, with a cheerful tone of voice: you can sound a toy, for example, to make the call even more attractive. Use your dog’s name + the command “Come Back” or the verbal cue you prefer.
- When your dog comes to the call, give him a reward: play with him or give him a prize, encourage him with cheerful words or caress him if he likes.
- Repeat this exercise several times a day, in batches of short repetitions: do not stop doing it until your dog responds by going to the call at least 85% of the time.
On the Street
- Choose a quiet and familiar place for your dog: that he does not feel called to explore it. Starting in an environment with few distractions is one of the keys when it comes to answering the question of how to train a Beagle.
- Put the strap long: leave it loose, you don’t need to grab it, but be prepared to step on it with your foot if your Beagle goes too far.
- Wait until your dog is a little distracted and call him from a short distance (just a couple of meters will suffice) using the same command you used at home, with the same cheerful tone of voice and using the same toy if that motivated your dog.
- As soon as your dog comes to you, thank him effusively.
- Repeat the exercise several times, daily, until your dog responds in at least 85% of the repetitions.
- Gradually increase the distance from which you call your Beagle.
- Progressively increase the difficulty of exercise (more distractions): try to call your dog when there is a distraction in the environment (other dogs, a trail on the ground, etc.). You can increase the value of the reward if you see that your dog has a harder time responding.
- Repeat the exercise several times, daily, in the same place where you have been training it.
- Change the scenario: try training the exercise from the beginning in a new environment.
- Repeat the exercise as many times as you want, in different places and with various distractions. Do not forget that your dog learns throughout his life so you will have to reinforce his obedience over time.
- When you’re sure your dog responds reliably, remove the long leash.
How to educate a Beagle so that he does not forget the command “Come Back” once he has learned it
Some people teach basic obedience orders to their dogs and then stop training them forever. That makes the dog, little by little, lose the quality of the response. Knowing how to educate a Beagle involves keeping in mind that training lasts a lifetime. We must always continue to insist on obedience. It is one of the keys to canine education. For this reason, so that your dog does not forget the command “Come Back” once he has learned it, do the following:
- Don’t use the “Come Back” command just to signal your dog that you’re coming home: he’ll associate it with punishment (end of fun) and start responding lazily or not coming to the call.
- Remember to always carry rewards with you for your dog.
- Don’t punish your Beagle if he doesn’t come when you call him: just go back to training from the beginning. It is much more effective. If not, your dog will associate that when he reaches you he receives a reprimand and will not want to obey.
I hope that with these guidelines you will no longer have doubts about how to train a Beagle to come to your call.
