(Pepper and Daisy 2022)

In July 2021, I adopted Pepper after losing my beagle puppy, Lois, to epilepsy when she was just 20 weeks old.

I had adopted Lois to experience puppyhood firsthand and better understand what my clients were going through. When she passed, I decided to adopt an adolescent beagle to gain experience with that phase as well.

Boy, was I in for a wild ride!

Pepper didn’t have the best start in life. She had pins in her leg from being thrown around at just 12 weeks old, and she has a kinky tail, either due to a genetic disorder or from being broken and left untreated.

When she was rescued from the home she’d been living in, she was found in a kitchen full of her own excrement and urine.

I was told she:

• Couldn’t be left home alone because she would bark for hours
• Had a demand barking issue,
• Wasn’t toilet trained.

I knew it was going to be tough, but I wasn’t fully prepared for what was about to unfold!

Within the first week, I realised Pepper:

• Had little to no experience walking on a leash
• Was ridiculously reactive towards other dogs on a leash
• Would growl if you tried to move her, especially in the evening
• Snap if she didn’t want to do something
• Was destructive around the house
• Would guard items she stole

At night, if she wasn't tethered in a dog bed beside my bed, she would get up and pee and poo in my room.

I was told she was crate trained, but it was clear she had crate trauma, probably from inappropriate use by her previous owners.

The next few months were all about constant management, with some training sprinkled in. She had to wear a permanent house lead for two months while I worked on her snapping.

She eventually learned to sleep on a tether because she wouldn’t settle unless made to. And the barking! In the early days, every time she was tethered, she would bark endlessly.

Her demand barking was insane! There were days when, as soon as my husband got home from work, I’d go out just to give my ears a rest.

I had to work on getting her to:

• Stay home alone,
• Not destroy our things,
• Stop nipping us when overstimulated,
• Walk nicely on a leash
• Stop going crazy whenever she saw another dog,
• And, of course, potty outside!

Fortunately, she took to resource-guarding training like a duck to water, so that was one less thing to worry about.

The biggest takeaway from having an adolescent beagle is that it’s often a battle of wills – and yours has to be the stronger one. You can’t give in; you have to stay firm and find ways to manage, like using noise-cancelling headphones to block out the chaos.

Training doesn’t fully take hold until they’re out of adolescence.

I remember for the first eight months after adopting Pepper, every night I had to approach her on the sofa with a leash. I’d coax her off the sofa with it because any other attempts would lead to growling or snapping.

I’d take her to the dog flap, let her out, and once she came back inside, I’d leash her again to take her to my room and tether her for the night. If I didn’t, she’d charge into my room, jump onto my side of the bed, and we’d have even more growling and snapping.

But once she was out of adolescence, she started getting off the sofa by herself, going out to the toilet, and coming back to her bed without any fuss. No more leashes were ever needed again.

Adolescence is all about repetition and management.

I’ve learned all the tricks of the trade, and I’m here to share them with you so you can manage your own beagle and come out the other side with an amazing beagle like Pepper. She no longer snaps, she listens at home, and she hasn’t destroyed anything since she turned two. She’s also an incredible walker – no pulling or reactivity.

So, join me for the live workshop or get the recording, and I promise, as someone who has been where you are now, you can get through this phase. But there’s some groundwork that has to be done too!

Happy Beagling,

Kellie

The Beagle Lady

Online Beagle Trainer

www.thebeaglelady.com

(Pepper and Daisy 2022)

In July 2021, I adopted Pepper after losing my beagle puppy, Lois, to epilepsy when she was just 20 weeks old.

I had adopted Lois to experience puppyhood firsthand and better understand what my clients were going through. When she passed, I decided to adopt an adolescent beagle to gain experience with that phase as well.

Boy, was I in for a wild ride!

Pepper didn’t have the best start in life. She had pins in her leg from being thrown around at just 12 weeks old, and she has a kinky tail, either due to a genetic disorder or from being broken and left untreated.

When she was rescued from the home she’d been living in, she was found in a kitchen full of her own excrement and urine.

I was told she:

• Couldn’t be left home alone because she would bark for hours
• Had a demand barking issue,
• Wasn’t toilet trained.

I knew it was going to be tough, but I wasn’t fully prepared for what was about to unfold!

Within the first week, I realised Pepper:

• Had little to no experience walking on a leash
• Was ridiculously reactive towards other dogs on a leash
• Would growl if you tried to move her, especially in the evening
• Snap if she didn’t want to do something
• Was destructive around the house
• Would guard items she stole

At night, if she wasn't tethered in a dog bed beside my bed, she would get up and pee and poo in my room.

I was told she was crate trained, but it was clear she had crate trauma, probably from inappropriate use by her previous owners.

The next few months were all about constant management, with some training sprinkled in. She had to wear a permanent house lead for two months while I worked on her snapping.

She eventually learned to sleep on a tether because she wouldn’t settle unless made to. And the barking! In the early days, every time she was tethered, she would bark endlessly.

Her demand barking was insane! There were days when, as soon as my husband got home from work, I’d go out just to give my ears a rest.

I had to work on getting her to:

• Stay home alone,
• Not destroy our things,
• Stop nipping us when overstimulated,
• Walk nicely on a leash
• Stop going crazy whenever she saw another dog,
• And, of course, potty outside!

Fortunately, she took to resource-guarding training like a duck to water, so that was one less thing to worry about.

The biggest takeaway from having an adolescent beagle is that it’s often a battle of wills – and yours has to be the stronger one. You can’t give in; you have to stay firm and find ways to manage, like using noise-cancelling headphones to block out the chaos.

Training doesn’t fully take hold until they’re out of adolescence.

I remember for the first eight months after adopting Pepper, every night I had to approach her on the sofa with a leash. I’d coax her off the sofa with it because any other attempts would lead to growling or snapping.

I’d take her to the dog flap, let her out, and once she came back inside, I’d leash her again to take her to my room and tether her for the night. If I didn’t, she’d charge into my room, jump onto my side of the bed, and we’d have even more growling and snapping.

But once she was out of adolescence, she started getting off the sofa by herself, going out to the toilet, and coming back to her bed without any fuss. No more leashes were ever needed again.

Adolescence is all about repetition and management.

I’ve learned all the tricks of the trade, and I’m here to share them with you so you can manage your own beagle and come out the other side with an amazing beagle like Pepper. She no longer snaps, she listens at home, and she hasn’t destroyed anything since she turned two. She’s also an incredible walker – no pulling or reactivity.

So, join me for the live workshop or get the recording, and I promise, as someone who has been where you are now, you can get through this phase. But there’s some groundwork that has to be done too!

Happy Beagling,

Kellie

The Beagle Lady

Online Beagle Trainer

www.thebeaglelady.com