Hi I am the very proud owner of a beautiful beagle who gives me the puppy eyes when she is in her crate. She is now 15 weeks old and we are getting good results with toilet training, with few accidents. However, my problem is that she seems to be in the crate so much and I am doing little else around the house because I am sitting in the kitchen with her. Am I doing things right? All night in crate with door shut...food then toilet and walk....back in crate...off to work....back home food, toilet and walk.....play in kitchen....back in crate...food toilet, walk and chase around large garden....back in crate...toilet...bed. Hence I am spending most of my time in kitchen feeling guilty that she is locked up because I can't trust her not to mess yet!!! Is she spending too much time in crate?  

>Is she spending too much time in crate?

Personally I'd say yes. I would only use a crate to pop the puppy into whenever I couldn't keep an eye on it - when I needed to go to the loo, for example. The rest of the time the puppy would be out of it, exploring its environment and learning about Life - basic training, playing etc - and only otherwise going into the crate for naps. I wouldn't have her in there while she was awake and I was in the house. If you're in the kitchen with her then there's no need for her to be in her crate - you can watch her just as well when she's out of it, and not feel guilty.

Housework is done when the pup is sleeping - otherwise I have always been interacting with (and enjoying!) my puppy.

>I am spending most of my time in kitchen feeling guilty that she is locked up because I can't trust her not to mess yet!!!

Hi and welcome,

It does sound like she's in her crate a lot.  How long are you at work?

I agree that keeping a pup on floors you can deal with is sensible for the first couple of weeks (they need to go out so frequently that it's hard to move beyond the kitchen!) but by 15 weeks she could be doing more with you around the house.  I certainly found lots of reasons to be in the kitchen and utility room as it was easier to clean up if I missed a cue but generally the pup was with me in any of the downstairs rooms.  He was limited to whatever rooms I was in and we had a baby gate to keep some areas of out of bounds unless he was supervised.

By keeping pups with you it is easier to anticipate their needs, but it's also helpful to have a balance of fun and alone time.  I don't think it does them any harm to spend a little time behind a closed door or sleeping in their crate during the day - just not long chunks of time.

Oh yes - I did no real housework for ages!!  I hoovered to get the pup used to it but I can't say I was the perfect housewife and sometimes couldn't find time to get back upstairs for a shower.  I felt like a right slob BUT I do have a lovely, well adjusted dog now :)

Hi and welcome to champdogs.

Puppies are hard work to train but it is all part of being a puppy owner, and the fun, i have two puppies about the same age as yours, and they are only in crate over night or when i nip out / hoover. Puppies need alot of time spending on them, i have just had a litter and would not of let my puppies to to full time workers as it is not fair on them. Puppies grow so fast so we have to enjoy them.

Has she got lots of puppy toys? Petstages and puppy kongs are very good.

Lois

Hi and welcome to the lovely world of Beagles.

She is in her crate for a long time. You should think of her crate as her bedroom where she can think of it as her own personal space when she wants to sleep or take a time out.

How long are you are work for? Beagle puppies should not be left longer then 2 maybe 3 hours during the day (All night is fine as she will get used to this as bedtime).

Let her have a free run of the house (Well, the areas where you want her to go anyway) so that she can get used to the sights and smells of her home. Beagles are very much a pack animal so they crave company (Be that of another dog or you) and like nothing better then to curl up next to you on the sofa or on a special rug in front of the fire (We use a piece of vet bed). This will stop you spending so much time in the kitchen! Lol.

If you are worried about her peeing everywhere he is a simple tip that my breeder told me. Beagles are very food oriantated so this works. When she wants the toilet you will notice she will start sniffing in a circle, as soon as you spot this take her outside and encorage her to pee, etc. As soon as she has give her a treat and lots of praise. If she does have an accident in the house. Just clean it up. Don't say a word to her. Ignore her and walk away. She will soon realise that by doing it in the house she doesn't get any food or fuss from you and will hate that fact and will ask to go outside. A baby gate works wonders if you don't want her to go upstairs.

Be careful how far you walk her at this early stage. You need to build her stamina up over a period of time.

Are you thinking of showing her?

hi, we have a puppy of 14 weeks and she's only in her crate when we have to pop out or if i need to go upstairs, iron or do a job where i cant watch her.i wouldnt want her locked in it any longer than needed coz we love her to be with us! she has trained well, obviously we get the odd accident or two but we find the puppy training mats helpful. if she cant make it out in time she tends to use her mat.

I am only at work for a short while until 1pm, my neighbour lets her out mid morning. Once she has been to the toilet she is allowed out of the crate to wander round with us all (2 kids too!). She has a few toys but has destroyed vinyl bones. Can you recommend any durable ones. we already have rope and ball.

We hadn't thought of showing her although she is beautiful. We have not introduced her to the rest of the house yet as she still tends to wee intermittently. I only work part-time, and we have been doing what you suggested with toilet training, she has only been with us for 2 weeks so far. She tends to get 15minute walk a couple of times a day and up to 1 hour in the garden with the kids running after them like a looney and constantly sniffing, OMG the sniffing!

>he tends to get 15minute walk a couple of times a day and up to 1 hour in the garden with the kids running after them like a looney and constantly sniffing, OMG the sniffing!

Yep - you bought a scent hound.  Once she gets out and about in open fields you'll notice this much more.  Do make sure you sign up for a good training class as you'll benefit from all the help you can get to manage a reliable recall.  Not impossible of course, but certainly much harder with a scent hound I believe.

As soon as she's relieved herself outside, give her lots of praise then bring her in to explore other parts of the house.  You'll have at least a 20 minute window without risk of accidental weeing.  As she gets older this time will get longer and longer but it can be worth marking timings on a sheet of paper if you're worried.  It sounds daft I know but can help you to handle on her bladder capacity and the timings you need to follow.  You can expect accidents up to 6 months but most owners and pups get this sorted before then - you just learn to watch each other very closely :)

According to your dates you only got her at 13 weeks.  Where was she before this?  This is quite late to get a puppy so don't forget you only have a short window of opportunity for good socialisation (some say the window closes at 16 weeks).  Puppies don't need much exercise at all  (5 mins per month of life) but they do need their minds stretching with exposure to many new things.  There was a recent thread giving a very useful checklist.  Finally do exercise caution about allowing her to chase the kids, that may become a habit that is less fun in an adult dog and might be asking too much of her at this tender age.

Just a final thought?  If her weeing is a nervous reaction the more you socialise her, and introduce her to the whole house, the more confident she will become and the more chances she'll have to overcome this problem.  In the meantime never greet her indoors - always take her outside for proper hello's with visitors.  Sorry for the long post :)

Never had a crate and never will,

> Never had a crate and never will,

Well said, I know cages can be handy at shows etc but I despair of the current trend that means absolutely everyone who gets a pup has to keep it in a cage like a hamster.

I have had adult rescues for years but recently got my first puppy for a very long time. Having never used a crate in my life, I buckled under pressure that a crate was essential and bought one. It looks great in the corner of my lounge, piled up with  everything that I don't want the puppy to have, door shut securely, in fact everything but the kitchen sink ! As for puppy - never been in it !!!

> Never had a crate and never will

I've recently bought on for when we go camping and take Piglet (Beattie was never a bother) and for when I transport rescue dogs in my car (I don't want it destroyed) but I've never used one otherwise. Pups confined in them always remind me of the Romanian orphanages - physically safe but mentally abandoned.

Ditto everyone else a crate is not a toilet training tool, a crate is a den for your pup somewhere to keep her safe when you can not watch her, somewhere for her to go if she is wanting some me time.  Why would you wish a pup to toilet in a crate anyway? :-) The idea is to teach her to toilet outside, if your not there or she can not get outside she can toilet on some newspaper,training pad at a spot in the kitchen preferably by the door to the outside, a crate is not a toilet. I've never used one, never needed to. Take some paper/pad that she has pee'd on and put it outside, this will help her to realise this is where she needs to go, also take a piece of newspaper/training pad she has pee'd on to a certain spot in the kitchen she will continue to use just that spot where her scent is.

But ideally your pup is never left long enough to need to pee in the house and has someone home to continually take her outside to pee.

When you are home you just continually call her outside to toilet every half hour or so and praise her like mad when she goes outside. During the night get up earlier to let her out, so that she does not have to toilet in the crate, not nice for her to have to toilet where she sleeps, and have urine or poo on her paws, I get up at 4am to start letting new pups out to the toilet, doing this I've very rarely had a pup toilet in the house. I honestly can't think of anything worse than having a pup locked in a crate with mess.

Good luck, and remember a crate is not a toilet. :-)

Beagles are great chewers. Vinyl bones won't last 5 mins and neither will squeaky toys. Kongs work just fine as they are very tough and designed for good chewers and she will speand ages pushing it around trying to get the treats out.

If she is older then 12 weeks and has all her jabs it's a good time to take her out and about to meet people and new scents, etc. A short train or bus ride will work fine for this. Plus it gets her used to public transport. My girl just loved going on the train. She adored all the fuss and attention she got because people thought how cute she was. We wasn't out long but it's suprising how tiring it is getting fussed to death. Lol. She slept like a baby when we got home and really enjoyed herself.

In regards to sniffing, well you now own a scenthound. That is what they do. You'll most likely find when you take her on walks that her nose is never off the ground.

If you haven't already it's a really good idea to take her to your local KC Good Citizens Class and start teaching her to sit, stay, etc. If you go on the KC's website you should find registered ones in your area. Beagles have got up to Gold level so they are trainable. If your interested Beagles also do well in agility and heelwork to music and if you have a look on the Beagle Clubs website you can find details of the working section. If she's a good sniffer then she will love running round with other Beagles when she gets older chasing after a scent that's been laid.