Remember when your beagle puppy was around eight weeks old, and you held him in your arms for the first time, and he was trying to eat your fingers with his cute little mouth, how adorable was that? But now he has grown up. Even though he is still a puppy, he has become stronger. Now his playful bites really hurt. You try to pull your hand away, even shout, but all this just excites him more.
Biting, chewing, and nipping is completely normal among beagle puppies. But how do you stop your beagle puppy from biting?
To stop a Beagle puppy from biting it is necessary to first identify the cause behind it and then implementing proper training accordingly. A beagle needs to be taught that biting is not the correct way to interact. Teaching your pooch how to socialize with humans at an early age is necessary.
Identifying the Cause
To deal with a problem, you must identify the cause of that problem. There are quite a few reasons why your beagle pup is always biting you:
- Teething (most common reason)
- Play Biting (most common cause)
- Aggressive biting
- Biting due to Separation Anxiety
Training your Beagle Puppy to Stop Biting
Beagles have their reasons for biting. It’s either a learned or instinctual behavior of your puppy. Beagles are affectionate and loyal dogs. So with patience and proper training, you can teach your pup to stop biting. I have listed effective training methods for different causes of biting.
Teething
Teething is a process in which your pup’s milk teeth start falling off, and new adult teeth emerge. This causes itching in the gum. Teething usually begins when the beagle is 3 to 4 months old and could last until he is six months. To ease the discomfort caused by teething, they would chew anything that they can fit in their little mouth, including your fingers and hand.
| Age | Teething Process |
|---|---|
| Birth to 2 weeks old | No Teeth |
| 2 to 4 weeks old | Baby Teeth (milk teeth) starts emerging |
| 5 to 8 weeks old | All 28 baby teeth are expected |
| 9 to 12 weeks old | Baby teeth start falling off and get replaced by Adult teeth |
| 12 to 16 weeks old | Adult teeth start growing |
| 6 months old | All 42 permanent teeth are expected |
How to Stop Beagle Biting when he is Teething
Teething causes discomfort to your pooch, and here are a few things you can do to ease his pain:
Use chew toys
You can find numerous chew toys for dogs available on amazon. These chew-toys are designed specially to help your dog with teething. Find toys with small nubs on them; they help with itching. Get a few of these with different textures. Always keep one by your side, and as soon as your pup starts biting, offer him the toy.
Use Ice Cubes: Ice cubes will help ease their discomfort. Put an ice cube on the floor (make sure the floor is clean) and let them try to chew it when it slips. This will entertain your beagle as well as ease their pain. You can even add chicken broth to the water before freezing it and make flavored ice cubes.
Frozen Carrot: The low temperature will help to aid the problem of teething. On the other hand, carrots will also provide nutrients.
Things to Remember
- Teething is just a phase, and it will pass. You need to be patient and do your best to provide aid to your puppy.
- During this phase, your beagle will chew anything and everything that he can fit in his mouth. Chewing on the wrong thing or swallowing non-edibles can put your pooch in some serious danger. It is recommended that you create a safe play area for your little pal. Try making your room beagle proof where you can let him loose.
- Beagles can be nippy until they are 5 to 6 months old. So you just need to be patient until them.
Play Biting
Let’s say you are playing with them or cuddling them or trying to teach them something, and your dog gets excited and bites you. This is called play biting. Beagles are affectionate, and they love to interact with you, but the problem is they don’t know whats the correct way to interact.
How to stop your beagle’s play biting
Right now, you and your pup don’t have crystal clear communication just yet. And that’s why every interaction that you have with your pooch needs to be focused on building that communication. So let’s get into how you can teach your pet the correct way to interact with you.
Step 1: Desensitising Human Touch
In early age, beagles are sensitive towards the human touch. So first, you need to make your beagle comfortable with you touching him. For this, you can start by massaging his body, touch his paws and ears. Some beagles usually don’t like patting on their head, so something to avoid.
Step 2: Exhaust your pet
Beagles are highly energetic. Exercise your pooch at least once a day. Make sure they have toys accessible throughout the day to release their energy. Here are some ways to exercise your beagle.
Step 3: Redirect to a toy
The general idea is to let your puppy know what is okay to bit and whats not. So whenever you think that your pup might bite distract him with a toy. And when he gets distracted to the toy, praise him. Our goal is to let them play with us without biting. This will make it clear that we prefer a different kind of engagement, and soon enough, your dog will understand this.
Step 4: Encouraging good behavior with treats
Treats help us make our cute little pooch civilized. You need to be one step ahead of your pup. Whenever he comes near you to interact in any form, ask him to do a trick that he knows, it can be sit, spin, or whatever you taught him. As he follows your command, give him a treat. I can say that when beagles are in the mood to eat, they are less likely to bite. In this way, we are completing his desire to interact with us and also training him to behave correctly.
A regular 1-minute training session teaches your beagle puppy to respond to your rather than behave impulsively.
Things to remember
- Do not react negatively when he is biting.
- Be consistent with 1-minute training before interacting with him. You can even teach him new tricks.
Aggressive biting
Beagles are not really an aggressive breed. The beagle pup rarely shows any signs of aggression. It is essential to put an end to aggressive behavior when he is still a puppy. Because if ignored, then things can go out of hand when he grows up.
Few signs of aggressive behavior in beagles:
- The puppy tries to bite when you pick him up.
- Aggressive chasing.
- Aggressive jumping on others with an intent to bite.
- Growling and barking.
If you have noticed any such signs in your puppy, then let me explain what’s going on. Your beagle is not aggressive, yeah there’s no typing mistake here.
Well, in most cases, the puppy showing aggression is not actually aggressive. Instead, he is just pretending to be aggressive because this behavior gets him what he wants. As I said, beagles are not an aggressive breed. Their behavior might seem to be aggressive, but their intentions are not. I can tell this because my beagle, Groot, had the same problem.
The reason behind the aggression
If you are aware of the history of beagles, then you already know that beagles were hunting dogs. They use to chase small animals and hunt them. If you have noticed your pup growing, barking, and chasing you to bite, then its just his natural instinct.
Their instincts, plus the discomfort caused due to teething plus a considerable amount of energy, equals crazy chasing and biting. This may seem like aggressive behavior, but the real thing is, they just want to play with you.
As the beagles grow up, they become more calm and civilized. But this cannot be guaranteed for all the beagles. Its always better to prevent problems than trying to aid them when they are out of control. So rather than taking any chances, you need to put an end to this behavior while they are still a puppy.
How to stop your beagle puppy’s aggressive biting
The solution is easy, but it will take some time. The best way to end your beagle’s aggressive biting is to stop playing games that cause any aggressive behavior. The general idea is, you need to make your pooch realize that playing aggressively will result in the end of all the fun.
Step 1: Say NO
When you are playing a game, and he gets aggressive and starts biting, stop playing, and firmly say ‘NO.’ If he stops, then praise him and continue playing with him.
Step 2: Complete Ignorance
If he continues showing aggressive behavior, stop playing, and ignore him for the next 10 minutes. Make it clear that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.
Step 3: Leave him alone
If he still tries to engage with you, then the final resort would be to leave him alone for a while with no toys. You can put him in a room which is beagle-proof. I usually don’t promote punishment, but if you don’t get strict, your beagle could end up getting out of control when he grows up. If you have completed crate training your puppy, then put him in his crate and give him a time out. DO NOT put him in the crate if he is not yet completely crate trained. You can go through this guide to crate train your beagle puppy.
Step 4: And Repeat
Play with him only when he calms down. Repeat the steps as many times as necessary. Do not give up on this. Your beagle will give up aggression only when you make him understand that this is an incorrect way to behave.
Things to remember:
- Avoid playing things that encourage aggression in your puppy. My beagle used to get aggressive when playing tug of war, so I decided to switch to some other games like fetch.
- Do not run when the puppy wants to bite. This will just encourage him more.
You can read more about aggressive behaviors of beagles and how to stop them.
Biting due to Separation Anxiety
Beagles are said to be a loyal breed. They get attached to their owners quite easily. Beagles are pack animals, and they get anxious when they are left alone or miss their owners. If your beagle is biting you on your feet or your ankles when you try to leave your house, then your beagle has separation anxiety. Okay, this doesn’t mean that your beagle is aggressive, your beagle is just trying to say ‘I want you, don’t leave me.’
Separation anxiety is a serious issue, and you must train your beagle to deal with it. A beagle suffers from this because he doesn’t have enough confidence to play independently. Being alone can be emotionally torturous for your pooch.
Here are a few signs of separation anxiety in beagles:
Biting or whining when you leave: Your beagle puppy may bite you when he realizes that you are leaving the house, and he is gonna be all alone.
Exessive Barking: Your pup doesn’t stop barking when you are not home.
Chewing: To deal with boredom, your beagle starts chewing everything and whines while he chews.
Panicking: The beagle might start panicking and try to escape at all costs.
Pacing: He starts pacing back and forth for hours.
How to treat your Beagle’s separation anxiety
Reducing your beagle’s separation anxiety is a slow process and should be done with patience.
Exercise: Exhaust your beagle puppy. Take him for a walk, play with him, do some mild activities together. If possible, do this before you leave your house. Beagle puppy sleep for around 16 to 18 hours a day. Just make sure you don’t over-exercise your pup or do some extreme activity. Beagles are energetic dogs, no doubt, but your pet is still just a puppy. Over exercise could cause issues with his bone development.
Throw a Food puzzle before you leave: Food puzzles are great. They give your pooch some exercise plus provide nutrients. Fill a puzzle with healthy and delicious puppy food and give it to your pup before you leave. The puzzle would keep him busy for 20 to 30 minutes. They won’t even realize that you left.
Play cool: When you get back home, don’t make it a big deal for your puppy. Play it as if you never left. An ideal greeting would be: Come home, give a food puzzle to your puppy without even uttering a word, and after some time when your pooch is calm, sit next to him, play with him for a while.
Leave your scent behind: Leave one of the shirts that you wore recently for your puppy. This will leave a familiar scent behind and provide them comfort when you go.
Keep it entertaining: Keep the TV on, or play some music or radio before you leave. This will help your beagle not feel lonely. Ninja Tip: Put on a talking show on TV or youtube.
Create a friendly place: Make your room beagle-proof, take away all the things that your beagle can swallow. Place a comforting bed in that room. Leave some toys on the ground, hide some surprise treats in the corners. Make the place your beagle would love to be in.
Speak to your vet: Have a word about this issue with your vet and seek proper help.
Final Thoughts
Take out some time and train your beagle puppy to stop biting. Neglecting this can make things out of control. So start training your four-legged pal when he is still a puppy. One last thing, never use any physical form of punishment or shock collars to deal with such an issue; this will just worsen the whole situation.