There is so much more than just sit, come and stay that you can teach your beagle. As per research, dogs can remember more than 100 words and gestures. Which means you can teach your beagle 100 different tricks, how cool is that? On the other hand, teaching you four-legged pal some tricks could be a great bonding exercise for both of you.
My beagle is a year old now, and I have taught him around 30 different tricks and commands, enough to impress a crowd, lol. I have listed 12 of my favorite tricks that you can teach your beagle.
Play Dead on a Bang
I cannot tell you how many applaud my beagle has earned with this trick. This trick is a little difficult to teach as compared to others on this list. You will need to be patient with your dog for this one. It might take a week for your dog to master this, but its all worth it.
About this trick: You make a sound of a gunshot, a bang, and your dog howls and plays dead.
Difficulty: Hard
Step 1: First, you will need to teach your dog to howl on command. For that, whenever your beagle is howling, say ‘Howl’ out loud and treat him. Do it until your pet starts connecting the word ‘Howl’ with his howling. After 30-40 tries, your beagle will start howling after you say ‘howl.’
Step 2: Now that your pet knows the command ‘howl’, its time to teach him to play dead, and by play dead, I mean to roll over on his back and stay there. Rollover your pal on his back, say the word ‘dead,’ and give him a treat. Slowly and gradually increase the time you keep him over his back. Do it until your pal starts playing dead on its own without your support.
Step 3: Once your beagle has mastered the commands ‘Howl’ and ‘Dead,’ its time to teach him to play dead on a bang. Command your dog to ‘Howl’ and then command him to do ‘Dead’ and then treat him.
Step 4: Gradually start saying both the commands together.
Step 5: Add the word Bang before both commands. Once your dog howls and rolls on his back on the command ‘Bang Howl Dead,’ remove the word Howl and Dead and just say ‘Bang.’ And that’s how you teach your beagle to play dead on a Bang.
Speak on Commands
With this, your beagle will bark when you tell him to. This command might solve a more significant problem: Barking. Beagles are very vocal, and they like to bark a lot. Teaching your beagle to bark on command might solve the problem of barking unnecessarily.
About this Command: With this trick, you can teach your beagle to bark on your command.
Difficulty: Easy
Step 1: Set a word for this command. I have used ‘Speak’ for my beagle.
Step 2: Do something that makes your pet bark; for example, my beagle barks every time he hears our doorbell. And when he starts barking, say the word ‘Speak’ and give him a treat.
Step 3: Repeat this several times. And then try saying ‘speak’ and see if he barks. If he does, then give him a treat and praise him.
Simple Maths
Just imagine asking your beagle ‘What’s 2 +1?’ and your pal barks three times. How great would that be?
How this works: Well, your dog won’t be doing maths here. Its a trick in a true sense. You have to associate the barking command with your hand gesture. For example, Your dog will bark when you raise your hand in the air, and he will keep barking until you lower your hand.
Difficulty: Moderate
Step 1: You will first need to teach your dog to bark on command.
Step 2: Keep the treat in your left hand and raise your right hand.
Step 3: When your right hand is up in the air, command your dog ‘speak.’ Lower your right hand when he barks and give him a treat.
Step 4: Repeat this several times. And now raise your right hand again, make him speak twice and then bring your hand down.
Step 5: Increase the number of barks.
Step 6: Keep changing the number of barks until he understands that he has to bark until the hand is not lowered down.
Step 7: Stop saying ‘Speak’ and just raise your hand. Sooner your dog will start barking when you raise your hand.
Ring Bell when nature calls
How convenient it would be if your beagle rings the bell when he needs to go out for peeing and pooping. For this, you will need a bell. I recommend installing the bell inside your house, near the door.
Difficulty: Moderate
NOTE: This trick is for beagles who have been house trained and pee/poop outside the home.
Step 1: Whenever you take your pet out for doing his business, ring the bell before you open the door.
Step 2: After doing this several times, hold the treat above the bell where your pet is unable to reach. This will make a stand on his two legs and lean on the door to reach the treat.
Step 3: Take his paw and press the bell.
Step 4: Open the door and take him out(do not give him the treat just yet).
Step 5: Treat him as soon as he is done with his business.
After repeating this several times, your beagle will start associating the bell with going out for nature’s call. This trick might take longer, but don’t give up on trying.
Play Tug of War
Most beagles usually do tug with a piece of cloth or their favorite toy without even teaching. But you can teach your pet to play tug with you on your command.
Difficulty: Easy
Step 1: Show your pet a piece of cloth and say ‘Take it.’ Knowing beagles, your pet will come running to you to grab that cloth.
Step 2: Give him a treat for coming and grabbing your offered cloth.
Step 3: Tug the cloth when your beagle has grabbed it. When your pal pulls back, give him a treat.
Step 4: Repeat this several times.
Bring News Paper
How amazing it would be if your beagle brings newspaper right to your bed every morning. And the newspaper is just the start; you can teach him to bring your slippers or even a beer.
Difficulty: Moderate
Step 1: Keep the newspaper on the ground near your dog.
Step 2: As soon as he picks the newspaper, say ‘take’ and treat him. If your pal doesn’t pick up the newspaper, try to offer it to him.
Step 3: Once he gets used to picking up a newspaper, teach him to bring it to you. For that, as soon as your beagle grabs the newspaper, say ‘bring,’ take the newspaper from his mouth, and treat him. Start going further before you say ‘give.’ Repeat until your pet brings the newspaper to you on your command.
Step 4: Put the newspaper at the door and make him pick it and brink it to you.
Step 5: Start saying ‘Bring Newspaper’ before ‘take’ and ‘give’ command.
Step 6: After repeating this several times, stop saying ‘take’ and ‘give’ and just say ‘Bring Newspaper.’
Paw-five
The coolest thing your little buddy can do is give you a high-five when you have friends over.
Difficulty: Easy
Step 1: Gently raise your beagle’s paw and give a high-five.
Step 2: Say ‘Paw’ when you are high-fiving
Step 3: Repeat it several times.
Soon your dog will give you a paw-five when you say the command.
Hug
Beagles are cuddlers. This is something they can enjoy too.
Difficulty: Easy.
Step 1: Kneel on the floor and command your dog to sit next to you.
Step 2: Gently raise your dog’s front paws and place them on your shoulder as you say ‘Hug.’ Make sure to hold your dog.
Step 3: He might get excited, let him calm down, and then reward him.
Step 4: Say ‘okay’ and put his paws on the ground. And then reward him.
Fetch
Well, a dog’s training is incomplete without teaching him ‘FETCH.’ Beagles LOVE playing fetch. It is a fun as well as an excellent exercise for a beagle.
Why is Fetch the Favorite game of every Beagle?
Beagles are a hunter breed. In the past, humans and Beagles use to hunt side-by-side. They use to chase small animals for their human companion. Something similar to playing fetch right? Chasing an object, and bringing it back is beagles’ natural instinct. And that’s why they love playing fetch so much.
Difficulty: Hard
Step 1: First, you will need to teach him ‘Take’ and ‘Bring’ commands. Put a ball near him, and as soon as he picks it up, say ‘take’ and reward him. n
And for ‘Bring’ take the ball out of his mouth and give him a treat. Repeat until your dog gives you the ball on ‘bring’ command.
Step 2: Show the ball to your pet and make him to ‘Take’ and ‘Bring’ once.
Step 3: Throw the ball a little further and command him ‘Take’ and ‘Bring.’
Turn on/off Lights
Okay, so its Sunday night, you come home tied. You drop on the bed just to realize that you forgot to turn off the lights. How about you ask your beagle to do it for you?
Difficulty: Easy
Step 1: Use a training stick and point it to the switch.
Step 2: As soon as your dog leans forward and clicks on the switch, say ‘Lights’ and give him a treat.
Step 3: Repeat this several times.
Teach names of things
Yes, you can teach your beagle names of different things, too, like newspapers or slippers. This will help your beagle to understand more specific commands like ‘bring a newspaper.’
Difficulty: Easy
Step 1: Hold any object, let’s say ‘slipper’ and have your beagle touch it.
Step 2: Call out the name of the object, have him touch it, and then treat him.
Step 3: Repeat this several times.
Walk Backwards
Walk backward is a handy command which you can use to redirect your beagle.
Difficulty: Easy
Step 1: Stand in front of your beagle.
Step 2: Step forward until your beagle takes a step backward and treat him.
Step 3: Now repeat it by adding the ‘Backward’ command to it.
Step 4: Continue stepping forward and make him take multiple backward steps.
Step 5: Repeat this command until he understands that backing up will reward him a treat.
Step 6: You can even use a hand gesture instead of a command.
You might have heard that beagles are hard to train and teach tricks. It’s 100% true. Beagles are sturdy. According to a study, beagles take around 80 to 100 repetitions to learn a command. But this doesn’t mean that they are dumb. They are very intelligent.
You can say that they are too smart to get trained and follow commands. You can take this test to find out how intelligent your beagle is. Don’t worry, just be patient with your beagle and don’t give up. These cuddle monsters are totally capable of learning, and following commands, it’s just that they are tough.