It’s kinda frustrating when our beagles forget all their training and ignore some commands. But why do Beagles forget their training?
There are several reasons why your beagle might be forgetting their training. For one, beagles are highly independent dogs and have a strong prey drive, so they can easily become distracted by sights, sounds, and smells. Additionally, beagles can be quite sensitive and may feel overwhelmed or anxious if training sessions are too long or intense.
9 Tips to Ensure That Your Beagle Does Not Forget Their Training
The good news is that you can do a few things to ensure your beagle doesn’t forget their training the next time.
1. Train and repeat the commands randomly
Many Beagle owners start training their pets enthusiastically. However, after a few days, they let their Beagles go on “auto-pilot.” This causes the dog’s response time to follow a command to worsen.
Many Beagles won’t respond to a command they learned months ago. Think about it this way: if you play tennis once a year, you will stink, right?
Instead of letting your Beagle forget the commands, practice those commands randomly several times a day.
For example, practice the “sit” command before dinner, “Wait” at the doors, and “Heel” at the park several times, randomly. This is very important to keep your Beagle’s motivation and mind up.
Here are some important commands to teach your beagle.
2. Avoid Keeping The Training Sessions too Short or Too Long.
Understand that training your Beagle is a process of evolution. Owners who know that learning certain commands or behavior perfectly will take time are likely to be more successful.
What this means is that each training session should have a positive outcome. Once your Beagle behaves the way you want, treat praise, and then quit.
Don’t carry on and on – your smart dog will simply get bored. Worse – it may “condition” your Beagle to get bored. Similarly, don’t quit until your dog shows some level of success; even if your pet “tries” or “attempts,” it is good enough.
Remember- one-minute training sessions in a day trump 10-minute sessions.
3. Don’t Repeat The Commands Too Often
This is a common issue seen in newbie Beagle owners with stubborn or challenging Beagles. Take the simple “Sit” command. Your dog may not have understood the command due to bad technique, distractions, or confusion.
But by repeating the “Sit” command several times, your dog, out of frustration, might halfheartedly sit on the 6th or 7th attempt.
And once you treat, reward, and praise them – your Beagle learns how to stall. Thus stalling becomes a habit in the dog – one that is super hard to break.
Instead, keep things fun and happy. For example, when teaching the “Sit” command, treat, reward, praise, and repeat the command in different situations, like in other locations where there are distractions, etc.
Gradually, decrease the rewards. Once you’re sure your Beagle knows what the right thing to do for “Sit” is, ask only once.
If your Beagle refuses to sit, understand that it could be due to one of the following reasons:
- They are rebellious – yes, Beagles can be!
- There are too many distractions.
- You did not teach the command properly.
Take your pet to a quiet place and ask again. If they still don’t respond – re-teach the command.
4. Do Not Hesitate to Show your Disappointment
If your Beagle is blowing you off or ignoring you, don’t hesitate to show your disappointment. Say in a convincing tone – “no, sit.”
Beagles are people pleasers, and they love to please their owners. Your Beagle will obey!
5. Give Your Beagle A Moment to Respond
Once you have given a command, wait a brief moment for your dog to respond. Look your Beagle squarely in the eye, then move closer to them slightly.
Often, this trick will get your dog to respond. Once they do, reward and praise.
6. Vary The Conditions of Training
Your Beagle is more likely to obey commands in your living room if that’s where you have been practicing. If you fail to generalize the behavior in different locations, under varying circumstances, and with different distractions, then you will get ‘selective’ obedience for your Beagle.
To generalize the behavior, you must:
- Teach the command to your pet at home, with few distractions.
- Gradually increase the distractions – TV, loud noises, or having someone ring the doorbell.
- Next, move to the yard and practice.
- Later, get another dog or person around.
- Gradually move on to busier places until your Beagle performs consistently – even on the corner of a busy street.
This generalizing is especially important when teaching your Beagle the ‘recall’ or come command. It could even save your dog’s life.
7. Replace Treats with Praise
If you’re relying too much on treats, your food-oriented Beagle will only obey you if they see the treat in your hand.
You gradually want to move away from treats and use praise, toys, or playtime. Your dog should obey even without the treat,
Remember: for your Beagle, your enthusiastic appreciation and praise are rewards too!
8. Avoid Getting Emotional While Training
Smart Beagles sense their owner’s emotions. If you are getting stressed or angry, or even too enthusiastic, or squealing with delight, you might end up distracting your pet instead of having them learn with concentration.
- Adopt a calm indifference.
- Give out a loving, mentoring energy – your ‘student’ will love it.
- If your Beagle goofs up – don’t fly off the handle. Instead – back off and re-try.
- Similarly, if your pet gets something right – don’t squeal. Calmly praise and move on.
9. Stay Consistent
Avoid varying your training technique too much – especially in the beginning. If one day, you stay patient with your stubborn Beagle, but the next day, you lose your cool – your pet cannot predict your behavior. This will break their trust and also make them lose their confidence. Similarly, avoid changing the command words – use the same word each time.
Practice, practice, and practice consistently to see results.
Final Thoughts
We hope this guide helps you re-teach your forgetful Beagle and overcome training mistakes that may be impeding your dog’s learning.
