You might have heard that beagles are very affectionate to their owners, and they love to cuddle. But your beagle is anything but that. Why is that, why is your beagle not affectionate?
Beagles may not be affectionate toward their owners because of poor socialization, fear, or anxiety. Adopted or rescue beagles often find it difficult to show affection if they were mistreated or abused by their previous owners.
We will further understand more about the different reasons behind this and learn how to make them more affectionate towards you.
Reasons Why Beagles Don’t show Affection
Let’s have a look at some possible reasons why your beagle is not affectionate towards you.
Sensitive Towards Touch
Puppies are often very sensitive about their body. They don’t feel comfortable if someone touches them, including their owner.
Owners should desensitize their beagles in early puppyhood. However, if you failed to do it, here’s what you should do:
- The general idea is to associate positive things with touching.
- Get a treat that your beagle loves.
- Get your pooch’s attention by showing him the treat.
- Once he has locked his eyes on his favorite treat, gently pat on his back and give him the treat.
- In this way, you are rewarding your dog when he allows you to touch him.
- Of course, that’s just the beginning. Slowly and gradually work your way up. Once he is comfortable with you sliding your hand on his back, now it’s time for his head, then his neck, then belly, and then his paws.
- Do this every day. This may take months, but it’s worth it.
That’s how you desensitize your beagle and make him cuddle friendly.
Poor Socialization
Poor socialization is the most common reason why beagles don’t feel comfortable with the human touch. I get at least one email every week regarding beagles, not letting their parents touch them.
Socialization is not just about introducing new people to your dog’s life. There’s way more than that. Puppies should be socialized with a different scent, sounds, people, animals as well as situations.
Poorly socialized pups often end up being fearful and anxious dogs who fail to show affection towards their owners.
Mistreatment by the Previous Owners
If you have adopted your beagle, then there are chances that his last owner may have mistreated him or, even worst, abused him.
In such cases, dogs do not get a chance to learn about love and affection. Their past experiences make them fearful and anxious. They have a hard time trusting someone.
Such dogs deserve all the love and care in this world. It would be best if you were patient with them. You need to gain their trust and show them what love is.
Here are a few tips for dealing with this:
- Train them daily. Teach them tricks and commands.
- Use positive reinforcement for training, like treats and praises.
- Take things slowly. Give them enough time to trust you.
- Provide them the love and care that they deserve.
Fear
Fearful beagles often find it hard to trust others. They do not feel comfortable going near others.
Many reasons can make them fearful, such as bad past experiences, mistreatment by their previous owners, or inadequate socialization.
Personality
Just like humans, not all beagles have the exact same personality. Affection is a common trait among beagles, but this doesn’t mean that all of them will have it.
While most of the beagles are cuddle friendly and affectionate, some equally adorable beagles do not display their affection to their owners, which is totally acceptable.
Different Form of Affection
Not all beagles show affection in the same way. Some display their love and affection towards their owners by being clingy. In contrast, others might show affection towards you by following your orders, making eye contacts, and getting excited to see you return.
Here are some ways beagles show their affection and love to their owners:
Health Problem
Health issues can be a reason too. If your beagle suddenly stops showing affection, then this could be a sign of some health issues.
Dogs with injuries or illness can make lethargy and uninterested in other things. If that’s the case, it would be best to contact a veterinarian and have your pooch checked up.
How to make your Beagle more Affectionate
Who doesn’t want a dog that will hope on to our lap and snuggle in our blankets? Well, there are few things you can do to make your beagle more affectionate towards you.
Reward-Based Training
In reward-based training, you use positive reinforcement to motivate your beagle to do good behavior. The positive reinforcement that works best is the combination of praises and treats.
To make your beagle affectionate, you need to treat them every time they show even the slightest of affection. Here are a few common signs of affection in which you should treat them
- When they sit next to you.
- When they lick you.
- When they listen to your command.
- When they smell you.
- When they make constant eye contact with you.
- When they lean on you.
- When they follow you.
Making them more Cuddle Friendly
The best form of affection that we all dog parents expect from our fur balls is Cuddling. By nature, beagles are one of the most cuddle friendly dogs.
However, they don’t feel comfortable when we wrap our hands around them. They often snap or try to nip our hands whenever we try to cuddle them.
This is because you never taught them to be comfortable with cuddling. Here’s how you can make your beagle cuddle friendly:
- Get the high value treats that your beagle loves.
- Take those treats in your hand and close the wrist.
- Pick up your dog and place him on your lap. He may struggle a little and even nip your hands at first.
- As soon as you are settled, show him the hand full of treats.
- Do not open the wrist. Let him sniff his favorite treats.
- Now hold a treat with your thumb and index finger and let him try to eat it.
- Do not lease the treat. Let him eat it off your fingers.
- While doing this, gently slide your other hand on his body.
- Do this every day. And after a few days, start increasing the duration at which you give him another treat.
- In this way, your beagle will start associating good things with cuddling.
I have suggested this method to more than ten beagle owner, and here some reviews:
Paul (from the USA): My beagle would just not let anyone touch her. Whenever I picked her up, she would struggle desperately to get away from me. I had lost all hopes of cuddling my dog until Beagle Care helped me out with this method. After around a week of doing it daily, I started seeing progress. While writing this email, my beagle is sleeping on my lap, and it’s the best feeling. I cannot thank you enough.
Amelia (From the USA): I will be frank, at first I thought it was stupid and never worked. But I was so wrong. This thing works like a charm. Sorry and thank you.
Tara (from India): Thanks a lot for helping me out, Beagle Care. I cannot thank you enough. Because of you, my beagle is friendly, social, and loving.
Daily Exercise
More than 50% of all the behavior problems are caused because owners fail to provide enough exercise to their beagles.
Beagles are an energetic breed. They need daily exercise to release their energy.
If you fail to do that, then your beagle may show destructive behavior. They may try to find other ways to release their energy.
So take them out for walks every day. Allow them to run and jump and play with other dogs. Here are some different ways you can exercise your beagle.
Final Thoughts
Even after doing everything you can, if your beagle still doesn’t show affection, then it’s totally okay. Not all dogs have some personality. Some dogs like to be more independent.
But this does not mean that your beagle doesn’t love you. They may not show it, but beagles love their owners and look up to them.