HELP!

I keep being told that it is in the nature of beagles to bark, but man not as much as my Syd surely?

He is very rarely left alone, gets 3 good walks a day and is always loved and fussed by me and my family.

When ever he is given atreat he takes it so n icley then drops it and barks at it for 5 mins before eating it.

We are at our whits end, other than this he is such a great daog!

Any advice welcome.

Cheers

I was asking advice for a friend of mine at pup classes..

anyway the trainer said

get one of those things you water plants with..

then when your dog barks,

squirt him with it, out of nowhere so he does'nt see it comin..

you have to keep it up too, time taking thing..

on another note....

I use a small water pistol on Tess, amazin..

apart from that I dont know....

good luck..

Water only works for dogs that dont like it and its vital to get your timing right for any form of aversion therapy. What have you tried? Have you tried teaching a speak command which gives you an on and off switch? I can give you instructions if you want to try it. Does he bark more when left alone? as this is more likely to be linked to separation anxiety.

Hi and thanks,

I did try the water but as you say Syd loved it!!!!!!

been ignoring him proper tonight and seen a slight improvment, along way to go yet!

Cheers

Hi again,

Sorry forgot to say, it isnt when he is left its when we are all in, which is possibly worst

If he does it when your all in, then could he be doing it as an attention seeking thing??  I'd continue with completely ignoring him and see how it goes.

This is just a suggestion to try...I usually try many different ways before I find what works best for my two furbabies.  If I am not mistaken Beagles love to sniff and seek.  What if you were to up the ante a bit when you give him a treat and hide it under a cup or his bed or something of that nature.  Once he catches on that he has to find his treat that initial 5 minutes of excited barking might get replaced with hunting for his treat.  You could also try putting his treat into any number of toys on the market that they have to work the treat free in order to get it.  I have even put some fruits or vegetable, and once in a while a treat in empty water bottles, plastic milk containers, yogurt containers and today I used an  empty oatmeal container.  My two do not eat the plastic nor do they eat the caps or those little plastic rings, please be sure if you try this that your love does not eat any of the above mentioned as we would want this to be fun and enriching activity and not a medical emergency.  Working for a treat is a great mental stimulator and could certainly replace some of the barking.  Good luck and please let us know what has worked for you.  Thanks.