Will my beagle puppy grow out of the “needy” phase.?
I’ve had my little 11 week old beagle puppy for a couple of weeks now, and he is very very clingy. I’ve had beagle puppies before but i’ve never noticed one that was this clingy. It might be because I live by myself and the other dogs we’ve had were in our family home. But I don’t mind him following me around, but its so bad that if I leave his sight for a second he goes nuts. I can’t even go to the bathroom or take a shower without him whining and barking. Also, when he’s following me, he tries to walk directly under me, and i’ve tripped over him numerous times because of this (i’ve got a nice little goose egg onthe top of my head from tripping over him. But what can I do to get him to be more relaxed by himself? He’s got plenty of toys and will be perfectly content with them but the minute I leave all the focus goes to whining. It’s very very annoying and I’m tired of tripping over him and not being able to leave his sight for a second without him goings crazy.
Thanks for any help you can offer.
P.S. I’m in law school and don’t have the money to take him to an obedience class. I’ve had success in training dogs and he’s doing fine in terms of comands, but I have no idea how to break him of his separation anxiety
Thanks for the help from everyone. Just a note, I do have a crate and he seems to be adjusting to it. i do leave the door open and it’s in my room where I do my studying and sleeping (obviously). At first he went nuts whenever I put him in there, but now he seems to be getting along with it. He actually goes in it by himself if I’m studying at my computer to nap if he’s tired. He’s only locked in it when i’m sleeping or at class. I’m working with him on the leash and he is getting much better at walking beside me so long as the leash is on. The problem with him walking under me is just around the house.
I tried the Kongs when I first got him and he didn’t seem much intersted, he actually seemed frustrated that he couldn’t get the food out easily. I’ll try it again with him here soon. Other than his persistance in following me everywhere, he’s actually been a very good puppy. I just can’t play with him 24/7 like he wants because of my studies.
Thanks again everyone!
Don’t greet him or pay any attention to him when you first come home (or out of the shower etc.). You want to greet the dog not the neurotics. Wait until the dog is calm before you pet him.
You’ll have to desensitize him to “triggers” such as picking up keys or putting on your shoes. Pick up your keys and walk around the house with them. Put on your shoes and go hang out on the couch, etc. This way he learns that these “triggers” aren’t cause for alarm.
Leave for short periods of time and slowly increase the time spent gone. Start with a few seconds and always come back in before the dog starts to panic. If he starts to panic before you leave you know you’ll have to work on the triggers some more.
Get a crate, it may help him to feel more secure while you’re gone. Don’t allow him on the furniture, and if barking is a problem you could get a citronella bark collar while you are working through the training.
This a tough one, but try ignoring him completely for two weeks. Most people don’t even realize some of the patterns of affection they reward their dog with. Ex. the dog feels neurotic and needy, comes over and noses and the person’s automatic response is to pet the dog, therefore rewarding the behaviour. If you completely ignore him he’ll begin to learn to separate while you are home. It’s hard though. Hope this helps!
This isn’t in the strictest sense of the word, separation anxiety. He’s just transferred his attention from his (much missed) siblings, to you. Beagles are a pack dog, and pack dogs are especially dependent on another being, whether human, canine or even feline. What he’s doing is perfectly understandable. You need, for now, to adjust your daily routine around him. Play with him, feed him, etc.etc. and then hopefully he should be tired out and ready to go into his crate for a nap. Then you can get on with the things you have to do around your place, take your shower and so on. I strongly urge you to get him a crate, if you don’t have one, with the proviso that a crate isn’t for use 24/7, by a long way. It should be, top and three sides covered, a nice secure place for your puppy to take himself off to, when he wants a nap (use it door open), and more importantly, when you can’t be there to supervise what’s going on (door shut). In other words, so he doesn’t get into all sorts. And at night.
At this age, he just needs to be with you – and that’s kind of cute don’t you think? The boys are far more ‘clingy’, if you want to use that word, than the females actually but obviously he’s going to have to learn that he can’t be with you all the time – presumably your law school activities are going to take you out of the house for some hours in each day? What happens then? Noise, destruction, all of the above, unless you get him used to being on his own.
Another suggestion might be to use baby gates – provided he can’t walk right through them (had that with my young Whippet to begin with!! – back to the drawing board). If you put that in place, and then go through to do other things, he will still be able to see you but not be actually with you. That might work better than him being faced with a closed door.
Have you tried him with Kongs, filled with treats or food. This may hold his attention.
Try some on leash training, even indoors to try and teach him to walk beside you.
With the seperation anxiety.
Ignore his whining etc.
If you draw attention to it or comfort him, he will do it more.
Shut him in a room by himself and say, leave him for 10 minutes and then go back in the room. But don’t make a big fuss of him.
Slowly build up the time you leave the room for.
Then he will learn, that you are coming back.