Can beagles be potty trained?
Yes, it is very possible to get your Beagle potty trained. The one reason most people have had to ask this question is because Beagles have proven to be very difficult to potty train. However, with the right techniques and tips, you can be successful at training your dog.
In this article, we would be looking at why beagles are so hard to potty train and all you need to bear in mind when trying to get your beagles trained.
Why are beagles so hard to potty train?
Beagles are so hard to potty train because they have a very sharp sense of smell. They can pick up scents from areas they soiled days or weeks ago. And once they do, they poop or pee instantaneously. That’s why you have to ensure that you frequently clean the soiled areas.
How to potty train a stubborn beagle
Understand beagles
Beagles are animals with a very sharp sense of smell. They are sometimes referred to as scent hounds. Let’s now see the relationship this acuity has with potty training.
Before a dog poops or pees, the first thing it does is to sniff the ground. This sniffing helps them to pick up the scent of their poop or pee. Once they can pick up the scent, they pee or poop gets instantly eliminated.
The issue with beagles is that their heightened sense of smell helps them to pick up the scent of their poop even after you have wiped it off the floor.
That way, they consequently forget that you want them to do their business in some other place. Once you understand this, you would not have to blame your beagle or call it stubborn when it doesn’t poop or pee in the right place.
The smell of poop or pee in a place makes a beagle think of that place as the toilet. That is why when cleaning out their poop or pee during the first weeks of training, you have to ensure that you make use of special cleaning agents.
These agents must be capable of getting rid of both the smell and stain of the poop or pee. They are known as enzyme-based cleaning agents.
The one mistake most people make when potty training their beagle is the use of a cleaning agent that has ammonia as its base. Ammonia naturally smells like pee, so, if you use it for cleaning, you don’t get to eradicate the smell of pee. This means that your beagle would instantly forget its training on sniffing in the smell. You don’t want that.
Sometimes, when cleaning soiled areas, you may forget to clean one or two areas. The reason for that could be because some of these areas may not be clear enough.
The issue is this—your beagle won’t fail to notice or sniff those areas because you didn’t notice them. So, you have to find some way of picking out every soiled area before they do.
The perfect tool for that purpose is ultraviolet light. It will help you detect the soiled areas. The light has to be fixed to wherever your Beagles soiled.
Turn on the light and the soiled areas will appear in a bright white hue. Once you notice them, you can then use your enzyme-based cleaner to get rid of the spots.
Train your beagle
Training your Beagle starts the moment it has its senses developed. The adult beagles might not be as easy to train as the young ones. The first thing you want to do is map out a sleeping area.
They shouldn’t live that area all through the training period. You should also map out another area where you want them to do their peeing and pooping. These two areas would be the only places the beagle goes to.
This technique helps your beagle to know that the only time he goes out is when he is to poop or pee. He also begins to realize that the only place he gets to smell his poop or pee is the designated toilet.
Over the time, his mind begins to get structured to think that exact way. It also would affect his actions. The only issue that could arise is when both the designated toilet and sleeping area smell the same way.
Keep your beagle leashed
If you do not keep your beagle leashed when you take it out to potty, it could end up forgetting what you are there to do. Once they begin to sniff in other interesting odors, they’d wander off at once.
One more secret is that you should always reward your beagles with treats when they are finished with their business. That way, they get spurred to take the training more seriously.
One of the treats could be a small walk around the garden. Since the training requires that they are kept in confined areas, exposure to other areas with lots of breeze motivates them to potty at the right place.
Also, when they are in the designated toilet, you could bark out commands that make them remember what they came to do. Short commands like ‘Poop!’ are good for potty training exercises.
Never punish your beagle when it poops or pees in its sleeping quarters
When potty training a beagle, you have to ensure that you practice as much patience as possible. At least, that way, it gets encouraged to do what’s right. You don’t want a situation where it gets afraid of you.
All you need to do is correct it sweetly and then, take it to the designated toilet at once. Keep it there for a while to remind it what the place is for. Then, take it back to its sleeping quarters after you have cleaned up the soiled area with enzyme-based agents.
The other tips that you need when training a beagle include the following;
Always plan out the feeding of your beagle
Study them before the training to know how many minutes it takes them to poop or pee after feeding. That way, you can know when to take them to their potty area.
Take note of the things your beagle does when it’s just about to pee or poop.
Below are examples of some of the signs;
- Movement in circles
- Whining
- Running to one of the formerly soiled areas in its sleeping quarters
- Sniffing of the ground
- Sniffing of its private area