Beagle Behavior Guide: Bad scenting behavior in Beagles

Beagle Trouble? Train your Beagle to be your best friend.

Although Beagles do make great house pets and loyal friends, beagles were bred above all to be hunting dogs, guided by their sense of smell. A study in the 1950s showed that a beagle can find a mouse in a one acre field in less than one minute. Quite often a beagle owner will have their beagle out at a park or farm, and the dog will catch a scent. It’s unlike anything he’s ever smelled before, but he instinctively knows it’s something he needs to chase or at the very least check out. He doesn’t know he’s caught the scent of a rabbit, but some part of him recognizes it.

Bad Beagle Behavior

It’s when the beagle is off-leash that his scent tracking can cause problems. He’ll tear off after that scent, nose to the ground, seemingly oblivious to the calls of his master. In some part, that is true. In addition to being bred for their tracking ability, beagles were also bred to be stubborn, to stay on the scent once they found it. If a beagle were easily distracted after catching a rabbit’s scent by a passing bird or the like, he would be useless as a hunting dog.

Exercise

A pet beagle in a non-hunting role needs some outlet for his roving nature. Although it is recommended that you keep your beagle on his leash if at all possible when he is not in a confined environment, he usually will not listen to you if he is off-leash and his nature overtakes him and he is on the scent of an animal. An easy way to curb this behavior is to give him plenty of exercise. It is a common solution to many dog problems and should not be overlooked. Exercise is a good way for your dog to burn up all that excess energy he has within him. Being stuck in an apartment, house, or small yard will not provide enough exercise for a beagle.

Beagles need the exercise that they were bred for and they love to chase. Try taking your dog to a dog park. Many dog parks have different yards for varying sizes and weights of dogs so that your beagle will not be intimidated by larger dogs – nor will he intimidate much smaller ones. Although many dog parks supply some basic toys, take along your beagle’s favorite ball or toy and play a few rounds of fetch with him. His interaction with you and with the other dogs will likely tire him out over time and regular exercise of this type will give him an outlet for his excess energy and curb his scenting behavior.

Scent Games

Beagles can also benefit from scent games. Find one of his favourite toys, let him smell it, and then hide it somewhere, and see if he finds it. If your Beagle is unable to understand this game, you can buy aniseed oil and create an 'invisible trail' by dragging an aniseed soaked cloth around the grass, and put a treat at the end of the trail. This could be a game your Beagle could come to love.

All you need to remember is that although your beagle is a great pet and steadfast friend, he may need a little more attention than other dog breeds. It is his nature to be energetic and inquisitive. You can curtail some of his bad behaviors with a little mental and physical stimulation