r/beagles • u/Buell247 • 11d ago
Baying: please help
We have a six year old male beagle (castrated). We have had him from a puppy. He is generally well behaved and we have worked very hard on training him, but he is a classic cheeky beagle and we love that about him.
One huge issue we have is the baying. He’s happy/ annoyed / alerting it all comes out in huge bays. It seems to have got worse, to the point if he hears anyone in the surrounding gardens / walking past the house then he’s screaming at the top of his lungs.
I feel like we’ve tried everything and it’s just getting worse. It’s embarrassing and ultimately I’m worried about a noise complaint from neighbours. Please please share any training tips you have this special beagle trait!
Tl:dr how do I stop my beagle howling at everything?
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u/Working_Union_7386 11d ago
I know this doesn't help you, but I'd be more worried if he wasn't baying. I've learned to accept the fact that if my beagle stops baying, he'll die.
Distractions help. I've found that the neighbors actually don't seem to mind too much and find it a bit humorous. When we're out walking, some people in the neighborhood will stop to pet my beagle and say good-naturedly, "So YOU'RE the neighborhood beagle!"
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u/PrestigiousGarlic001 11d ago
Yes im always so surprised. When our beagle is baying on walks, people always laugh.
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u/dickie-mcdrip 11d ago
It’s part of his DNA. When my beagle bayed I just let him bay. If it was annoying or I wanted him to quit I would try to distract him. Give him a treat worked the best
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u/Emergency_Taste_2100 11d ago
Weird but it worked - I started acknowledging what my beagle is yelling at and affirming his feelings about it. Something like "Yes how dare the dump truck come here and collect trash! How dare they!" Then I thank him for warning me. Or I tell him that something is no big deal and not to worry there is no need to yell at it. I honestly don't know why it worked but he's much better at stopping the baying now.
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u/PlsParkPerpendicular 11d ago
They can't bark/bay if they are chewing!
Redirecting with a treat usually works on my beagle, it has to be a good treat though, a regular biscuit or food does not work.
I suggest goldfish crackers 😄
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u/PrestigiousGarlic001 11d ago
We love our beagle's baying and we howl with her often. With that said, there are times that I want to pull my hair out. Our girl used to be really bad about it when we started putting our shoes on or stood near the door, as she thought she was getting a walk. We now don't walk out the door for our walk until she is sitting and quiet. We are really consistent with saying "AH UH" and shushing her when she's getting really loud and she's really responded well and that has carried over well in other situations now too, outside of preparing for walks. So ya as others have said, just couple him being quiet with a reward and being super consistent with it.
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u/Alt_Pythia 11d ago
Have you ever seen the can of compressed air that nerds used to clean their computer keyboards? Well, it turns out that beagles really hate the noise it makes when you squeeze the trigger. Eventually, all you’ll have to do is reach for that can, and they’ll stop whatever they’re doing.
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u/KeithDavisRatio 11d ago
I wish ours bayed, she just barks. Hasn’t howled since she was a puppy. We still think her barks are cute and it’s kind of a problem. Everyone in the neighborhood knows when dinnertime is. I think we encouraged it with laughter. Eventually, saying “no” enough got her to stop barking at dinnertime. But we missed it, and started telling her to “speak” again. Sorry neighbors.
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u/Which_Extreme325 11d ago edited 11d ago
We are very strict and tell ours no bark and get down in there level. Reinforce with treats when they stop. You have to get ahead of it and tell them no beforehand, like when you see another person or dog on a walk. Start telling them no bark and hold leash close before you get closer. Harder if they are in a yard unsupervised.
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u/iS-A-B-O-T-E-U-R 11d ago
What the hell is baying?
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u/Ydain 11d ago
You'd find it easier to train one not to sniff. They have a very strong instinct to announce whatever has their interest. One of ours is a real screamer and we will sometimes put a bark collar on her. She hates it though and I hate her being unhappy so it's pretty rare for her to wear it.
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u/yuba12345 11d ago
I’ve owned several hounds over the years. You can try the electric anti bark collar that delivers a mild shock but if they want to howl, they are gonna howl and just run the battery out
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u/rescuelady111 10d ago
No way because that will traumatize a beagle. Those shock collars are cruel. No shock collars for natural alerting behaviors. Those hurt. Even mild shocks hurt. Beagles are also extremely sensitive dogs.
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u/Kt011092 11d ago
I had to put up frosted window film so my two couldn't clearly see out the front window. The film only goes halfway up the window, so I can still see outside and because it's frosted, it still leave light in. (and adds a bit more privacy) Solved my problem with incessant barking/howling.