So I finally got my dog after months of waiting. I'm very happy.

I went to pick him up and heard him whining the minute I got out of the car. He'd been on an 8 hour trip. He was a little hesitant to come out, but as soon as he did, he started biting my hand and playing. Only a 10 minute drive from the airport to my house.

I took him to some lawn area (live in Apt.) and he didn't pee. I then took him to the pool area (no lawn there) and he peed a little. Then we got home and he started to explore right away.

Two accidents later, I decided it was time to feed him. I had bought some Cornish Game Hens that weight 24oz each and cut them in half. He weights 8 lbs. So I put 1/2 a hen on top of some newspapers and nothing. He looked at it, didn't even smell it much, and just acted as if the hen was not food.

I then made liver treats and my Spaghetti & Meatball dinner. I saved a little sirloin ground beef to see if he would eat that. All this time he was napping in his crate. I woke him up after about 2 hours and took him directly to the kitchen where I was eating (wanted him to see me eat and feel hungry). After he had yet another accident (house training officially starts tomorrow!, lol) I offered the hen again, and nothing. Little bit of ground meat, perhaps? Nada. Well, take a liver treat then. No thanks. I was like, 'WTF?! isn't this a Beagle, King of food drive?'. Out of all puppy problems I thought I could have, this was the one I knew I wouldn't.

So I just didn't feed him today. He cheated and ate some kibble that was in his crate when I left him for 5 mins in the car while I paid for a collar, but it was very little.

Then I put him in his crate when he was not sleepy. I had completely forgotten what a puppy is like. The whining and crying is loud! I just couldn't take it and took him to the pool area, where he didn't pee, and after 10 mins of running around fell asleep in the middle of the floor.

I took him back up and put him in his crate. He's sleeping as we speak.

So, what if he doesn't eat the hen tomorrow morning? I may feel the need to feed him the kibble (grr). How long do the picky eaters remain this way?

My other question is, am I not helping his house breaking by taking him to pee in an area with no lawn. It's made out of the floor that you see him sleeping on in one of the pics. Seems like a much better option for me now that I'll have to do this so often.

Well, Ambien is kicking in. Hope this nameless bastard will let me enjoy it

Oh my god...what a precious little face! Congrats on your new pup, Richard.

I hope Ambien is one of those short-acting sleep aids otherwise you are going to be one groggy camper in the middle of the night tonight

Yes, that is the cutest puppy in the entire world. I bet everyone who looks at those pictures has a big smile & an "aawwwwww".

he'll eat when he's hungry...don't worry...cut the pieces up for him though, and I started with wings and necks with my german shepherd puppy..she did just fine...ground turkey is easy to break off without committing to feed an entire 1 lbs package...as fas as house-breaking, there's entire articles written by Ed here, but basically you just have to be very diligent the first few weeks.

when he wakes up: outside on the grass
as soon as he's thru eating or drinking: outside on the grass
never let him have the run of the house without being on a leash or line and never out of your site for literally one second.
before you put him in his crate: outside on the grass
after he wakes up and you're ready for him to come out of his crate: outside on the grass

and always mark(basically giving him a sign or signal that what he's doing is exactly what you want him to do, ie "yes" "good boy" or Ed's "that's fine")his good behavior with "good" followed by whatever word you want to use to teach him the act you want him to do. He'll put it together soon enough. Just be consistent in using the same words every time and using the same consistent tone of voice and using them in exactly the same way.

Just imagine being dropped in Russia and not being able to understand the language and people yelling at you to do certain things or not do certain things and you have no idea what is what

btw, he's a really cute puppy enjoy him and take lots of pictures...they grow up too fast!!!

Mike I don't know what to do with your signature picture ,I feel like I need bonaculars to see your pup, and then when I look at Richards photo I feel like I can almost smell his puppy's breath!

Richard, don't ever wake up a puppy from it's sleep to eat, he'll eat when he's ready.Cut the hen up a bit, he's not used to Raw ? I would cut it up and make it more inviting then a huge lump of meat.
Beside he looks very unhappy to be there , just ship him to me, he'll eat just fine

sorry, I try to post something bigger and it tells me I've gone past the space limits Perhaps I'm doing something wrong with the html code.

Mike, try using photobucket.You can make your picture anysize ,easy to do too.I'd love to be able to see your pup
As for Richard ,it is very difficult to even read the thread his photos are so big!!
Richard use photobucket too.
Mike I hope you knew I was simply teasing you guys

Congrats on the new pup Richard. Good to see another Beagle owner here. The first few nights will be the hardest.
Enjoy him while he's young they grow up so fast.

I wouldn't worry about the not eating yet, if he's anything like our Beagle that will change quickly. Though you may want to consider feeding him what he was eating at the Breeder for the first few days at least. The poor guy has had so many changes the last few days at least you could keep what he eats the same. After another day or two when he settles in more, get him started on the new diet.

Yes, sorry about the picture size. And since Ed's board policy doesn't allow editing messages after a certain amount of time has passed, there's nothing I can do.

On a happier note, I'm updating this thread with good news.

This morning he didn't want to eat his hen either, but this afternoon, after some exercise, I gave him the wing. He licked it for about 2 mins and then started to eat. He was struggling with it at first, and then wanted to take it somewhere else (was feeding him on a newspaper in the kitchen). Three no's later, I brought his crate and put him in there. He ate it all in no time, but was meticulously chewing it. Hopefully it stays that way.

I fed him the rest of the hen (half of it) by slicing it with a knife, and he ate from my hand. I saved the drumstick and thigh for tonight.

Before all this happened, I went to my mom's house so she could meet him (had to happen sooner or later). I was anxious to see her dogs reaction. I'm very happy and relieved to say that it was a very positive experience!

My dog wanted to play with him at all cost. When the puppy got too touchy (either by trying to give him a BJ thinking it was his mothers tit or by jumping all over him), the Golden pulled away, growled once, but it wasn't an aggressive growl, just a 'keep it cool, boy' growl. He had a lead all this time.

We took them to the park and they even posed for a picture together, which I'll show soon. The Golden started getting a little hyper, not aggressive, so I decided to keep it short.

Well, now he's in his crate sleeping. No accidents so far today. He's peed like 8 times already and pooped once about 1/2 hour after he ate. He's not whining much in his crate if I turn off the lights, which I'm obviously doing.

Oh, and last night, I was able to sleep until 5 AM. This morning I noticed he had peed in the crate, because he slept with a T-Shirt of mine in there and was a little wet. Should I give it another day before I decide to take him out in the middle of the night?

Here's the link to his photobucket album with some new pics:

http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w171/photo_album_Beagle/