As my puppy (I've had for 12 days)settles in the house, he is getting to be more and more of a handful. I have the leerburg 8 weeks to 8 months and have been following a lot of that.

House training is going fairly well. He is very food motivated (beagle) so he knows that going outside earns him lots of treats. If I don't let him out often enough he will actually go on the paper in his ex pen (even if he's not in there) so I'm pretty happy about that. The only problem is, if I put him in his ex pen and leave the room to do some running around the house (laundry etc) he will go to the bathroom no matter what. Even if he doesn't really have to go and it's like a teaspoon amount of pee. Is this a stress issue? He's been getting pretty good at being quiet in there, and I pretty much don't even say bye to him when I leave in the morning except to toss in a stuffed kong.

Another thing, I don't like to correct a puppy, but how can I teach him not to jump up on the couch, not to jump up on the garbage, not to chew the electrical cords and not to hump my arm? He doesn't get much freedom in the house, but we've been giving him a little bit since his house training started getting better. (No accidents outside the ex pen in over a week). But we're constantly watching him. He seems like a pretty hard puppy too, because I will pick him up by the scruff when he's humping me and give him a firm shake and say no, but it's like I'm not even doing anything. He's trying to chew on my arm while I'm doing it. And when I put him down he just goes straight back at it. I don't want to give him too hard of a correction because he's so young.

I'm trying to teach him the command "off" for when he jumps up on the open dishwasher, or on the garbage, or anywhere he's not supposed to. But it seems like that's going to take a while.

Should I just be tethering him all the time if he's not in his ex pen? Am I giving him too much freedom too soon? He spends maybe an hour or 2 out of his ex pen untethered in the house a day. When it's raining, which it has been for a few days straight, it's the only way we can get him to run around and get some exercise.
Also - he seems to hate walks. I take him on one every morning (if it's not raining). But I literally have to pull him along for the first block, and it's not because he's too tired. If I tell him "come" he'll race over to me for a treat (probably the only command that he knows so far), and when we get back to the house he runs around like a rocket. It's a little easier on the evening walk, he's a bit more enthusiastic about it. We don't go very far, maybe about 6 blocks. He's only 11 weeks old. How can I make him like walks more? This morning I was running and jumping around like a maniac trying to get some enthusiasm out of him. It worked so-so. I got an enthusiastic honk from a passing car though.

He sounds like every pup I have ever had! won't presume to give you advice, except to say enjoy the good with the bad, they aren't pups for long, and he is one very cute Beagley Beagley!

haha. Thanks Tracey. He's the only puppy I've ever had! I am enjoying it. When he falls asleep in his ex pen i sneak over, pick him up and get in some good cuddle time in front of the tv. He's a really good cuddler (when he's so tired he can't keep his eyes open!). I just want to make sure that I teach him as much as I can now. People always say how beagles are so much work for 2-4 years, so I keep thinking that if I try and get it all right now, it will be easier.

Yes, I would continue tethering all the time. When he's not in the crate or X-pen, he's tethered to you.

It is the most reliable way to be able to control him from jumping/chewing/doing anything you don't want at this age. I think it's also the easiest way to start teaching things like "off" and "leave it." Instead of a correction, you're really just using the lead to lure him into what you do want, then rewarding for that.

I don't "teach" a long list of commands to my dogs--but I try to reward "sit" so often when they are young that eventually you get "if I can't think of anything else to do, sit." And that's what I like. A sitting dog can't get into much trouble.

My rescue pup is now 6 months old--and he still doesn't have much freedom and walks around inside the house with a leash most of the time.

Very cute little guy! I would do everything in my power to prevent the peeing in the xcrate/on paper - it is only teaching him that peeing in the house is okeedokee.

Pups need to go out immediately upon awakening, after eating, after playing, after nappinng, etc... at his age, probably every 2 hours to be safe. Any time a pup this age voids in the house it is a management issue on the owners part, so by keeping him tethered to you or crated, you should be able to catch the early signs of "I've gotta goooo!" and get him outside.

Instead of dragging him down the street at this early age you might just get him tired out / exercised at home. If you do walk him, I'd encourage him to come to me with treats and a toy, a little at a time. We are laying the foundation for being with mom is a great thing, and being drug by the leash isn't that enticing...

Have you done any reading on Marker Training yet? It is a wonderful way to train your pup and you can get started even at this young age. It really engages the dog to work with you and is purely positive - NO corrections.

BTW... as Tracy said, the tether and/or a drag line will give you the means to control jumping, etc... Keep in mind that puppies are babies and sometimes when they are being the most rotten is when they are exhausted and simply need to be crated and a nap (puppies... not babies.) If he has had his exercise and play time and is being a brat, put him in the crate with an appropriate chew toy and let him be.

Puppies are a lotttt of work. I envy you and I'm glad it isn't me.

MARKER TRAINING.

 Quote: amanda gazzard

If I don't let him out often enough he will actually go on the paper in his ex pen (even if he's not in there) so I'm pretty happy about that. The only problem is, if I put him in his ex pen and leave the room to do some running around the house (laundry etc) he will go to the bathroom no matter what.

Two things jumped out:

Unsupervised in ex pen:
http://leerburg.com/flix/player.php?id=757&utm_source=nlist&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=09012011


and "If I don't let him out often enough he will actually go on the paper in his ex pen" .... this is teaching him to potty indoors.

You want no instance where you "don't let him out often enough" .... this is the time when you are hypervigilant about always always always having the puppy outside when he has to go.

As Barbara says: "I would do everything in my power to prevent the peeing in the xcrate/on paper - it is only teaching him that peeing in the house is okeedokee."

Have fun!

Just curious why X-pen instead of a crate? Much of what's good about a properly sized crate is that it leaves no room for peeing in one area and sleeping in a dry spot. You still have to be just as vigilent about frequent trips outdoors--but the crate does provide additional incentive for the puppy to train himself to "hold it."

Puppies do have some ability to control their bladder (a skill that gets better with age and practice)...but if there is no incentive to do so, they won't. But they have to learn what "holding it" feels like--for very short periods of time at first, which can gradually get longer and longer as they develop muscle control.

Peeing on paper is counterproductive to housetraining. It will make it harder, not easier.

I have started marker training him. So far just his name (when he looks at me), and come, I also started working on sit and off yesterday.

The reason I wil pull him the first block, is because after that, he likes the walk. It seems like once we get around the first corner he's fine. Maybe I should just pick him up and walk there instead of pulling him. He will usually come when I call him when we're on a walk, but when he starts sniffing something he gets in another zone and doesn't hear a thing.

I work during the day so the reality is that he won't be let out every two hours. I have a friend come by mid day to play with him and let him out, but he still goes 4.5 hours in between. I actually got his timing down to 1.5 hours in the evening, although he can almost hold it all night (10 pm to 430 am). If I catch him peeing on the paper when I'm home, I say no and pick him up and run him outside.
It's hard to keep him in his crate when I have a boyfriend that thinks I'm being ridiculous. The ex pen was kind of a compromise. And don't tell me to get him to read this site, he is both computer illiterate and a non reader. He has been going along with most of my training suggestions though. He grew up on an acreage with an old school dad so getting him to not rub Newman's nose in his pee was a big step. We also had an argument about taking Newman's food away as he's eating it. He thinks it will stop food aggression....

I have noticed that he's like a toddler in that he turns into a little a hole when he's really tired.
I've definitely been giving him too much freedom. I'll start tethering him to me again. It was just tough to do that because he doesn't follow me around or anyone really. He's quite independant. All he wants to do is sniff around. Unless he's getting treats. He goes NUTS for treats. Is it ok to be luring him everywhere right now?

Also. He climbed out of his ex pen for the first time today. Funny that was the newsletter. I don't know what I'm gonna do with him when I'm gone now. I don't want to force him to pee in the crate.

Of course use treats! or squeaky toys, or your high-pitched baby-talk voice, or whatever works. Your mission is to make yourself the most interesting thing in the room to him...and since everything else in the world is pretty interesting to a puppy, that takes getting creative.

In time, you'll phase out being a treat dispenser. But right now, if he's treat motivated, use it!

Don't carry him on walks. Use the treats. When he gets distracted sniffing something, put a treat on his nose and re-direct his attention back to you. The bigger the distraction, the better the treat will need to be.

I housebroke/am housebreaking my pup--and I also work. I come home at lunch. So the crate time during the day is 3 hours in the morning and 4.5 hours in the afternoon, for me. Mornings were good from the start. Afternoons for a couple of weeks, he'd pee in the crate. No biggie. Crate pans are easy to clean. (it's either clean a crate pan, or pick up wet puppy pee pads...)

But it didn't take more than a couple of weeks before he was able to hold it all afternoon. Yours will too. But, I really believe that allowing him to pee on paper will dramatically increase the time it takes to break that habit. Sitting in pee is an incentive to hold it.

At night, set an alarm and wake up at 2 am (or whatever the appropriate time is) and take him out--don't give him the opportunity to have an accident.

Once he can make it till 2 am, then set the alarm for 2:15. Then 2:30. In a couple of weeks you'll be done with it and he'll be sleeping dry all night. Every "accident" is a backset.

eta: crates aren't just for housebreaking. they also keep puppies safe from dangers like eating your lamp cord or the fringe from the rug. If he can get out of the X-pen, then he needs to be in a crate. You aren't "forcing him to pee" in the crate. He's going to pee where he is, when he has to. Puppies pee. But as he becomes better aware of cause and effect (if I pee, I have to sit in it) and better able to control his bladder muscles (which are strenghtened by holding it), he won't pee in the crate any more. Promise.