# Help with our Beagle!



## modogg (Aug 22, 2009)

We have a 6.5 year old beagle. He is in great shape and healthy. We also have a 17 month old son who is getting too aggressive with our beagle. Our son pets him fine, and slaps his nose with no return aggression from our dog. Our son feeds him bread as well. Occasionally our son will pinch the dog and our dog jumps and walks away and sits somewhere else. A few times he gave an irritated snap without biting. It was kind of a "hey stop doing that' kind of warning. We are very concerned as we love our beagle very much and do not want to give him away. We always read beagles are good with children? Any advise would be great!

To top this off, he has recently found baby rabbits in our yard and kills them. Today he ate one which absolutely worried us. He plays outside alot and we have rabbits, mice, moles, possums. We don't want him eating these animals! Please help!


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## Michiyo-Fir (Jul 25, 2009)

There really is no problem with your beagle. The problem is your son. You've really got to teach him(son) to play gently with the dog. It's not the dog's fault that after a lot of rough play from your son he gets a little angry and snaps. You can correct him when he snaps but you MUST 'fix' your son's behavior. Even the most well trained dogs can turn on people and snap if they are constantly harassed, poked, slapped, pinched, etc.


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## canteloupe (Apr 30, 2009)

Michiyo-Fir is absolutely right. There is nothing wrong with your dog. You said that you have always read that beagles are good with children, as though your dog is an exception -- but he isn't. The snapping is a normal dog warning behavior, like the equivalent of saying "Stop that!"

Your son needs to learn manners with the dog. For now I think you should try to never leave them alone unsupervised (that goes for all dogs and young children) and work on teaching your son to leave the dog alone. If he's too young to learn good behavior with dogs, don't let him touch the dog at all.


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## Dakota Spirit (Jul 31, 2007)

modogg said:


> To top this off, he has recently found baby rabbits in our yard and kills them. Today he ate one which absolutely worried us. He plays outside alot and we have rabbits, mice, moles, possums. We don't want him eating these animals! Please help!


The above posters already addressed the other issues, but I did want to touch on this. Beagles are a hound breed - bred for hunting game. They have strong instincts to do so. You can't really fault him for basically doing what his instincts tell him to do.

You CAN teach your dog a 'leave it' command (or, a reliable recall would also work) that would allow you to call him off the 'chase' if you happen to be watching, but there's not a lot that can be done if you aren't there to intervene in the situation. Not that I'm aware of, anyway.


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

Dakota Spirit said:


> You CAN teach your dog a 'leave it' command (or, a reliable recall would also work) that would allow you to call him off the 'chase' if you happen to be watching, but there's not a lot that can be done if you aren't there to intervene in the situation. Not that I'm aware of, anyway.


When you're not there to call the dog off, he will revert to instinct. His instinct is to kill small furry things. But hey, you knew he was a Beagle when you brought him home.

As to the other problem, a 17 month old human can be a force to be reckoned with--but who said parenthood was easy? Like a 9 week old puppy, kids have to be taught to respect limits, and to respect other critters' space. Your Beagle appears to be showing admirable forbearance. If you allow your son to exceed the limits of the dog's patience, the resulting bite will be YOUR fault. Not the dog's, and not the kid's. Act accordingly.

Thinking about it some more, I think this post may come off as unduly harsh. It is critical that you get the situation under control before your son takes a serious bite and/or the dog needs to be put down. Beagles and kids go great together. It's necessary for the parental units to facilitate that relationship.


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## Elana55 (Jan 7, 2008)

I think when you son is petting the dog nicely you should learn to intervene BEFORE he pinches or slaps etc. This will allow your son to interact with the dog in a gentle way. It will prevent him from doing mean things. Little kids do mean things to animals. They do not know they are being mean. You have to prevent it. 

Every dog has a bite threshold and your son is pushing this dog (any dog, really) to his limit. 

Supervise, separate when appropriate. It is incumbent on you to protect the dog from your son BEFORE the dog takes it upon himself to protect himself. You get to be the parent here.... and you will be preventing a dog bite. I might add, the dog has shown EXTREME control so far and you have been lucky. The dog is not the problem.. the child is. 

As to killing baby rabbits.. well, this is a BEAGLE and they are bred to HUNT and if they catch they do kill. I cannot imagine a dog that would not do likewise if presented with a nest of baby rabbits and no one to supervise.


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

modogg said:


> To top this off, he has recently found baby rabbits in our yard and kills them. Today he ate one which absolutely worried us.


Just so we are 110% clear, there is absolutely no relationship between your dog's prey-driven killing of rabbits and possums, and aggression towards humans.


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## Elana55 (Jan 7, 2008)

Marsh Muppet.. I completely missed this. I guess I am just so used to dogs I forget there are people out there who think that a dog that kills small animals would do like wise to a human. 

The killing of a small prey animal has nothing to do with any human aggression. 

The slight aggression shown by this dog toward this child has to do with the child pushing the dog to the dog's limits. This dog is behaving extremely well. 

Most parents would love to see their child grow up with a dog as a best friend. If the parents allow the child to act out aggressively toward the dog, that potential for a relationship will be damaged, often beyond repair.


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

Elana55 said:


> Marsh Muppet.. I completely missed this. I guess I am just so used to dogs I forget there are people out there who think that a dog that kills small animals would do like wise to a human.


I've had people tell me that feeding a dog anything but kibble can make them aggressive/predatory to humans. I guess they think feeding a dog raw meat (or even cooked meat) will give a pooch a hankerin' for longpig.


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## Elana55 (Jan 7, 2008)

Marsh Muppet said:


> I guess they think feeding a dog raw meat (or even cooked meat) will give a pooch a hankerin' for *longpig*.


ROFLMAO

Isn't there a thread somewhere on these forums that is titled "Myths people say about dogs" or something like that? You DID put this in there did you not?


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## modogg (Aug 22, 2009)

Thanks for all the feedback! I guess it was just an eye-opening reminder that these are prey-driven dogs. We never have seen him swallow a whole baby rabbit. it was tough to witness. We just don't want any disease to be transferred to us or our little son. As far as parenting the child with the dog, we are on the right track and feel we will make this work since we love our beagle and want our son to grow up with him. our son has already learned to pet him nicely and not to pinch. 

is swallowing rabbits normal????


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## Dakota Spirit (Jul 31, 2007)

modogg said:


> is swallowing rabbits normal????


The baby rabbits? Young rabbits can be VERY small, so yeah, it would be normal for your dog to simply swallow them. With bigger prey they tear off smaller pieces to eat.


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

modogg said:


> is swallowing rabbits normal????


Yeah, it's normal. I'm sure some of the folks on this board could tell stories that would curl your toes. 

Note: dogs are also carrion eaters. If it's too gross to eat, they'll just roll on it.


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## Elana55 (Jan 7, 2008)

It sounds like you have it figured out. If you want your son the dog to be best buds, he has to be a best bud to the dog. 

I personally admire anyone who deals with a 17 month old.. or even a 17 year old. I was a coward and only have had animals.... 



Marsh Muppet said:


> Note: dogs are also carrion eaters. If it's too gross to eat, they'll just roll on it.


Don't count on this.. if it is too gross to eat some may eat it anyway and you will be giving large sums of money to your veterinarian.

My last dog.. and no I won't gross you out with the details.. but she would not roll in anything.. however, the rest.. I think her motto was "Over Teeth, behind the gums, look out stomach (and beyond) here it comes!" 

And yes.. large sums of money were spent to keep the Vet Hosptial open....


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## modogg (Aug 22, 2009)

just a few days ago he did eat a baby rabbit that must have been dead for a week. now i am concerned!


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## Elana55 (Jan 7, 2008)

If you do not see symptoms by now, you are likely in the clear..... 

The symptoms are refusing food, attempts to vomit, fever (rectal thermometer and normal is around 101 degrees F. ), diarrhea, bloated stomach etc. If you have these symptoms in your dog, get to a vet. Bloat can be indicative of a torsion which must be corrected surgically in most cases.


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