Why are beagles so naughty?

Beagles have a well-earned reputation for being rowdy, destructive, and disobedient.

This innate disobedience stems from the breed’s origin as a scent hound used for hunting rabbits. Beagles were selectively bred for characteristics that would make them excellent hunters – specifically persistence and endurance. It’s their single-minded determination for completing the task at hand (i.e. catching a rabbit) that makes them so difficult to control. Once a beagle has picked up a scent, recalling it is very challenging.

Beagles were bred for stamina to allow them to chase prey for hours at a time. In a domestic environment where they can’t get sufficient exercise, this stamina makes them susceptible to boredom. Like all dogs, they like to dig, chew and run to burn off energy. Similarly, their history as a pack animal makes them especially prone to separation anxiety; which tends to result in destructive behavior.

So, to recap, Beagles are a breed with a lot of energy, a propensity to boredom and tendency to ignore commands from their owner. All of these factors make an untrained Beagle an absolute nightmare to deal with.

Beagles are a breed that demand an owner willing to put lots of time and effort into training and behavior management. Lots of play time, frequent walks and training exercises (with treats!) can be used to tire them out and alleviate boredom. If you don’t have a lot of time and energy to invest in your dog, you should probably consider adopting a more placid breed.

46 thoughts on “Why are beagles so naughty?”

  1. I have a 8 month old beagle girl. I have been ceate training her since she was about 5 months and she did great on the potty front but she still makes accidents inside the house. I can’t get her to stop doing that or sleeping at night, my husband doesn’t want her on the bed because of other incidents and I just want a nights rest but all she wants is me. Thinking of getting her some training and hopefully soon a better fenced in back yard for her to roam around. It is a constant battle with me and my husband about her behavior and I want to work on making her a better dog. How do I get her to stay in her pen and sleep through the night without crying for me ?

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  2. My two year old, male, intact Beagle is a ‘hot’ mess! He has chewed up, tore up, and eaten up several household items….but he actually knows whe he has done something wrong! then he will run and get in the crate!. At night we put a puppy pad by the back door! Most times he will use it..sometime he will tear it up!…..BUT he is adorable and the whole family loves him! Should we mate him? He is certainly hot to trot and often humps his ‘security’ rug!

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    • No! Be a responsible pet owner and get him fixed!! Also…
      Neutered dogs tend to settle down and be less destructive! Make sure he has toys and spend time with him

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  3. i have an 8 mos old female beagle. my experience has been great so far. she respects me and behaves more around me then the rest of my family as she sees me as the alpha dog. shes very mischievious, dramatic, stubborn, food motivated, vocal, sneaky and troublesome when left alone , bored, or in retaliation. ive had other dogs (other breeds) and this one was by far the most difficult to potty train. my other dogs took a few days to fully house train. she took a month? with some incidents even lately that seem out of spite like deficating on our beds! shes stubborn, but ive also never had a more loving , loyal , or child friendly and tolerant dog in my life. ill never get another breed! so what they lack in , theydo make up for! also huge scavengers on walks , ill be suprised to look at her with a chicken bone in her mouth and only been on a sidewalk for a minute kind of thing. these dogs are very testy and know what they can and cant get away with and constantly will challenge that. couldnt train her to stay off the beds or couch we gave up its like she couldnt understand if we were on it. she sees herself as part ofthe pack and constantly wants to follow us . very vocal and dramatic recently found out shes been howling the entire time we leave her … she also puts the tv on with the controller while were gone and even tries to shut it off by the time we open the door! we have came in the house to find her on top of the table and piano which she knows is a no no . she ran on the table cloth knocking everything all over to try and get down. then she crouches down cowering and wagging her tail at your feet with a puppy dog look as if to say im sorry. very clever and manipulative. has suprised me with how intelligent she is when food is in question. or how athletic she is..,also extremely good escape artists. and in public she acts as if she gets abused when she wants to retaliate about something. hahha but so loving too!

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    • We have two beagles. A 6 year old male and a 10 month old female and we adore them both! The male, became much calmer upon reaching maturity at about 18 months old, he is so chilled out, never chews anything he isn’t supposed to chew and spends a great deal of time between walks snoring on the sofa! He is so affectionate and gentle. The female is full of energy and loves it be involved in everything, she loves playing ball and tug of war (the male was never very interested in toys) and is always ready for a game or training session. They are both stubborn, jolly, friendly, loving and sweet natured. Had trouble toilet training both and always keep them on the lead on walks as their recall is entirely dependent on how interesting a smell happens to be! They love long walks and are friendly with everyone they meet and are both fantastic with our daughter and completely safe with our hens who seem to consider the beagles to be an odd looking chickens and pay little attention to them. Although they are more challenging than other breeds to train due to their stubborn streak and can be mischievous (stealing the occasional egg from the chicken coop for instance and climbing onto the table when no one is looking) they are absolutely wonderful dogs, they are family and we wouldn’t change them for worlds.

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  4. I have a 1 year old beagle and it’s been very hard for me because no matter how much I walk or even run with her, or plays with other dogs in the park, she is always looking for something to dig or eat or chew. If I’m distracted and leave her in the kitchen she will dig into the garbage, eat napkins or food on the table. What stresses me is that she knows that is not ok to do it but she will do it anyway and then run away from me with the thing in her mouth. And if I release her from leash so she can play in the park it will be very difficult to caught her again. She runs away from me and doesn’t see me as her master.

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  5. They aren’t a breed I’d recommend, all they care about is food. My neighbour has one and it runs off constantly in search of food. Doesn’t seem as loyal as other breeds they are highly focused on food and will tolerate anyone that can facilitate the next meal.

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  6. I have been blessed. My 4 year old beagle is whistle trained. Never runs off. Doesn’t steal food. Is just wonderful in every way. It shows that patience, consistent training really works. It helps if you as a person are stubborn, loving yet strict and you also play with them like a child. Beagles will walk all over a walkover. It’s also not fair to leave a beagle alone without company. They love families and love kids. But if you work. Don’t get a beagle. Get two! ?

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  7. We’ve had a beagle for nearly two years – the entire time she’s had her two daily walks (three daily for the first six months). The walks may be longer in winter, shorter when it’s hot – but atleast 40m to an hour.

    In addition, she gets frequent play dates with other dogs, goes with us to different places (schools, stores, hikes). We play fetch with her a lot, using that opportunity to teach her “drop”/“leave it”. Both very important with this breed. If she’s bored, she will now bring her toy/ball asking us to play instead of causing trouble. Leaving her home alone was the hardest thing to teach.

    If you’re consistent and she knows what to expect, she’ll be sweetest pup in the world. She doesn’t chew, doesn’t bark or run away. But we still never let her off leash where she can chase cars/bikes/deer because her prey drive is high.

    I only need to give her a few short mins of attention a day now – she sleeps most of the day on her bed and the night in her crate. Everything else (playtime, training, socialization) can be inconsistent – but she needs her daily sniffy walks for all of us to have a sane day. 🙂

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  8. Demon breed, you can take it for walk and give all the attention, they still a c*unt breed, will still dig, chew, bark, always get into something, They are smart dogs in the sense not to listern to you and they know they are wrong. My beagal pretends to dig in a spot only to tease me and then he runs away knowing I don’t want him to dig, fully aware his pushing my buttons. They are cunning and they play dumb brilliantly . With all the exaggerated sounds they make, moaning and whinning, neighbours must thing i beat him or I starve him. They are very demanding dogs. You must have patients or not a job at all and spend every waking minute with them.

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    • They aren’t a demon breed. My partner and I both have full time jobs and 2 beagles. They are the sweetest breed of dog I have had and give us both laughter.

      It sounds like you didn’t research what you were getting into with getting a beagle. They require patience, positive reinforcement and love. They require us to train them everyday and keep them entertained.

      When walking your beagle are you allowing them to sniff? Sniffing relaxes them as does licking. When we couldn’t take the beagles out due to Covid we played scent games with both of them which tired them both out.

      My oldest beagle is 2 years old. My youngest 1 year old and I’ve had them both as puppies.

      Just sounds like you do not understand the breed and your rant about them is unfair due to your own inaction and knowledge.

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  9. I guess I won the lotto with beagles! My girl is silly and tires easily ( she’s 9) I have a big fenced in back yard that she runs around and hunts little critters. But she lazy otherwise lol she does listen sometimes you gotta yell treat ( beagles are insanely food motivated) to get her attention. Sometimes she does potty in the house as act of defiance I think, idk? Overall she is sweet and never aggressive. She lets me hold her and cuddle her lol I love beagles so much!!

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    • I’m glad you” lucked out”. My neighbor has 2 males (not fixed) they are the worst behaving, pee and poop on the carpet, run off without their shock color dogs I have ever seen. I have since learned to hate the bread. But I also understand it is much to do with the owner not taking charge of the table begging mongrels as well.

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  10. My beagle always does pee and potty inside the house eventhough we spend more than 4 hours outside so she that she can do her bussiness,but she isnt??

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    • LOL….. Daisy is 4 months and won’t Poop on a walk.
      She walks with my big Labs. She walks with them and is not scared. Than comes home and poops….Uhhggg!
      We have only had her for for 3 weeks.
      Might have to take her to a trainer soon.
      She is a great dog!!

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  11. Agreed Beagle is a very naughty dog, but they’re so smart! I have 11 weeks old Beagle puppy and she already does her potty so well inside and outside my house, obeying my commands for sit, stay, stop, lay, paws, and snout. Of course she pulled the leash often and hard for her to keep her focus on me when we’re walking, but i understand she still a puppy with high curiousity and her nose is her ultimate guidline. She’s walking better and better everyday, and yes i do socialization since her 7 weeks old (she only had her 1st vaccination that time) because she must know the world since early age.

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  12. Naughty idiot a*****e beagles. I love my 5months puppy to death. He is perfect in any ways. Well trained, know tricks, food driven,welling to help with chores ?, fearfull, playfull, social, crate trained but but there is always a but with beagles. He keeps chasing and eatin dead birds pigeons, mouse, i don’t knwo why but he is always able to find them before i do in our walks. As i am writinh now he is resting from induce vomiting because he ran off me and found something dead or alive and igored all my comands and ate that thing. Ho yeah without mentioning that he already ate a sock. I removed from his mouth glass, balloons, hair bands, a ring…. So if you want a beagle, people have a pet insurance because i know one day he is gonna end up at an ER. I am very carfull but cannot control every single inch of the ground outside especially when his nose is always on the ground.

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  13. HELP!!! We have a 3 month old beagle girl named Ellie. We just love her to pieces but she has a huge problem with biting. She bites our arms legs and hands. It looks like we’ve been through a war! When she plays she bites. When we walk by her she attaches herself to our pant leg biting. She is biting constantly! We’ve tried saying NO sternly, doesn’t work, we’ve tried turning around and ignoring her, doesn’t work, we’ve tried spraying water on her face, she loves it and runs around like a lunatic! We just don’t know what to do and we are losing our minds. Please could someone give us some suggestions? Thanks

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    • All puppies like to bite when teething. I’ve had 3 Beagles, and when they bite I give them a substitute—a toy or rawhide, after a firm NO!

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    • Buy them toys to chew or nip. 3 months is still “teething” period and afterall, ur furbaby is still a baby. I have had a family of 5 beagles (and my last one just passed away, exactly 3 weeks ago; he was 20 yrs old.. *sigh*) and I noticed that my male beagles was more “playful” and curious than my female pooches. Beagles are very very sweet natured, though they can be rascals, if not trained properly when young. Young I don’t mean babies, but above 6 or 8 mths old. Enjoy your paw-renthood while u can.. Because I missed mine so badly.. And life for me (without my 5 kiddos) will never ever be the same again.

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      • We have 2 beagles sisters a year apart they terrorize their bed chewing on the back of their mat digging holes chasing playing with one another then sometimes they fight I have given them all kinds of toys they demolish them in a few minutes even tennis balls they have a doggy door with the pen for when we go for awhile they found away to get out by both pushing their paws against the frame? What can I do? I need help

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    • Walk her every day. Do the long walks 2 miles or more. Do not let her walk in front of you. When she bites. Put her in submission.

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    • She’s possibly teething at this age remember it takes years to fully train your puppy. She’s still very much a baby. Be firm but consistent. Make sure she has lots of toys and stimulation. Good luck with it all ?

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    • You need to switch your arms/ legs with a toy. Transfer to a tug of war game. When she bites you. Turn your back on her. She’ll understand that biting you is not on but you can have so much fun with a toy. Patience.. my beagle took 4 years to train and it’s every day that we need to keep it up. Hard work but we’ll worth it.

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  14. I’ve crate trained and been very persistent with my beagles training since she was allowed to be away from her mother.

    Time, love and persistence. My beagle never howls or barks or destroys. I can leave her out all day in my house when I’m at work. Shes calm and happy.

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    • Wonderful!!
      My sister had two. 1 male & 1 female. Bro and Sister. OMG the male barked ALL the time. She only barked at him to tell him to shut the hell up. Unfortunately she passed this past year (13 yrs). I think she died to get away from him. Lol. They were adorable together tho. ❤ I had one I got at 6 weeks old. 1st day at my home he scratched to get outa the big box we had him in. He went straight to the back door where he had never been before we let him out he did his job and came back to the door. He never once went in the house. And he was such a beautiful good vehicle. I had the baby shortly after getting him and he would stand at the baby carriage and get on his hind legs and peek at the baby. I’m getting a 7 week old Beagle puppy next week. Scared and excited.

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  15. Naughty Beagle , a clue right there. Do not set your Beagle up to do wrong. If you leave your Beagle alone he will chew, if you leave a bin unattended he will be in it, if you let him off the lead he will run. The list goes on. 95 percent of the time it’s down to the owner. Simple answers: crate train your Beagle, keep rubbish bags out of his way, use a tracker lead on walks, do not leave food unattended . It’s not rocket science. Enjoy your Beagle because they are the best breed out there. Sort your training out before the dogs.

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    • I agree as long as the human knows how to behave , love and understand your dog, then you have a good one. Time and consistency is key.
      I am blessed with an inquisitive angel, 5 months old, knows what’s mummy’s and doesn’t touch, just lays on my shoes to sleep while I’m out. Love them for what they are, not what you want them to be. I’m glad you say the same. Humans deffo need the training first.

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      • Hi Ajordan,
        It looks like I may be adopting a 5 month old Beagle pup who hasn’t really been trained properly and they’ve given up on her.

        How did you train your angel? Is a 5 month old too late to start training?

        Many thanks

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  16. Crate train! Has worked wonders for me after mine destroyed my carpet then my wood flooring after that was replaced and also a full sofa which needed to be replaced

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    • don’t go too above and beyond with that, though. My pupper (7-year-old pupper) was raised in her crate because she was destructive and unruly, but in her defense, she wasn’t walked, played with, or really cared for, so it’s no surprise that almost as soon as she got used to my family, she became an absolute angel, though she still barks when we’re gone. She thinks we’re gonna leave her forever 🙁 anyway, as long as you don’t leave them in there for too long, it works just fine. As earlier mentioned, don’t go too above with that, tight spaces make dogs anxious

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    • Oh my, tell me about. We resorted to him now living outside, he loves it. He can chew and dig holes in the ground for all I care. Ended up moving anything he can bite into the shed. 30m meter hose was chewed to bits. Trampelin padding chewed, rope that hold swings chewed, my deck chewed.

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  17. My beagle is so naughty that he cannot be left alone in the house for 5 minutes. He will surely destroy something. What can I do?

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    • This is a high energy breed. You need to tire him out. Train him for fetch, if he is older than 1 year then enroll him in agility training, run with him, take him to the dogpark and let him run around with other dogs. If possible drop him at Dog day care alternate days.

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    • hey just so you know you do not need “puppy school” or expensive training classes if you have the time to properly take care of them. get him dog gates or make him a play pin with a bunch of toys and he can learn that he has a place to play where he can be energetic. you can also crate train him and when you do that have him eat in his crate too to get them comfortable with the crate and they will learn that it is a safe place. you can get them special teething toys to prevent chewing. just keep a close eye on him and keep him busy. i hope this helped.

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