Destructive chewing is the nastiest habit of them all. With a puppy that has never been housebroken, you can easily clean up the mess, well unless the beagle puppy pees on your carpet or bed, but you can’t just ‘clean up’ a ripped apart sofa or chewed up dining room table.
You have to catch this problem early before it gets out of hand or else you will be paying quite a bit for all the repairs. Just a couple of days ago I received an email from an owner who’s dog ripped out the whole carpet out in their new home that they just moved into.
They saw some early signs of destructive chewing, like chewing on old shoes and clothes, but never expected anything so bad so never tried looking for help.
This is why I always advise dog owners to start puppy training right away, before problems like these turn into serious issues.
Understanding Why The Beagle
Chews And Bites Things He Shouldn’t
Before you try and tackle this problem with crate training or bitter spray, I want to explain why your beagle might turn into a destructive little chewing machine.
Knowing the source of the problem is the first step to fixing it.
Loneliness & Boredom – If you keep your beagle home alone all day while you’re at work with nothing for him to do, he will look for some sort of entertainment of his own which most likely will be destructive chewing.
If he feels lonely for you then he will probably find something personal of yours that smells like you – like your cell phone, IPod, clothes, shoes – and chew on it to keep his mind busy while you’re gone.
Stressful chewing – For dogs, chewing is the best way to relieve stress. It keeps their minds busy and their teeth occupied. A beagle that is anxious or stressed will often turn to chewing to get rid of some stress.
Stressful chewing is also common in dogs that suffer from separation anxiety.
Lack of Training – This one is the most common of causes and probably extends to the first two as well. If your dog learns that chewing on your furniture, shoes, electronics or whatever it is that he is chewing on is off limits to him, then he will stick to his own toys or chewable.
If the beagle never learned the fact that some things are not meant for his teeth and other things are – like his toys, bones and treats- how do you expect him to know what is alright to chew and what isn’t?
Beagle Chewing ToysChewing for puppies is natural so you should never expect your puppy to stop chewing completely. Instead you need to redirect that energy to something else that your beagle pup is allowed to chew.
Stop Your Beagle’s Chewing Problem
If you have tried bitter apple, shock collars or crate training with no results and are looking for a solution that actually works, I suggest you read how to solve 21+ worst beagle behavior problems.