Welcome Bailey! Now I need YOUR help!

We finally did it. We adopted Basil. We've changed his name to Bailey based on a mistake by one of the shelter volunteers who thought we were going to change it to that. (Originally we were going to name him Barney but Bailey is so much better...except for the fact that Paul has started calling him "Beagle Bailey" groan)

He's 4 months old now. His problem is that he has NO social skills and very little training (only what the ladies at the shelter could do with their limited time).

So, now what do I do? I've never had to train a puppy before. Where do I start? He does good at going outside to do his business (no accidents in 1 1/2 days) but I want him to start learning as soon as possible about what else he needs to make it in this world (and rather strange household) like getting along with his sisters, Misty and Heidi and his other kin (the kitties) Cat, Star, Cider and Dot.

Guide me Obi-Wan.

We did that with our golden and she's really good now. BTW, he is REALLY cute. =)

Unfortunately, Paul will have to be the one going with as I work 3rd shift (and Paul has the car all day).

He's a sweet puppy. He's eager to please but just doesn't know how yet.

The first thing I would do is go out and buy the book The Art of Raising a Puppy by the Monks of New Skete. You can check it out at Amazon here http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0316578398/qid=1084720533/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/102-2211062-5976953?v=glance&s=books&n=507846.

Every order of monks has a thing that they do - some make wine, these guys breed German Shepherds. Don't worry about the Shepherd thing, though, because the principles are the same for Beagles, and they will teach you what you need to know about raising a well adjusted pup. I can't recommend the book enough - you need it!

Beyond the book I'd recommend a few things.

First, you really should take Bailey to obedience training. This will help socialize him, teach him some basic skills, and will help establish the bond between you and him.

Second, be comfortable with being his Alpha Dog. Every dog pack has a pecking order, and the top dog is the Alpha. Bailey needs to look to you for direction and discipline. I think it is hard for some people to get comfortable with this because they don't want to be mean to their dog by scolding loudly and strongly. Your dog needs this dynamic, especially early on, and you will both suffer through the years if you don't make the hierarchy clear from the start.

Third, take the time to let Baily play with other dogs. They learn social skills by playing with each other that they cannot learn from us. Sometimes their play will look like fighting, but it's really important to let him learn how interact on a dog level.

Good luck, and have fun, but remember, everything you do now is setting a precedent for how he will behave later in life. Just take the time to train him and you will have a wonderful time together.

Cheers,
Eeyore

Dogs, especially pups, will have accidents in the house on the way to becoming trained. Don't follow the old wive's tail that you should "rub his nose in it" to to punish him. For any discipline to be properly absorbed you need to catch him doing the bad deed, the yell in your best loud and low dog grow "BAILEY NO!!!". Dogs cannot do abstract thinking, and will not connect the punishment with the bad deed. They will connect it with whatever they happened to be doing at the time of the punishment. This actually applies to any bad deed that the dog has done.

For instance, you come home and Bailey has chewed up the leg of the dining room table. Unless you have caught him in the act it really makes no sense to punish him at all. He would probably have run up to you as you opened the door, wagging and happy, welcoming you home. If you were to see the damage upon arrival, then yell at him as he is running up to you, he will associate the punishment with having run up to you to welcome you home - very confusing for the dog!

You need to look at every behavior, bad or good, and think about how you played into the situation. You can't expect a dog to not eat out of the garbage can if you leave it open at eye level. You can't expect a dog to not crap on the floor if you leave it in the house for 8 hours with no trips outside. Sometimes you are just as much to blame as the dog.

Cheers,
Eeyore