I've used an automatic barking collar on our dog for the past 10 years. My kids would complain about it being too cruel to the dog. After a few years they finally realized that, for the dog, wearing the collar was better than being dead. Neighbors would have shot him if the barking wasn't stopped.

If you can stop a beagle from barking you have the power to cure any of the worlds evil's. It's what they are by man's design. I almost think they would just take the shockin until they rolled over dead. Be sure and let us know the outcome.

I think there is an Old Beagle around my house that had surgery for barking....she just sounds terrible.

I say NO GO on the DE_BARK.

Let those pups run and track and bark....then they might learn when to bark (the most) and when not to bark a lot. Theres nothing like watching em "work" a grass field, looking and sniffing for critters. Even if there are no critters, they will be trying and will love you for it!

I agree, you picked a noisy breed and you might have to use a shock collar above and beyond it's intended use to get results. BUT, I have seen where the feds use beagles in the airports and train them to be passive. It probably takes more time than you have to invest in that kind of training though, especially two. Maybe run adds that would cater to hunters. If nobody responds, maybe it was meant to be. Not an expert, jmho.

Shock Collar, it will work. Might take a week, but they will eventually get the picture.

It is called association. When they bark they get shocked. They, like children, will learn that when they bark, they will get a zap from something. And that they do not get it when they do not bark. You can set the intensity on most collars like that.

I have a co-worker who has a 2 year old that that still would not even think of using the potty. It sounds cruel, but he said it worked. No not the shock collar. He used cold showers. You poop your pants, you get a cold shower o clean the poop off so you don't rash. Took two cold showers, and the boy was potty trained.

Personally, I do not know if I could do that, but it worked after the second time, so it must, work. He said his little boy ran up to him and said "Daddy, gotta go gotta go, come on, I don't want a cold shower. after he pooped he asked, Daddy, no cold shower right? Daddy was like, that's right boy.

Re: Don't know what to do.....(Pet Related)
 

I have a Great Pyrenees that we have to bring in every night because if left outside he will bark at any and every little thing that he thinks might be out of the ordinary. Before you get rid of them, you might try bringing them in at night. They won't bark as much in the house as they do outside.

I don't like shock collars. They teach the dogs that if they bark they get hurt. In certain situations, you WANT your dogs to bark. There's no sense in punishing them for doing something that they were born to do.

I think in your situation it would be best to go with the collars. I'm not a fan of shock collars, but your girls are attached to the dogs. It would be really tough on the kids to take their dogs away just because of barking.

I'm a dog lover, but I think it's more important to be humane to your kids than to a dog.

We used collars. Helped a lot.

Guys, I appreciate all of the advice. At this point the next step, for me, is to get bark collars. I don't know that I could ever get them debarked (for ethical reasons), and would probably get rid of them before doing that.

Now on to bark collars. My preference is to get the kind that automatically shocks when it detects a bark, versus the kind that come with a seperate remote and require you to initiate the shock. The question I have, are they rated by how much shock they deliver? I.e when buying one, do they all give pretty much the same amount of shock or do the more expensive ones give more shock, versus the cheaper ones give less shock ? These guys are pretty darn stubborn. When they get their mind on something, it sure is hard to get their attention.

Case in point, we were taking them on a walk around the neighborhood. My addition is bordered by empty fields. Well, I noticed a Cottontail in this guys yard about 40 yards ahead, but the dogs didnt. We got closer and they detected the smell and started getting worked up in a frenzy.

About 20 yards from the cottontail, they finally saw it, and HOLY COW let me tell you they went nuts. Their hunting instinct immediately kicked and they baying started. At the time, my youngest daughter (5) was walking one, and the beagle just about drug her across the yard trying to get to that rabbit. The one I was walking, I had to dang near choke to death pulling back on the leash trying to keep him calm.

It was a very cool experience to see their natural born abilities to kick in , but at the same time it showed me what level of force/effort is required to get their attention back. Now I don't suspect there will be many cottontails hanging out in my yard provoking them, but I do need a collar that will deliver enough shock to get their attention. Can anyone recommend a brand?

I don't want to get rid of them if I don't have to. I've got close to $900 in them when considering what I bought them for (they are regisered beagles), to have vetinary inspections, all shots, and to have them neutered.

Again, I feel like I am at fault because I don't know that I'm providing them the correct environment. These guys really need room to run, play, bark (ie a farm) and I'm in suburbia Texas with a little back yard. I think that environment is causing them to bark moreso, due to all of the stimuli they get. I really did do quite a bit of research on them before buying them. I was concerned about barking, but read many reviews where owners said that it wasn't that bad. Now that I think about it, I think the owners were just biased to beagles and were downplaying it.

Again, I appreciate all of your advice.

BigBlueDodge....before you invest in shock collars....just try bringing them inside for one night and see how it goes. If it doesn't solve their barking at night problem, then slap me silly and tell me I'm stupid.

If I'm right then you've solved your problem without getting rid of the dogs OR teaching them that their natural born instincts are bad. If I'm wrong then all you've done is lost one more night of sleep.

Try it. Just once. ;)

Would if I could!!!! [laugh]

Hoss, Did your throat finally heal from that shocking collar your wife had on you?:D

Beagles bark, howl, or whine... I had one that would whine anytime someone was not touching him... That dog was given to a friend with another beagle and problem solved. He would still bark, but with about 60 acres to chase rabbits, no one cared.

This is only my .02 but the dog you have got is a tracking breed, that dog was bred for running rabbits.etc. I personally do not thik that a bark colllar will do very much. That is naturally bred into that dog. I have hunted with beagles before and they bark the whole time. The first time a rabbit or deer etc runs through your yard they will be right behind it. I hope this helps.:)

I use to raise beagles and they do bark but they are trainable. I have never used a shocking collar to stop barking but i have one for the wireless fence. Dogs do not like to be shocked and learn quickly.

Even coon hunters have shocking collars to train with and they stop a 60 lb dog. personally i have no problem with shocking collars , the dog will decide when it gets shocked. If you have the $ get the collars.

How did you know about that?? [eyecrazy]