Selene, I'm linking an excellent article on house training. It actually sounds like you and the puppy are doing well. Well.....at least until you got to the part about 'disciplining' him :-( Dog's really don't respond well to any negative actions from their owners. The key in training is to reward the good and ignore the bad. Dogs don't want to be ignored. He will also not 'get'the relationship between your actions and his accidents unless you catch him in the act. If you do catch him, simply take him outside immediately and use a code phrase like 'go potty.' Reward him immediately if he pees.

If you supervise constantly, take him to the same spot for potty each time you take him outside, and crate when you aren't there, you'll have success. Read the article attached for the basics.

Here is a link that might be useful: House Training for Puppies

Beagles are known for being one of the more difficult breeds to housebreak. I've owned several breeds in that same category and sometimes it took a full year for them to be reliable.

Also, it sounds as though the breeder didn't try to break her and bad habits can become pretty imbedded in those first four months. It will take time to make up for that.

The most important thing is to not give up. Keep her crated when she's not supervised to minimize accidents, take her out often and praise her to the hilt whenever she goes outside.

selene, she's six months now, so have you had her spayed? That should help. I also have a hard to train breed (Pug) and the only things that worked were constant vigilence (never out of my sight), consistency in her routine, and really, really yummy liver treats. She only got the liver treats when she "made" outside - - any other earned reward was a dry bone.

thankyou very much for your responses. for the record we did give her praise and treats to start with but I suppose we kind of stopped with the treats expecting her to just know that she had to go outside. So I suppose we will have to start from sqaure 1. But while on the topic of my dog she seems to have a bit more respect for my bf. Is this because she is a female? I notice that when ryan and I start to get affectionate she jumps in between us right away? Is this a sign of maturity?

I think there are a number issues here. Beagles are notorious for their "chow hound" mentality. They will eat anything and everything, and I think your pup might have been associating food with going pp. STOP the treats!!! The other thing is beagles are hunting dogs, she needs to be walked a good 45 minutes a day at least once a day, putting her outside to do her biz just might not be enough. Beagles are also serious pack animals, they are raised in packs, eat in packs and hunt in packs. SO asserting yourselves as the dominate ones is important. The "nothing in life is free" theory is going to work great with your dog. If you have the time, take your pup outside on a leash, backyard or on a walk, when she pees, praise her, give her a command WHILE she is in the act. Same thing for going poop. Praise her a bit, but go easy on the praises, a pat one the head and a good girl should do it. Beagles are smart little critters, opportunists, who will take advantage of every opportunity they can. You have some trying days ahead, but like the previous poster suggested, keep your determinatin, no matter how stupid or ineffective you may feel - keep it up til your pup obeys you. Oh and feed her only AFTER you guys eat.

Until you get her trained, you need to limit her freedom in your house. She shouldn't have access to your clothing or bed. She needs to be gated off in the rooms where you are so you can watch her and remember to take her out. If you can't watch her, then you need to put her out to potty and then crate her. Start taking her out every hour just to see if she needs to go. Tell her to potty or whatever word you want to use--when she goes then repeat the word over and over and give her a treat. It's just like potty training a child--take them more often than they need to go just for preventative measures.

De