Can a Beagle be depressed

Why do beagles always look Sad and Depressed?

Owners often get confused by the sad look on their beagles. My neighbor, who recently adopted a beagle, told me that she thinks her beagle is sad. Well, in reality, her beagle is the happiest pooch I have ever seen. So why do beagles always look sad?

Beagles look sad because of their sagging face and drooping ears and lips. Their flopping eyelids and soulful eyes contribute to their sad appearance too. This is more common in healthy beagles. Thats why even after being a happy and joyous dog, beagles can look sad by their appearance.

Its in their DNA

Their long droopy ears and sagging face actually has a purpose to serve. Beagles were bred to be hunting companions. With their super-powerful nose, beagles would track down the scent trail left by an animal, chase it and tired it down, until their owner takes the shot.

While tracking the scent on the ground, their droopy ears would help stir the scent up towards their nose. Their loss and sagging face also contributed to trapping the scent and giving them better tracking skills.

Their droopy ears serve one more purpose. They minimize interfering sounds, allowing them to concentrate better on following the scent.

Its Human Perception

Its not that beagles look sad, its our perception that makes them look sad. We tend to project human emotions on every being. We analyze faces based on human reactions and emotions that we have grown up seeing. We have a perception that if someone has a sagging face, he is sad. And thats why dog breeds like beagles and basset hounds who have sagging faces look sad to us even if they are not.

Things got a little more philosophical there, but I hope you get the idea.

Check if your beagle is really sad

Humans are not the only one who gets depressed. Dogs get sad and depressed too.Unfortunate events, loneliness, physical illness are some reasons that can make your beagle depressed. Lets look into a few signs to check if your pooch is really sad and depressed.

NOTE: This website does not constitute any pet medical advice, kindly consult a licensed veterinarian for pet medical advice.

Sudden Change in Behavior

If your happy and playful beagles behavior suddenly changes, then this could be a sign of concern. However, some health concerns like upset stomach and gas can also be the reason for the sudden change in his mood.

Study your poochs behavior for a couple of days. Look for other signs of depressions before concluding.

Change in Appetite

A depressed beagle can either refuse to eat his food or start overeating.

Change in sleeping habits

Depressed and sad beagle may start sleeping more. A drastic change in the sleeping schedule can be a sign of depression in beagles.

Inactivity

Depression can make a beagle inactive. Activity once enjoyed, would no longer excite him. He may lose interest in playing or even going out for walks.

Hiding

Beagle suffering from depression might prefer to be alone and odd-man-out himself. He may start hiding from family members. Beagles are pack animals, and they dont do well alone. So if suddenly a beagle stops interacting with the family is never a good sign.

True Story: One of our subscribe mailed me this few months back and I think you need to hear this My beagle Poochy who just turned 6 years, suffered from depression. Last year we lost Moon, our 10-year-old Labrador. And this was really hard for all of us. Poochy didnt react much for the first couple of days. But on the third day, we noticed that she didnt eat her food. She would spend most of her time sleeping or just lying around awake. She would not play or go outside and just stare at the Moons bed all day long.

Things that can make Beagles Sad and Depressed

Depression usually doesnt happen without reason in dogs. Lets look into some causes of depression.

Illness

A physical illness that is causing your beagle pain can be a cause of making him sad. If you notice any sign of depression in your pooch, the first thing to do is to rule out any chances of physical illness. Take your beagle to the vet immediately and have him checked. If you see any sign of illness but you are not sure, then you can chat live with professional vets too on JustAnswer.

Grief

Beagles get attach to the family members easily. They are capable of understanding the absence of their loved ones. A beagle may get sad and depressed if his loved one moves out of the house.

Beagles have high social skills. They get along with almost every animal. A beagle will grief if one of his dog friends passes away. Losing someone close is often the cause of depression in beagles.

Fear or Trauma

If the beagle recently had some traumatizing situation, than this can make him sad and depressed too.

He may also have some fear or phobia of something. Different dogs react differently to their fear. Some dogs may bark, while others may not show any signs at all.

You

You, yes, you heard it right. You can be the reason why your beagle is depressed and sad. Beagles are very attached to their owners. They can sense how their owner is feeling and pick it up. If you are sad, low in energy, or sick, your beagle can feel it and somewhat start feeling something similar.

What to do to make your Beagle Happy

If you think that something is bothering your pooch, then you need to do something to make his life fun again. After you have consulted your vet and sure that your beagle doesnt have any health concerns, you need to bring his life back on track.

• You will definitely need to start spending more time with your beagle.
• Start by exercising him. Start going on walks.Find new ways to exercise your beagle.
• You need to stay motivated even if your dog is not in the mood.
• If you have time and resources, then introduce a new dog in your family to cheer your beagle. If not, then take him on playdates with other dogs. Consider visiting dog cares regularly.
• Get some new and more tasty treats to motivate your pooch. If he shows any sign of excitement, then maybe teach a few tricks.
• Try not to comfort or cuddle your dog while he is still sad. This may just reinforce the behavior. Instead, they portray motivation and happiness.
• If these things do not help, then consult your vet. Medications can be the last resort.

Final Thoughts

If your beagle is playful and happy by heart but just looks sad, then I dont think there is anything to worry about. They just have a puppy face for their entire life. Oh wait, this is something to worry about: Do not meltdown by their puppy face and give away all the food and treats.

10 Common Beagle Behavior Problems and How to Fix Them

If you own a beagle, then you know this very well that BEAGLES ARE STUBBORN. This makes it a little more challenging to train them.

I am a parent of two naughty but adorable beagles, and over the years, I have stumbled upon various behavior problems.

So I decided to help my fellow beagle parents and made this list of 10 common beagle behavior problems and how to deal with them.

1. Barking Whining Baying Howling

Beagles are vocally expressive. They like to express their feeling out loud. You may have already heard them making different types of noises like barking, whining, baying, and howling.

Barking is normal. They like to bark just like people like to talk. But sometimes loud and excessive barking can become a little irritating for us.

Most owners unknowingly instigate their beagles to bark louder. When you scream at your beagle to stop barking, your pooch gets more excited and sees it as a competition. Seeing you shout, he may try to bark louder than you.

Beagles also bark to gain their owners attention. They are very clever at picking up small things. If they notice that barking gets them your attention, they will bark more often.

How to Fix it

The best way to deal with barking is by not reacting to it. When your beagle barks or whines or howls, do not respond, do not even look at him, keep doing what you were.

And once he stops barking for more than two minutes, give him a treat. By this, you are promoting the good behavior of your beagle without encouraging his barking.

2. Chewing around the house

Beagles like chewing. It makes them happy and satisfied. While its okay to chew on toys, whats not okay it to chew on furniture and other household things.

This problem is more common than you think. When I got Groot, my younger beagle, he was a zombie. He used to chew everything that could fit in his mouth. Furniture in my house still has all the scratches and teeth marks.

How to Fit it

The best way to stop unwanted chewing is to confine your beagle to his chew toys only. Please do not give him a chance to chew anything else. Here some of the best chew toys for your beagle.

Do not allow him to roam freely in your house. Instead, keep him in a room or in his crate with his chew toys.

You can beagle proof a room by removing all the unnecessary things that your pooch can chew.

You can also put him in his crate when with some of his chew toys. But make sure your beagle has been crate trained properly.

3. Ignoring Commands

Beagles are very smart and cunning dogs. They will stop following your commands If they realize they dont benefit much from following your orders.

Lets say if you stop giving them treats for a while for following your commands, they will start ignoring you.

Something similar happened to my neighbor. Her two-year-old beagle would listen to her only when she had a treat in her hands. And he would ignore all her commands when she had nothing in her hands.

How to Fix it

Your beagle needs some positive reinforcement to follow your commands. First, start giving him treats every time he follows your command. Gradually decrease the frequency at which you give the treats.

For instance, start with giving your beagle treats for every time he follows the command, then lower down the frequency to treating him for every 2nd time he follows the commands. And then after every three times.

Also Read: 7 Commands you Need to Teach your Beagle

4. Pulling on the leash

Beagles have a curious mind. You can say they are dogs with Hashtag WonderLust. Due to this, pulling on their leash is a common behavior problem among beagles.

When they out in the open, beagles are more interested in finding out the source of a scent than sticking beside their owners.

How to Fix it

Allowing your beagle to pull will motivate him more. Whenever he pulls on the leash, stop right there. He needs to understand that pulling will not get him what he wants.

Once he stops pulling and comes back to you, give him a treat, and continue walking. Soon he will understand that pulling gets him nowhere and stop doing it.

5. Biting

It is normal for young puppies to bite. They dont know how to interact with humans. It is your duty to teach them the correct way to communicate with you.

However, biting habits can continue to adulthood if you fail to teach them the correct way of interacting when they are young.

Soft play-biting is fine, but if it causes any type of pain, then you have to do something about it.

How to Fix it

Redirect your dogs behavior to a toy whenever he starts biting.

When he bites, make a low pitch, loud noise until he stops and then ignore him for some time. This will help your beagle to understand that biting hurts, and it will end all the fun of him.

If your beagle is still a puppy, then go through this guide of How to stop your Beagle Puppy from Biting. You can even watch this video:

6. Jumping

Jumping on people is not something you should promote. Beagles can jump for many reasons. They jump when they are excited, they jump to greet people. They jump when they want something that you are holding.

While jumping on you may seem cute, but it can be dangerous for you as well as your beagle.

How to Fix it

Whenever your beagle jumps on you, turn away. Do not motivate his behavior by greeting him back.

If your beagle jumps to grab things from your hands, or when you have his food, then give him the sit command before he jumps. If he doesnt sit, then wait and do nothing until he sits.

If he jumps on strangers and guests, then show him a treat and make him sit before you open the door.

In this way, you are correcting the unnecessary jumping of your pooch.

But this doesnt mean that you should never allow your beagle to jump. You can teach your beagle to jump on your command.

7. Digging

Not just beagles, but all the dogs love to dig, and theres a reason behind that. Back in the past, when dogs use to live in the wild, they use to dig a hole and sleep in it. It makes them feel more secure.

Even after being domesticated now, dogs still have this hiding of digging. It satisfies their natural instinct. You can watch this video to know more about this behavior:

How to fix it

Digging is perfectly fine, and you dont need to correct this behavior. However, if your beagle has been ruining your backyard garden by digging up holes, then there is something you can do.

Provide an area in your backyard to your beagle where he can burrow as much as he wants. Designate an area where he is allowed to dig and hide his favorite toy there. He will surely love this game.

And whenever he tries to dig in the garden area, distract him, redirect him to his designated area. Soon enough, he will figure it out where he is allowed to dig and where he is not.

8. Begging

Beagles make a squishy noise when they want something. Thats begging. Once it starts, it never ends.

While begging, their eyes suddenly become very soulful and sound as if they are crying. If your beagle learns that he gets what he wants when he begs, then he will do it all the time.

How to Fix it

The only way to fix this is by not fulfilling your beagles wish. Suppose, when you have your dinner and your pooch starts begging to taste some Pasta, do not give him that. Let him beg, but do not give him what he wants.

9. Aggressive Behaviour

Beagles are a breed of friendly dogs, and they rarely show any type of aggression. People often misunderstand common puppy behavior as aggression. So before you conclude that your pooch is aggressive, watch this video of signs that your beagle is aggressive:

How to Fix it

If you think your beagle is aggressive, the best way to deal with it is by consulting a professional dog trainer or dog behaviorist.

10. Separation Anxiety

Beagles are social and friendly dogs. While this is an excellent quality, it also makes them prone to Separation anxiety.

Beagles like to be around people, but when left alone, they can become anxious. Separation anxiety can lead to destructive behavior like chewing and accessive barking.

If your beagle starts barking every time you leave him alone in the room, then he is going through separation anxiety.

How to Fix it

Before leaving your beagle alone, give him some tasks to do like a kong. KONG is a must-have toy if your dog is going through separation anxiety.

Kongs are interactive toys that you can fill with dog food and let your beagle struggle to eat it.

Before leaving your house, give your offer him kong filled with dog food and let him get busy getting his food out of it.

Conclusion

Every behavior problem of your beagle is fixable. You just need enough time and patience. However, if you are unable to solve any of these issues, there is no shame in asking for help from a professional dog trainer.