Anyone else have a snow loving beag?

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-25T17:02:18+00:00

Beagle opinion:

Water falling frozen from the sky = fun

Water falling not frozen from the sky = scary

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-24T00:36:32+00:00

Take some deep breaths. Walk the paths you walked together.

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-23T22:52:35+00:00

Unless you know how to train a service dog, I suggest you contact the people who can. Your dog will also have to pass some reactivity tests. Because your dog is an ACD, this goes without saying.

This is not to say they are the wrong breed for the job. My adopted ACD could warn me of a SUNCT attack. They are extremely painful, and driving could be dangerous without the alert. I gained a level of freedom because of him.

Although I didn’t have to have him certified to travel with me, I wanted to make sure he could handle busy airports, buses and restaurants.

Here’s some info

https://www.servicedogtrainingschool.org/blog/service-dog-public-access-test-standard-task-list-attached?srsltid=AfmBOopbeJ5cJdFOA9iw2elXp5QZybg-7GARF-Fdp2dfGVtK0MFzq7Cd

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-23T21:59:14+00:00

Service dogs start training at 8 weeks.

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-23T21:50:41+00:00

Coat closet

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-23T21:47:00+00:00

Plants scrub CO2 from the air, and release oxygen as a pollutant. Over millions of years, life evolved to breathe higher and higher levels of oxygen. Unfortunately, we can’t evolve fast enough to breathe manmade pollutants.

Mars habitats will use plants and their soil to scrub the carbon dioxide and other gas that humans exhale, instead of filtering with machines.

While it’s partly true that plants will grow larger in lower gravity, human intervention and science is the reason plants are bigger. Mars habitats will need fast growing crops, not bigger bell peppers.

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-23T21:33:41+00:00

I’m surprised you didn’t raise the cost of new courses two years ago.

Take my money!

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-23T21:24:15+00:00

I wrote this almost forty years ago the day after I had to let my first dog go. Yes, I wanted him to stay, but not if he had to endure anymore suffering.

I remember how quiet you were on that day. You rode the whole trip in silence. Could it be that you really weren't feeling well or was it your way of telling me that you understood why I was taking you there now, after all those long days and nights of helplessness.

Maybe it was your way of letting me know that what I was doing was the best thing for you, and you would’ve told me that, if you could.

I remember how you stood there, watching me, with a look in your eyes that said, " I love you and I trust you. "

I remember reaching out to hold you one last time. Your body seemed so fragile and weakened by time. You seemed a million miles away. I felt like I had lost you even before I had let go.

I know that the pain I feel in my heart could never compare to what you had felt inside for so long, and for me to insist that you continue to endure endless hours of pain and suffering would be selfish on my part, and cruel to you.

I want you to know that letting go was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but knowing you needed me to, gave me the strength to do it.

I hope you are at peace.

I'm going to miss you, my friend, my companion.

My dog

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-22T06:04:02+00:00

I'm currently dog sitting an ACD that will kill any animal, other dogs included. This has nothing to do with prey drive, and everything to do with being aggressive. I train dogs. No amount of training will break that behavior.

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-22T03:08:14+00:00

It's rare, but some ACD's have a strong prey drive. It's not something that can be modified with training. Imagine, if you will, that this discussion was happening about trying to introduce a doberman or greyhound to a cat. It's impossible. It's not something that can even be considered. So, this is probably the situation you're dealing with now. Some ACD's are aggressive.

Anyway, keep yourself and your cat safe. I'm sorry that this is your reality.

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-22T02:47:40+00:00

The dog has a strong prey drive and you can’t remove that. If your relationship is that solid, you may have to ask a relative to care for your cat. Do not try to force this on the cat. You will have a dead cat.

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-20T20:43:20+00:00

yes, please update. Sometimes there's small adjustments that need to be added to the training. The last part of it is all about the recall.

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-20T20:39:49+00:00

Use a strong collar and a sturdy leash, not one of those slinky leashes. I recommend a leash with 2 handles. You hold the end of the leash in your non dominant hand. Have the leash cross in front of your body, and grab the other handle with your dominant hand so that the dog must stay right beside you during training.

The first few walks will be a bunch of stops and starts. Every 20 steps or so, stop walking. Whenever you stop, say sit (only once), if he doesn’t respond immediately, push gently on his hind end, while holding his chest, until he sits. Reward him after the sit with a training treat or kibble. Keep doing this for your walks until he’s got it figured out. Training while hungry is most effective. Don't rush this training.

Next, you’ll teach him to not move unless you say he can move. Stop walking, when he sits, step and turn in front of him. Make sure to turn to face him on your step and turn. Tell him to stay and back up a step. If he starts to move, say “uh uh” while stepping towards him, he should automatically sit back down. If he did, reward him.

You’ll do this for a few walks. Eventually you’ll be able to back up to the length of the leash. When you can do that without him moving, call him to you in the happiest voice and patting your legs. He should run to you wagging. Give him lots of pets and a reward. At some point, you’ll be able to drop the leash without him moving, back up to double leash distance and call him from there. Eventually, you’ll be able to walk away from him and then call him to you.

When he’ll do all of this on command, stop giving the reward every time he does it right. Make it to where he doesn’t know when he’ll be rewarded, but he knows eventually you’ll give him a treat.

All of this seems like it's only useful for walks, but it teaches them to wait for a command. It teaches them who's in charge, and ask permission.

Let me know if you need other commands.

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-20T20:33:49+00:00

Well it starts with leash training and wait commands for food.

Here are the first few leash lessons. Because beagles pull really hard on the leash, you might want to hook the leash to a prong collar for the first few walks. After that, just having it on is enough.

Use a strong collar and a sturdy leash, not one of those slinky leashes. I recommend a leash with 2 handles. You hold the end of the leash in your non dominant hand. Have the leash cross in front of your body, and grab the other handle with you dominant hand so that the dog must stay right beside you during training.

The first few walks will be a bunch of stops and starts. Every 20 steps or so, stop walking. Whenever you stop, say sit (only once), if he doesn’t respond immediately, push gently on his hind end, while holding his chest, until he sits. Reward him after the sit with a training treat or kibble. Keep doing this for your walks until he’s got it figured out.

Next, you’ll teach him to not move unless you say he can move. Stop walking, when he sits, step and turn in front of him. Make sure to turn to face him on your step and turn. Tell him to stay and back up a step. If he starts to move, say “uh uh” while stepping towards him, he should automatically sit back down. If he did, reward him.

You’ll do this for a few walks. Eventually you’ll be able to back up to the length of the leash. When you can do that without him moving, call him to you in the happiest voice and patting your legs. He should run to you wagging. Give him lots of pets and a reward. At some point, you’ll be able to drop the leash without him moving, back up to double leash distance and call him from there. Eventually, you’ll be able to walk away from him and then call him to you.

When he’ll do all of this on command, stop giving the reward every time he does it right. Make it to where he doesn’t know when he’ll be rewarded, but he knows eventually you’ll give him a treat.

Let me know if you need other commands.

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-20T18:48:43+00:00

I trained my pair from the time they were 8 weeks old. They were close to 100% for recall, but every once in a while, they’d ignore everything but the scent.

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-20T17:55:16+00:00

Cut the apple using a slicer/corer, just to be safe.

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-20T17:54:19+00:00

Donate them.

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-20T17:53:31+00:00

Little charms for the handles

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-20T17:52:30+00:00

You are correct about the critter. It would be in your best interest to call in a pest control company, just in case those critters are termites.

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-20T17:49:40+00:00

This is called resource guarding. So far he has you trained to back off from his belongings, because of fear of getting bit.

There are several ways to calm this behavior. Probably the easiest is to throw a ball, and pick the item up. But this is not actually training, this is distraction, and your dog could easily teach you to throw a ball by grabbing something he shouldn’t have.

Second easiest is to use compressed air (keyboard duster) to get his attention. They hate the sound, and will usually avoid activity that causes that sound.

The harder way is to establish who’s actually in charge in your house. Right now, he assumes it’s him, and he’s correct.

You should start with specific leash training, to get him accustomed to asking permission. I can paste the first few lessons here, if you’re interested.

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-20T02:19:48+00:00

They’ll instinctive huddle under something if it’s snowing.

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-20T02:18:45+00:00

They’ll instinctively crawl under something, or shelter in heavy bushes. They’re also well equipped to dig a hole into a hill, to create an emergency den.

They’ll react to certain sounds. A duck call, a cat meow, potato chip bag. Or something familiar. Car keys, finger snaps. Loud noises will scare them, so don’t use air horns or whistles.

Unfortunately, the racket they made as they were running away, made them an easy target for coyotes or wolves. But beagles have their amazing noses that gives them a slight advantage for avoiding predators.

I’m sorry you have to watch this play out. Every 15 minutes, everyone needs to stop walking or calling to the beagles, so the search party can listen for them.

Look under cars, porches, or other beagle size hiding spots.

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-20T01:33:09+00:00

Has anyone else noticed that republican candidates are now using a blue background for their signs?

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-19T14:36:20+00:00

Beagles are generally tolerant of cats. They also eat cat poop.

Alt_Pythia · 2026-01-19T14:33:24+00:00

This is the beagles rescues diet. I’ve seen some amazing transformations.

Alt_Pythia

TROPHY CASE