We turn back time to 20.10.2007 – that was the day Oscar moved in and met Charlie for the first time. It was just 2 days before Charlie turned 3. Charlie was very welcoming to Oscar and took him under his wing from day 1. And I don’t need to say that the two of them became best friends.
I remember the first evening – October 20. Oscar had received a small cardboard box from the breeder in which was a blanket with the scent of Oscar’s mother and his siblings. Also some toys that we had received. Before that, we had already acquired various things for Oscar and then we had received food for the first time. Everything was planned in the smallest detail – where Oscar would sleep for the first time and how I would handle cleanliness – and take him out at night. It was already planned that when/if Oscar had to go out to pee, he would be brought back to “bed” again, to learn that at night you sleep.
The time that followed – went something like this. Up in the morning. Carry Oscar downstairs. Put him down. Call him with me to the garden door, to come out. Both Oscar and Charlie go out to do their toilet. And then they get food.
Later in the morning, one of the sons was with Oscar – while I walked Charlie. Charlie loved the walks, because then he had me all to himself. When we returned, Charlie got some food again and then he went to sleep.
While Charlie was sleeping, the most important part was that Oscar didn’t wake him – that’s why Charlie often slept in his cage, to get some peace and quiet for himself. While Charlie slept, I spent some time with Oscar. We played – he got food – he was outside – or he played with some toys himself. In between he went on the floor as long as he could – because these little puppies sleep a lot. As mentioned earlier, it wasn’t just me who was present – but also our sons, who lived at home at the time. They were both good at reading Oscar’s signals and getting him out to pee/pee. Oscar was also in the garden, where he sniffed around, also in the company of Charlie.
Charlie quickly became the “leader of the pack” – so he looked after Oscar. To “tell” him that he was on a crazy streak and had to behave properly. Charlie also played with Oscar both outside and inside – and it wasn’t long before Oscar also had to lie in Charlie’s cage with him. And after a period when everyday life became normal again and Oscar relaxed more, full focus was again on Charlie – so we managed to handle weather and wind equally between them.
That’s how the first weeks went. After a month – when Oscar was about 12 weeks old, I started training him more. He learned to “sit” – he learned to “cover” he learned what “no” meant – and he learned to come when called. – Oscar was a so-called gnawing puppy – he chewed and gnawed on everything. All our wires had been removed from the puppy’s teeth in advance and hidden away in rails that sat on the wall. Everything at puppy height had been moved away, for the same reason. Oscar was very fond of his sons’ toes and trouser legs – so it was “a lot of fun” when Oscar had that chance. So that’s why I decided that he should learn not to bite fingers, toes and trouser legs.
Oscar would get on my lap – and when he made moves to nibble me – I would let out a squeak – but it was never the right squeak I made – because Oscar was slowly getting a little stressed, probably because I “squeaked” too much? When I was about to put him down on the floor, he turned his head towards me and put the puppy bits in my nose. The roar I made – was just the right one, because Oscar stopped nibbling/biting us after that day. It was all worth it even though I was adorned with a set of puppy teeth in my nose – for the next few days.
Oscar slept in a cage at night – he did that because he shouldn’t move out onto the stairs, in the dead of night. Every night – the same routine – he had to – I carried him down and back up again as soon as he had done what he had to – and then we slept on. It worked fine – the same routine – when he had slept – eaten – drunk – he had to go out and relieve himself.
When we reached New Year’s, I was excited about how Oscar would react when fireworks were set off. He was 4 months old at the time. Unfortunately, it turned out that Oscar was afraid of fireworks and he lay like a second fur collar around my neck most of the evening. And that stayed the rest of his life – he was terrified of fireworks for years to come.
Then it happened that that year, we had a snowstorm in December. This meant that there was a lot of snow everywhere and then the cleaning stopped. Because Oscar REFUSED to plant himself in the cold ground that was everywhere. Furthermore, we got frost – it froze to minus 8-9 degrees at night and Oscar just wouldn’t go out and clean himself. The problem was also there during the day, he just wouldn’t sit down. I was quite desperate, because all the cleaning he had received – went the whistle – good advice was expensive – for little Oscar, he just did it inside. I still remember the time with despair, because he was mostly clean and now we were bombed back to the start. But again I went on with crooked neck.
We hadn’t taken him out for a walk yet, around Christmas. You have to be very careful with the small legs that some beagle puppies have – because they are not designed for walking at all. Did you know that puppies’ bones have not grown together at all – until they are about 1 year old? – That’s why you have to be very careful not to put pressure on their legs and back. For the same reason, you also have to carry beagles up and down stairs, to protect them. In terms of weight, beagles get heavier as they grow and you can’t carry them in your arms – you can use a kind of kangaroo pouch that you have in a sling and then carry them up/down that way. You can get the puppy used to that from the start.
Back to walks – I had trained him to wear a harness and “walked” with him in the garden since Oscar was 9-10 weeks old. We had also been right out on the sidewalk in front of our house and walked down to the corner and back again. Just like we also walked down the road we live on to the corner and back again. It’s about 300 meters there and back. On the “long” walk, Oscar got to use his nose (which is a necessary step when it’s a beagle) – or he just sat and looked at whatever randomly appeared. He was not in contact with strange dogs or people that we didn’t know beforehand.
And finally at the end of January/beginning of February 08 – we succeeded and Oscar became clean and found out that it was okay for him to sit outside. He started to lift his legs little by little during that period. I still remember that he was startled by one of his hind legs suddenly rising. Oscar was 6 months old at the time.
In between he went for short walks with Charlie – but more and more often he was on his own, where I first walked with Charlie and then Oscar afterwards. And here a new problem arose!
Oscar started out of the blue to show anxiety about incidents we encountered on walks. It could be a cyclist passing by – it could be someone walking on the sidewalk – both on our side or the opposite – it could be other dogs – it could be a bang in the air – for example a bag blowing around and several other similar things. So I had to do some investigation on what I could do about it?
The solution was a so-called dummy – it was an oblong fabric bag with a zipper in it, which I could put treats in. As soon as something “dangerous” appeared – I caught Oscar’s attention – and threw the dummy on the ground – so he had to find it. When he found it – he got treats and then he had forgotten all about the “dangerous” that appeared. That dummy was with us on our walks in the future. Later I just had treats with me – then I called Oscar to me and then we did his, and tire exercises and he got the treats.
That invention with the dummy turned out to be just right for Oscar – and for many years to come he stayed by my side during the entire walk – he never pulled – unless he got carried away by a hare. I used the same method with Darwin – taught him that I was the “leader” and that I was in charge.
When Oscar was 6 months old – he started going up/down the stairs to our bedroom by himself. This only happened once a day. He no longer slept in a cage – but had his own basket next to Charlie – there was no danger of him moving out onto the stairs at night. In the morning he went down himself – and then both beagles were let out to do their toileting and then have breakfast.
I continued to walk the beagles separately – partly I trained recall etc. on both dogs and it is easiest when there is only one dog. A couple of times a week they went for a walk at the same time. and in the afternoon it was the sons who walked them.
In addition to the most basic learning things – there was also fur – ears – teeth – eyes – paws that had to be looked after. Oscar learned that you could be brushed – that you could check your ears – that you could look at your teeth/mouth – and have your paws checked. Over time, Oscar became the one of our beagles who loved this kind of thing the most. He didn’t know any better than to be brushed and looked after. He also learned to be dried when wet. Bathing was only done when absolutely necessary – otherwise I used dry baths for my beagles.
On the social side: Oscar was a so-called slow beagle – that should be understood positively. He couldn’t stand when episodes went too fast. He had a mind that made him have an overview of the different situations. He did everything at his own pace. It was training, it was going for walks, it was when he was called in, because why should he when I was standing right there? Going for walks with Oscar could take a long time, because he was in absolutely no hurry. If he saw something, he followed it for a long time. He often lay down and followed what was happening with interest.
If he wanted to go in a different direction – he lay down and waited for me to decide that we should go his route.
Another thing was his sniffing around. We were often at Sniffari – because Oscar took the time to search around.
At home he was on the green branch – because here he could do whatever he wanted. He often played hunting games with himself in the lead role. He chased his toy – a branch – something edible – or a shoe – the kitchen roll also got a turn.
I would venture to say that if Oscar had been a human – you could say he was introverted. He had clear signs of that.
Besides his often stubborn mind – Oscar was the most social of our beagles – in the way that we could do everything with him. He willingly accepted having his ears cleaned, his nails clipped, his hair brushed, etc.
When he had been groomed – he looked at you with his angelic gaze – a look you just couldn’t resist.
He loved when he could look us deep in the eyes and we often got a kiss on the nose from him.
Oscar wasn’t fond of strangers – and “overlooked” them. But other dogs of his own size – he loved to greet/talk to. He jumped around on the sidewalk or paths – made playbows and generally made a point of showing off.
When Darwin came into the house at the end of May 2010 – Oscar’s mind was once again shattered.
We actually didn’t think there would be any problems. But Oscar had a hard time with Darwin at first. His introverted mind was so at work. So a plan had to be made.
Charlie was “sorted out”. Either I was in the garden with Oscar and Darwin – and Charlie was inside. Or vice versa. Over the course of 3 weeks I trained Oscar to learn how to handle Darwin. After the 3 weeks Oscar was able to say no to Darwin and handle him the same way Charlie did.
After that everything was fine and all 3 beagles became best friends. The distribution was Charlie (leader and the pack) – then Oscar as “second in command” – and then Darwin – who however slept with both Charlie – or Oscar – and sometimes with both of them within reach.
