Beagles are a much-beloved dog breed, prized for both their sweet and loyal nature and their hunting and sporting talents. However, if you ask any beagle owner what their least favorite beagle trait is, you’ll more likely than not hear some variation of the complaint: My beagle won’t stop howling!

For all of their wonderful traits, there is one that drives a lot of owners crazy. Beagles are LOUD. They are a hunting breed, and as such have specific “alert” vocalizations, and they are not afraid to use them! Beagles actually make three different sounds: barks, howls and bays.

Luckily, you don’t have to suffer through long nights of listening to your beagle singing the song of their people, as there are many different tools and training methods that you can utilize to calm your beagle and quiet them down when needed.

What Causes Beagle Howling?

Before you can train a dog or stop a behavior, it is first important to understand exactly what that behavior is and what your dog is trying to tell you. Beagles actually make three different types of sounds and each has a specific meaning.

When your beagle barks – a short, sharp sound – they likely want your attention. They’re trying to tell you something. A bay is a more urgent, and drawn out bark and may mean “danger” or that they have something that they’d REALLY like you to do! A growl is often a sign of aggression or agitation, and tends to come with snarling of the teeth. A howl, however, is usually more about physical and/or mental boredom and loneliness or a need that has not yet been met.

Common reasons for howling can include:

• Boredom

When your dog is alone and doesn’t have anything better to do, they might let off steam by howling. This can be annoying for a lot of owners, but it’s a pretty natural response for this breed. Beagles are naturally intrigued by their own voice, and love to listen to themselves howl. This is one of the most common reasons behind what appears to be howling and barking at nothing.

Later in this article I’ll have some tips on how you can prevent your beagle from getting bored often, which hopefully will help cut down on these unnecessary noises.

• Hunger

When your dog is hungry, they might first try to bark and let you know that they are ready for dinner. If you don’t respond to their request right away, they might take to howling or whining to get your attention.

It’s important to remember that barking or howling is really the only way that your beagle is able to communicate with you. If their needs aren’t being met, especially if they’re used to a routine, they’ll likely get distressed and will start howling out of frustration and confusion. I try to always feed my beagles at the same times every day, and make sure to set alarms so that I never let them go too long without a meal.

• Other dogs

Your beagle has a natural hunting instinct that tells them that they should alert you to other animals. This can manifest in a desire to bark at every and any person or animal that crosses your path.

While this is great if you want to train your beagle to guard your home, it can be pretty annoying in everyday life. Beagles that have this tendency can make living in apartments or houses with nearby neighbors a lot more difficult.

One way to fix this is through socialization at an early age. That will help reinforce the fact that not all other dogs are threats, and their owners don’t need to be alerted every time another dog is walking by.

• Fear or anxiety

If your beagle feels helpless, is nervous or feels unsafe, they may howl or bark as a means or relieving anxiety. They may also bark or howl to alert you or try to get you to respond to them. For example, a young beagle who is left at at home alone for a long period of time will often howl in an attempt to get you to “come back” or notice that they have been left alone.

This is a common reaction to separation anxiety in particular, which is prevalent in the beagle breed.

How to Stop Beagle Howling

While it is impossible – and not desirable – to entirely eliminate a beagle’s vocalizations, you can take your beagle’s volume dial down a few notches by addressing the root causes of their behavior with training, entertainment, exercise and more. 

• Training

This is probably the number one choice for most beagle owners, as it gives you the ability to quiet your dog whenever it is necessary. There are two options for teaching your beagle to respond to a command of “be quiet” – doing research and teaching your dog on your own, or seeing a professional trainer.

Obviously, a professional trainer can give you lots of insight into your dog’s behavior and teach you how to properly condition them to respond to a command. However, if time, money or access to training is an issue, it is certainly possible – with a bit of research and a lot of patience on your part – to train the dog yourself. And remember, even if you do choose to go to a trainer, you will still ultimately have to learn how to effectively implement the command yourself when the trainer is no longer there to help.

I have a few tips to share and help you get started on this training journey.

I’ve had the most success in getting beagles to respond to “quiet” commands by first teaching them “speak commands. Once they learn to speak on command, and are given lots of positive reinforcement for it, you can start slowly attaching the “quiet” command to the very end of your speak command, and only praise or reward them once they’ve stopped barking and quiet down. Once this happens, I like to remind them of how good a job they did by saying “good quiet!”

This will take some time, and a lot of patience, but the payoff is pretty great. Whenever my beagles are howling out of boredom or just at inappropriate times, all I have to do is say “quiet” and they’ll know what they need to do.

To see this in action, check out this video from Zak George’s Training Revolution below:

• Entertainment

Beagles are clever and physically active dogs, and it’s important to keep both their brains and their bodies busy. Not only is this good for their physical health, you’ll find that an entertained dog is a well behaved dog ,and one that has a lot less reason to get bored and sit around howling or barking all day.

Playing with you will always be a beagle’s first choice of entertainment, but when you can’t be there, you can provide lots of other options to keep them entertained and out of trouble. Food puzzle games, chew toys, even hiding treats around the house will all keep your canine friend occupied. Some dogs also enjoy background noise when they’re alone in the house. This can be a radio, a television or even a white noise machine or fan.

• Ample exercise

We’ve already covered “an entertained dog is a good dog” but another well-known trainer’s adage is “a tired dog is a good dog!” It makes a lot of sense if you think about it. If a dog is getting ample exercise, it not only gets their excess energy out, it also improves their mood naturally. And, maybe best of all, a dog who gets lots of exercise will also sleep more soundly throughout the night.

The exact amount you choose to exercise your beagle depends on a variety of factors like age, personality, medical factors, and of course the form of exercise. Dogs that get a lot of time playing with tug toys or playing fetch might not need as much walking as more sedentary dogs. Pet MD recommends on average at least 25-30 minutes of walking a day, but I like to shoot for two 30 minute walks a day for my beagles.

Related Article: How Much Exercise Should A Beagle Puppy Get?

• Redirection

Redirection has some relation to entertainment. If you can get your dog interested in something else, he or she will likely stop with all the whining and howling. Try giving your dog some attention or introducing an alternative activity, such as something to chew on. Just make sure that you are not rewarding his or her howling or barking behavior, as this will only reinforce it!

• Calming your dog in a crate

While, as humans, we might think that being put in a crate sounds like punishment, to a dog it is a very comforting place. Dogs are den animals and can feel overwhelmed when they are anxious and roaming free in a larger environment. Keeping your dog in a crate at night, when you are away or during times of high anxiety can actually be very calming for them and decrease anxiety-driven howling behaviors. 

I found that crate training my beagles as puppies was a very effective way to curb their excessive barking and howling problems. It took a few months, but now whenever they get too loud, they almost immediately calm down after they’re put back in their crates for a little while.

TOOLS TO HELP CURB DOG BARKING

For more serious cases of barking, or situations where it is more important that your dog stays quiet, there are behavioral aids that you can use to assist you in your training. Keep in mind that experts caution against ever using punitive or painful measures to stop a dog’s problem behavior. A few tools that might help you in your training journey include:

• Vibration Collars:

These training collars are designed to emit an irritating – but not painful – vibration in response to your beagle’s howl or bark. They should only be worn for limited periods of time in conjunction with teaching a quiet command but can be very helpful in reinforcing learning.

• Muzzles

Muzzles can decrease howling by limiting your dog’s ability to fully open their mouth. Again, these should only be used as a short term measure, or when absolutely necessary.

• White Noise

As we discussed above, white noise or background noise can be very helpful in dealing with anxiety-driven howling by both masking noises that might be scaring your beagle and making him or her feel less lonely in a totally quiet house when left on his own.

You’ll have to test this out with your beagle first to get a sense of what they prefer. Some beagles can only tolerate background noise at low volume because of their sensitive ears, so finding the right balance may take a few tries.

• Puzzle toys to keep them occupied

There are a wide variety of puzzle toys and chew toys that require your dog to use their brain in order to get rewarded with small treats. These are a fantastic way to keep a dog occupied when they are on their own and can be used if they are running free through the house or even put in their crate. My latest favorite kind of puzzle toy is the Snuffle Mat, which helps you slow feed your dog and encourages foraging skills in your dog, a perfect trait for beagles. 

Final Thoughts

While your adorable beagle’s howl might be driving your crazy, it’s important to remember that their barks and other vocalizations are always trying to tell you something. It’s your job as the owner to figure out the reasons behind the howling and then provide alternative ways for your dog to expend their energy or calm down on their own.

Experts caution that when training any dog, you should always use positive reinforcement methods that reward good, appropriate behavior rather than punitive punishment-based training. This type of training can instill fear and mistrust in your dog and will often backfire. Luckily, there are numerous training and lifestyle change options that can help you to curb your beloved beagle’s “singing” sessions. Whether you have one or more beagles, they can definitely be trained to take their volume down a notch with a touch of patience and ingenuity on your part.