My roommate adopted a 7 month old puppy that her sister in law was trying to get rid of. How do I get this dog to listen to me? He’s a “puggle”, half beagle, half pug. He is ok when she’s around but when she’s at work, he definitely thinks he’s in charge. He whines when no one is paying attention to him, he runs all over the place, he’ll chew whatever paper you leave lying around. When I take him for walks, he runs up ahead to smell something, tugging me along, then hangs back to keep smelling it. I just keep on going but I have to tug him along. He’s not really bad but he’s rambunctious. I have no experience around dogs, I’ve only had a cat which I prefer since you don’t have to worry about them so much. How long should you leave them in a crate? How long should you wait until after they stop whining before you can safely pay attention to them without reinforcing their behavior? How do I establish dominance over the dog? Thanks; I’d do a search but it won’t let me search for “dog”.
I’d start with hand feeding him as often as you can. Make him sit for you, lay down for you, pay attention to you. There will be plenty more solid pieces of advice to follow from the resident dog folk.
Here’s some advice called the ‘loose leash’ method. The idea is that the leash between you and the dog should always be loose, the dog needs to pay attention to you and not go too far ahead or behind.
It is very simple, the second the leash gets tight, because the dog is pulling, you stop moving. Be consistent, do this every time. Dogs are smart and they soon learn that when they pull on the leash, they don’t get to go anywhere. As soon as the leash loosens (the dog moves closer to you), they you start walking again.
It doesn’t take too long for the dog to learn to keep the leash loose.
A lot depends on the dog’s temper. A friend’s dog cowers around me because at the owner’s urging the first time it barked at me I gave her a stern look and said “no!” sharply; clearly she’s decided that made me an alpha. The other dog seems to think I’m okay, and I’ve done the same to him too.
Bite him.
You must be Rodney Dangerfield, if even dogs don’t respect you.
Your puggle just about has every characteristic from the beagle. Beagle puppies are tireless chewers, bayers and escape artists that do 10-100 times of damage compared to their cost. Payed $350 for our beagle puppy and he’s done about $5k in damage, vet bills, chewed up shoes, lost wages, etc. Give it a couple of years and they will calm down eventually to be a nice pet for years to come. You gotta have patience though and actually spend time with the dog to get to that point.
Positive reinforcement (food reward) will earn the dog’s respect, and they will look to you as the dominant. Keep walking the dog…the longer, the better…they are tireless. Their sense of smell is something they can’t shut off and they could easily get lost in the hills if they catch a whiff of a rabbit if they aren’t on a leash (this happened to our dog about a year ago…spent the night in the hills…found him the following morning with two sets of bite marks on him from coyotes…vet bill = $1500). They can’t just ignore scents; it’s like an aphrodisiac to them. They get bored easily if left alone, hence the chewing of all sorts of stuff…shoes, plants, nylon netting, wood/furniture, etc. = $3000).
Our dog still is somewhat mischievous, but it is still about one-third as he used to be as a puppy…he’ll be two years old in June. I suspect by the end of year three, he’ll be a great pet.
As for the pug side of your dog…I gots nuthin.
Good Luck.
Guide dog puppies get trained without food treats. For walks, as autz said, stopping is okay, but I also jerk the leash. I also give orders like sit, which breaks the cycle. The first few times the dog may have to be helped to sit. When he does it, praise him.
Dogs also associate commands with actions. You begin the training to relieve on command by saying “do your business” whenever she goes as a puppy. Before too long, you take her to the proper place, give the command, and wait until she does it. That’s an important thing for guides to learn, and illustrates the principle pretty well.
Remember also that dogs are very literal, and you need to be consistent in the commands you give him. Say Sit, or Phideaux Sit, not Sit, Sit. We hear that as a stronger command, they hear a different one.
Not to make light of your situation, Arien, but I actually laughed out loud at your OP. Why? Because I own a puggle. Yeticus gives some great advice for the beagle half.
Puggles are extremely stubborn and intractable. Puggles whine and chew and pull and raise hell. They get into everything and do whatever they can to get what they want. They are the cutest dogs in the world, but they are intolerably bad. Across the board. Entertaining as all get out, but definitely not a great starter dog.
Puggle specific advice:
(1) Keep them on the leash. Like beagles, they will follow a scent and leave you forever.
(2) Watch their weight. Treats are the best training tool, since they are food-driven, but you have to be careful with their weight. That said, using food is absolutely the easiest way to train a puggle.
(3) For walks, do you have an expandable leash? Get rid of it. Puggles need a fixed leash, the shorter the better. They need constant reminders to start following your lead and stop following their nose.
(4) When the puggle gets stuck on a scent, some people use a 3-count. Count, “1, 2, 3” out loud. At 3, walk off, pulling the dog if you have to. Eventually, EVENTUALLY, they will figure out what that means. I say, “okay,” give my dog a second, and then start walking. She gets it now. Doesn’t like it, but she gets it.
(5) To own a puggle, you need the patience of Job. They are intractable. There are going to be constant setbacks during the first 3 years. My puggle is 5 and she has finally started to slow down. Doesn’t mean that she doesn’t still get into everything and the entire house has to be puggle proofed, but she is finally calming down.
(6) Whining - get earplugs. Under no circumstances give in to the dog. And make sure, MAKE SURE, you crate train. Puggles are next to impossible to house-break without consistent crate training.
Finally, re: dominance? I have to say I have found the concept next to meaningless with my puggle. I have had owned other breeds who acknowledged my dominance and sought to please me with their behavior. For all my time and effort, my puggle still regards me as a combination treat machine, tummy rubber, and lounge pillow.
Good luck with your puppy.
I’m told Tasers work well. 
Failing that, obedience school is the answer.
What about this whole thing where you wrestle the dog to the ground, growling, and stare in their eye until they look away? Is that a breed-specific thing (my friend described it for her pit bulls)?
(bolding mine)
There’s a warning right there.
That’s kind of more for major misbehaving (incessantly nipping at you or trying to bite you when you take away a toy) not just for being whiny or tugging at the leash. I don’t think the puggle has gotten to being MEAN, it’s just a dumb kid yet.
All great advice so far. I will also add that yelling/tone of voice is very important.
There’s a big difference between “sit?” and “sit.” and “SIT!!!” Never ASK the dog to do something (sit?), you tell it (sit.). And if it doesn’t know commands yet and is being obstinate, you scare it into listening (SIT!!!). Sharp, somewhat shrill and totally unexpected. Especially with a beagle because they are off in La La SmellyVille most of the time. They need to be woken out of their stupor and reminded to pay attention.
Also I have to laugh at you being tugged around by a puggle. Really? Are you a Smurf? Tug back! 
Traditional collars aren’t very good for “popping” a dog. I keep my 90-lb golden on a snake chain (slightly more safe than a traditional choke chain, as there’s no nubs for it to get caught on). Collars are but a nuisance to dogs. Choke chains, when used properly, are a much better reminder of what the goal is - that is, we are walking and you are paying attention.
A beagle is just a carrying device for a nose. If they are on a scent ,you cease to exist. If they see a squirrel they will go straight at it regardless if a Greyhound bus is driving by. I have had no trouble with bad chewing because I have tons of chew toys around. I have had 3 beagles and that has not been a problem.
Dominance roll, and you can ruin a dog if you don’t know what you’re doing.
IMHO the best suggestion so far is to hand-feed the dog yourself. That can be part of the larger strategy “Nothing In Life Is Free” (NILIF) in which you get a dog to work for, well, everything.
See links in this post
My mom has a beagle, and it was recommended to use a harness rather than a collar, since the breed is prone to neck and back problems that can be made worse by tugging on collars around their neck. I don’t know if breeding with a pug does anything about that, but it’s something to consider!
I have no particular advice to give, though. My mom’s beagle was a special case (already 7 years old when she gott him, kennel but not house-trained, etc) and what worked for him was food, but he’s really not a typical dog (let alone typical beagle).
On a side note, I thought a puggle was a poodle-pug mix?
I’m no dog trainer, so I may get yelled at for this, but it’s worked for me in the past. Gently put the dog on it’s back, so it’s on the floor looking up at you. Hold it there until it realizes that you are in control. I’m telling you, it’s worked for me. Reward it after you let it go.
Some of this advice seems like a great way of teaching your dog to fear you. You probably could scare some of these unwanted behaviors out of your dog but you could also just go ahead and get a stuffed one and save yourself the trouble.
Having the dog earn any rewards is something you can do today to start gaining the dog’s respect. Following that get signed up for a reward based training class. If this is your first dog you really need to do this. But as pointed out, even after that you may never be able to trust him off leash. Hopefully though you’ll be able to walk him and not be tugged around the entire time.