I was taught this too in obedience class. What we were told is to sit on the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you, and cradle the dog on its back between your legs. It will try to squirm away but you have to keep it subdued, and you also keep in constant eye contact.
But, this wasn’t really a dominance technique so much as a calming technique. It does work, though.
Nope, that’s a pugapoo.
Thanks! I’ll try that next time I take him for a walk.
Good to know! I think a puggle is calmer than a beagle due to their pug blood so maybe it will only take 2 years.
Oh dear. Well, thanks for the advice! Oscar is mostly a good dog and sticks to chewing his toys and paper (so far anyway, it’s been a little over a week) but he has his days.
Should I force him, that is push his butt down, to sit if he doesn’t do it when I tell him too? It’s still sort of sporadic.
Thanks for all the advice, everyone. Seems like the key is consistency and lots and lots patience. I won’t be the one dealing with him a lot but I’ll let my roommate know about these tips.
Wait until at least the third date.
I think the bigger danger is that the dog can ruin you if you don’t know what you’re doing; essentially you’re attacking a fairly aggressive dog and forcing it into a position where you could kill it. Not something that sounds like it should be tried by amateurs 
Beagle talking:
The most important thing to teach a dog, any dog, is to sit on command, heel, and that you are dominant. [Oh heavens, you mean the dog isn’t my equal? No, you fool, the dog isn’t your equal. The dog needs a boss. It needs obedience, training and direction. Otherwise, they turn out to be worthless and maybe dangerous. There is nothing wrong in “training” a dog. There doesn’t need to be anything egalitarian in the dog, human relationship. Get that concept in your mind and adhere to it.]
Have you ever seen a horse being broken? It’s not a pretty sight but it is necessary. Otherwise, the horse is a dangerous animal. If you want a taste of it watch the movie “The Horse Whisperer”.
A beagle is a big nose wrapped in fur. While that may sound bad, a beagle can be the best friend and the best dog you could ever own. They are great dogs. A good beagle can be trusted to be gentle and loving to everyone including small children. That being said, if you control their nose you control them. Therefore, don’t use a collar, use a “Halti” or a “Gentle Lead”. It will make your walks much easier.
The New York Times Magazine did an article awhile back about designer dogs. What they said about the puggle is that when you breed a pug and a beagle you get a cute dog that will run off following its nose but is too stupid to find its way home. There’s the problem. A beagle is not as stupid as they want you to believe. A puggle? You are taking your chances.
Anyway, good luck. Just be the boss and persist. Puppies are puppies for about 18 months. Then, if they’ve been trained properly, they mellow out and live their lives in total dedication to you.
I feel your pain, my own dog is often less than well behaved, to my chagrin.
I do try, however, but it’s a struggle, every day. One little tidbit that was shared with me, and stuck, I go back to on almost a daily basis, has been a big help.
I was told, whenever I was struggling with my dog’s behavior, to remind myself that there is only one relationship in the dog world, Master/Slave. And to ask myself which I was being.
Hope you find it helpful.
Most cats know…but of course good luck in getting one to tell you…
I think there’s a difference between aggression and just disobedience. My parent’s dog is easily excitable and sometimes really can’t understand why someone would pay attention to someone else, but he doesn’t have an aggressive bone in his body. Obviously some of it is breed (Clark is a lab/unknown mix*), and I imagine a pug/beagle mix would be far more “want to play” than actually aggressive.
That said, I do think it should be done as a last resort, and a professional, trained dog trainer should absolutely be consulted first.
*Possible ‘others’: beagle, greyhound, weimaraner, the mythical “attention hound”, mutt. Whatever else is in him, he’s friendly.
Better technique: use the dog’s natural body mechanics to do it for you.
Hold the training treat over his head to get his attention. Give the “sit” comnmand. If he doesn’t sit immediately, move the treat back along his spine toward his tail (still keeping it up out of reach.
The easiest way for the dog to keep the treat in view is to sit his rump down. He will almost certainly do that.
Click (if you have a clicker), praise and reward.
The clicker is not a command, but a consistent signal that the dog is now in the correct behavior (human praise tends to vary and get delivered too soon or too late; the clicker tells the dog “I’m in the zone now buddy! Here comes the treat!”).
Reinforce this frequently, and begin to withhold the food treat some times and switch it with a toy or a head pat. The idea is to create a little uncertainty in the food reward and take advantage of “variable reward” to reinforce conditioning.
We were talking about the ‘dominance roll’ or ‘alpha roll’, which is apparently only used when dogs show severe disobedience, usually involving some extent of aggression. The alpha roll involves attacking them, flipping them onto their back and holding their throat to show them who’s the ‘alpha’ in the situation. It’s a dangerous technique if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing because if the dog is a dominant one - gigi brought the technique up in relation to disobedient pit bulls - it will probably try and fight back, and suddenly you’re in a real fight with a pit bull! But even if the dog is submissive and ‘doesn’t have an aggressive bone in its body’, firstly they may think they’re under genuine, serious attack and will try to defend themselves, and secondly afterwards it would increase their anxiety and make them even more afraid of you.
Whisper in his ear “hey buddy, I can have you fixed if you don’t respect me”.