Coon Hound/Beagle Mix - Too young to train?

I have a Coon Hound/Beagle Mix who is just over a year old. Her last owners kept her in a cold garage and when we took her in, she had no housebreaking whatsoever.

Unfortunately, we fear that, because of this, she will be a difficult one to train. She barks constantly (especially if you don't give her the attention she wants), will jump up on you and not stop, has difficulty listening to commands (though she's slowly getting better), and showed some slight possession aggression (although it is rare).

My mother claims to have done research on this type of dog and says that this dog can't be well-trained until she's about the age of three. I don't know if this is true or not, but it's frustrating when I try to train the dog, only to be told that it's impossible to train this dog at this age.

Is this a bunch of baloney or is there any truth to this? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

I have never heard of a specific breed being unable to be well trained until three! The only training advice I have ever been given is to start training around 12 weeks, in short sessions, and never stop from there. By the age of three the dog has already trained herself, unfortunately in things you don't want. She can be re-trained with a lot of patience, but I would never wait until 3 years of age to train

 

My family pet as a child was a coonhound. He was far easier to train than my dogs I have now. He was trained to do things at diiferent ages from a puppy right up to a senior age dog.

He was also a lover of attention, something that never went away. Which was ok by us. He was rescued from a liter of pups who were going to be put down because the mother was a stray. Back then they didn't have all the laws and protection they do now for dogs. Maybe be cause we had from a pup had something to do with the training.

They do reabilitate dogs of all ages, if reabilitating works I wouldn't see why training wouldn't also. It may require patience and a lot of hard work, but doesn't everything. Hope all goes well for you.

 

There is no such thing as being to young to train. Training starts the second you get your dog whether you realize it or not. The dog will pick up on your actions and reactions based on what it does. For some people, if they aren't careful, the dog ends up training them.

There is a reason that this dog is an attention hound and barks often. Have you ever seen old movies where a bunch of coon hounds are running through the woods baying at each other while giving chase during a hunt? Coonhounds are typically a pack dog. That means there is always someone there, always someone to give them attention. Always someone to bark at, and someone that will respond. Some breeds of dogs are perfectly fine with being the solitary animal, but the pack dogs will need some training to understand that you won't be there 24/7.

You can train your dog, but it will take some patience, and it will take time. Dogs respond so much better to positive reinforcement even training goes faster than when you use negative reinforcement. When you dog is being inactive and quiet, give her a little piece of a treat and tell her what a good girl she is over and over. When you dog is being rowdy and jumping on you, grab her by her shoulders (but not hard) and bring her to the ground, petting her the whole way down because what she's looking for is attention. It even helps if you get on the ground with her as you go. Look her in the eyes when you do this, because the focus is on her. when she's lying down and no longer jumping give her a piece of a treat and tell her what a good girl she is over and over again. The training not to bark is a little harder. This will be the last to work if you can train the excessive barking out of her because it takes a while. Ignore her when she barks, and gives her treats and praise when she quiet.

All of this is going to take time, so don't get frustrated, don't lose your patience, and have fun!
Best of luck to you!