Hi all I have a beagle puppy named jess and just have a couple of questions you may be able to help me with?

1) She has soooo much energy. We take her for two walks a day and she also spends up to an hour everynight frantically running round the garden, then sometimes running inside the house jumping on the couch before running back outside. She just keeps on going. Is this bad for her as she is still a pup or does she need to burn off energy.

2) Smacking a dogs backside. This is an arguement between me and my other half. She thinks that if we see her do something naughty or she pees in the house and we see her do it she should have a quick slap on the backside else she'll never learn. I'm not sure on this, sometimes when we go to pick her up she will freeze as if she is worried she will get a smack. Also should we be careful with the tone of our voices as to not really bellow at her when she is naughty?

3) Sometimes when we go to pick Jess up she will dart away from us as if we were playing and we just can't catch her and she will sometimes be too stubborn to stop and we cant get near her. Is as if its a game with her. Any ideas how to overcome this or is it just a case of she's a puppy.

4) Barking - She has started to bark quite a bit now, is there any way to control this?

Thanks in advance. She is doing very well sit, stay, down, leave it, come etc have all been achieved during training sessions, but just need to iron out the problems we are having?

Thanks for the advice. She knows to go outside and does 99% of the time but the other night the door was open and she just peed right in front of us. My partner was not best pleased. It was like sod you. Also is it bad news to leave her toys about so she can just play with them at all times?

Puppy is now 7 months old. I go back at dinner to take her out for a play or if I am unable to do so then a family member does this for us. She is left 4 hours in the morning and about 4 hours in the afternoon, 4 days a week. Other than that we will be with her. She has toys and kong when on her own, but she has chewed 2 cupboards in the last month so am worried she is getting bored. (She is teething at the moment)

Funny you ask about the food as we are just about to swap to James Wellbeloved (Bought it today) as the Beta and Eukanuba stuff we bought is not agreeing with her.

nice one, that does make sense,  thanks for that! I'll try that tonight.

Anyone else?

1) She has soooo much energy. We take her for two walks a day and she also spends up to an hour everynight frantically running round the garden, then sometimes running inside the house jumping on the couch before running back outside. She just keeps on going. Is this bad for her as she is still a pup or does she need to burn off energy.
Puppies like children appear to have an inexhaustible supply of energy and rarely want to rest when WE do!

2) Smacking a dogs backside. This is an arguement between me and my other half. She thinks that if we see her do something naughty or she pees in the house and we see her do it she should have a quick slap on the backside else she'll never learn. I'm not sure on this, sometimes when we go to pick her up she will freeze as if she is worried she will get a smack. Also should we be careful with the tone of our voices as to not really bellow at her when she is naughty?

Corporal punishment does not TEACH anyone anything except for your puppy not to trust you, to become potentially handshy, and to associate your hands with pain rather than comfort. Do you learn best when you are relaxed and confident or worried that you may get punished?

Would you smack a child or an old person that did not have good control over their bladder?

3) Sometimes when we go to pick Jess up she will dart away from us as if we were playing and we just can't catch her and she will sometimes be too stubborn to stop and we cant get near her. Is as if its a game with her. Any ideas how to overcome this or is it just a case of she's a puppy.

The best way to get ANYTHING to want you is to pretend you are not interested, be it dogs, men or women! 

4) Barking - She has started to bark quite a bit now, is there any way to control this?

Puppies, like children and people, like the sound of their own voice and quickly learn that it gets attention.  You can ignore barking and when she sees it does not work, she will stop.  Once you start to give her eye or body contact or shout at her, she will think you are joining in.

You can also teach a dog to bark and be quiet on command, very useful