Beagle is driving us crazy!!!

About 2 months ago we adopted a beagle(his name is Spartan) who has been passed around, left alone for days, and has traveled all over the country from missouri to florida and hes now in michigan with us. He is 7 months old. We love the little guy to death but he is BAD, and seems to just get worse! I think he may think he is a person. He refuses to eat his dog food because who needs that when you can open up the refridgerator or cupboard and have what ever you want? If put in the kennel he will bark and bark until you have to let him out or your ears will bleed! Even if he quiets down he will eventually wake you, apparently 4 am is a great time to wake up for him. He can hop any gate eventually, just give him some time and he'll figure it out. He's anything but stupid. He knows hes not allowed upstairs but has hopped gates in the middle up the night and gone upstairs and woken up my children in the middle of the night also(he was just gated because of the barking in the kennel in the middle of the night) He will also run upstairs in the middle of the day take the kids toys and run under their beds with them and refuses to come out, normally I would believe this to be playful behavior, but when you have to drag him out from under the bed he is agressive, he barks growls and will even bite, he gets very aggressive with the kids and Im worried something bad is going to happen. I dont want to give up on him because Im afraid hes never going to have a real home and I believe he has the potential to be a very good dog. He also doesnt seem to be very good at the potty training thing, but I think its a result of being left alone as a young pup and not properly trained. My husband and I have had dogs all our lives and neither of us has had any problems like this, he is a full bred beagle and has papers and everything to prove it and I know they are supposed to be excellent with children and familys, I just dont know what to do, HELP!!!!!!!!

well i cant really blame your dog for beind so bad b cos beagles are intelligent animals maybe u jst nd to enrol him in a dog training class and if any1 in the family has time maybe you cood take him 2 an agility class to put his jumping to work and run off some of that xtra energy of his and then maybe he will b calmer after and he will also obviously calm down as he gets older

He is only a baby-has been all over the country - never had any stability in his life & you wonder why he's "BAD" He is not bad, he is a puppy! You & your husband have apparently not asserted yourselves as his alpha, so he doesn't respect you as such. How much exercise is he getting? He should be going on at least 3 twenty minute walks a day with other playtimes inbetween. A tired dog is a good dog. Two sites for you to google that have a lot of very helpful information - NILIF for training & PerfectPaws.com for everything. Do you have him on a set schedule for pottying? Walks must be part of that schedule as the walking stimulates the bowel. Obedience classes would do you & the puppy a lot of good. Of course he wants to be upstairs at night with his family. Is there a problem with him sleeping with the kids? Or put his crate in your bedroom.