I've had five 20-pound rescue beagles... three of them at once. The first one was a lap dog, but the other four weren't. (I was looking for a lap dog!) They all have very different personalities.
One of them couldn't be contained. She would climb over a five-foot fence with a shock collar set on high with no delay. Her neck was an oosing mess from the shocks. She didn't care. All of the neighbors were trained in search and rescue for her. The thing that worked the best for her was a spiral-shapped stake that you screwed into the ground. There was a long vinyl-covered metal line attached to it. It was long enough that she could do some running around on it for exercise. She was on that for a year before she was able to break it.
None of them barked at the doorbell which I thought was strange. I could usually get them to "sing" if I would howl at them.
I never fed them "people" food, and was able to control their weight that way.
Don't ever make a "just this once" exception to the rules. They are just like children. If you let them get away with something once, they'll always want to get away with it.
They are hard to house break. I always use Nature's Miracle to treat any spot where they have peed. If you don't get rid of the odor completely, they will return to it to soil again. I've saved a couch with that product.
They are challenging, but they are my favorite breed.