Beagles - the good, bad and ugly
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Anonymous
+1 I have never had a beagle that howled, but the baying, when the door bell rings is awesome! |
Anonymous
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They are very difficult to train to recall and usually not reliable off leash. Usually good with kids, though!
As for breeds, I would work with a rescue and team them what you need and ask them to recommend a particular dog. Get one that has been in foster long enough for its traits to be known. We ended up with a 20 lb Chi cross. Best dog ever! |
Anonymous
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Our beagle just died at 14. We adopted at 2. Such a loving dog and absolutely adorable.
Just know that they LOVE to escape! They are hounds and always ona scent. When kids were little he got out a lot because they are so fast and kids would let friends in - bam! Gone! They are food aggressive in that you cannot leave food on coffee table for a gathering, would grab sandwich out of hand from toddler, can climb on a bench and get on top of dining table. Their bark I see a howl. With all of that, I so miss our beagle. Everyone in the neighborhood loved him and all his quirks and beagle traits were just him. |
Anonymous
| Beagles are great dogs, exceptionally cute, and can be quite lazy and cuddly. They are also very stubborn and are singularly focused when it come to food. You will have to beagle-proof your house. Some can be counter surfers and if you have a gum wrapper in a pocket of your coat, they will find it. Separation anxiety is a very real issue for rescue beagles. I'm on my second right now, and both have had pretty bad cases. I think they do much better in bonded pairs. I'd make sure to crate train from the beginning and get them used to being comfortable alone. |
Anonymous
| I have two, and they don't smell worse than any other dog. I'm madly in love with them, but yeah, they're scent hounds so we only let them off the leash in a fenced area. It's not so bad once you're used to it, though. Beagles are sweet, loud, loving, food motivated, very kid tolerant, and super cute with their hound faces and floppy ears. |
Anonymous
I ended up just going out to adoption events to meet random dogs, and dropped most of my breed preferences. Is there an aspca or other rescue nwar you that has a nice website with good descriptions of their dogs? Pp is spot on about looking for dogs who have been in foster homes so the rescue will have a good idea of the dog's traits. But as for particular medium breeds, you can keep your eye out for beagle mixes, or dogs mixed with Brittany Spaniel, wheatens, most terriers. |
Anonymous
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I've had three.
You can't let them off leash. Ever. But they are delightful dogs. Really wonderful. |
Anonymous
| I have one and he's the sweetest, most laidback fella ever. He's 7 and is pretty mellow- just likes sleeping most of the day. The only time we let him off the leash is when he's in our fenced in yard. I've never seen him dig but he definitely catches the scent of critters and goes after them. I have a friend who does a lot of training with her beagle and that dog can go off leash well and listens. As others have said, they are very, VERY into food. I do think they smell more than other dogs; to me, it smells like a more intense doggy odor. |
Anonymous
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Every beagle is different. I had one who never howled. Ever. In fact, I've had 5 hounds over 20 years and none howled despite their reputations.
The good: beagles are VERY sweet, tolerant of many things, LOVE people, make excellent family dogs. They are hilarious. Goofballs. They don't require significant grooming, just baths. They are a nice size (not too big/small). They love a good snuggle. The "bad": can be very stubborn (but will do anything you ask if you have a treat), they have the musky hound odor if you don't bath them. They need to be leashed and fenced at ALL TIMES. They are slaves to their noses and if they get out, they will just keep going. They are incredibly food motivated so you will need to be on guard for snatching your own food. If you keep a beagle busy with things to do -kongs, treat balls, doggy playdates, walks- you tend to avoid the "bad" issues of howling, etc. |
Anonymous
This has not been my experience. Yes, they can have a prey drive but mine have successfully lived with cats w/ no issue. They are able to distinguish between their cats and, say, squirrels, chipmunks, etc. Of course, some dogs of any breed may not like cats. But, my experience with beagles would not lead me to say that they cannot be with cats. |
Anonymous
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We had a rescue beagle who was the joy of our home.
He never howled (unless we started howling first to get him to join in). He loved the kids and all their friends. My special needs son had a special bond with him. 1. Fenced in yard needed. Never let them off the leash otherwise. 2. Don’t put rotisserie chicken carcass in kitchen trash can! Beagle will get it! 3. Once you let the beagle in your bed, you will never get him out. Our beagle has been gone 5 years and I swear reading some of the above posts made me tear up. He was the best dog for our family. |
Anonymous
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We have a rescue beagle “mix”, larger than most, about 40lbs, but looks all beagle. She was found in Spotsylvania over Thanksgiving weekend. She had had several litters as things hang down below and wobble to and fro. The shelter spayed her. She came housebroken. She was probably a failed hunting dog as she hates the 4th of July. She was in the shelter for 7 months before we adopted her.
She only barks at mailmen and delivery people and if she glimpses the neighborhood fox. She came house broken. She sleeps most of the day. She is medium eater, will eat her chow and anything with meat but refuses some things. She does shed quite a bit, this is our only complaint. We have found her to be the perfect dog for our family. She is now older, we think 10-11 and can only walk two miles a day over two or three walks now, her max for one walk is now close to one mile if it is cool and we are in the woods. She loves the woods. We have had her for over 6 years. She doesn’t smell unless she rolled it something, then we give her a bath, which she hates. |
Anonymous
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I am 46, and I can't remember a time where I went more than a couple of years without a beagle in the house. Some of the beagles were outside dogs (when I was a kid) and all but one have hunted (whether they lived inside or outside). When they hunted and were on the track of a rabbit or pheasant (most of our dogs ran both) they howled like crazy, but I have never actually had one who howled regularly at home.
Beagles are the most loyal dogs I have ever known, and they are protective. I still remember our beagle shadowing my father in the baby's room the first time he came to visit after our daughter was born. The dog LOVED my father, but he was protecting his baby. Beagles are also very affectionate. I am not sure any of my beagles didn't think they were a lap dog. The one negative to me is the shedding. At the shedding times of year there is hair EVERYWHERE. The other night after scratching my dog (at her insistence mind you) I couldn't believe the pile of hair in my hand! Needless to say I can't imagine a house without a beagle in it. |
Anonymous
+1. If you're already planning on getting a rescue, then just keep your eye out for the dog that seems right for you. |
Anonymous
Get a mutt! The best dogs are mixed breed dogs. I have a black mutt that looks like a mini lab. |