Beagle

[russ]

Our Brittany died a couple years ago and we would like a smaller dog that would be in the house. We're thinking about a Beagle. Anyone have any advice either for or against having a Beagle in the house? Any other small dogs other than lapdogs to consider? We live in town.

Russ

[DTro]

Beagles are great, but they do have their vices.

1. They like to bark and bellow. Some people hate that, I kind of like the howl every now and then.

2. Their noses NEVER EVER EVER quit. One time I had a small halloween sized (still in the wrapper) candy in my snapped coat pocket in a partially closed closet. By golly he found his way into the closet and ate right through the pocket to that tiny piece of candy. Been to the ER a couple of times for a whole pan of brownies in the stomach.

3. They like to run. We have a small dog door installed that leads to a fenced back yard. He goes and comes as he pleases all day. Honestly I don't think I'd do it any other way.

4. It took a long time to house train and from what I read this is typical in a Beagle.

5. They don't quit eating. You MUST regulate strictly.

The good stuff.

Smart as an owl and can be trained with any type of food to do just about anything. I honestly think I could teach him to recite the alphabet for a piece of jerky.

Very family friendly. They are pack dogs and LOVE attention.

Short hair and don't shed much.

They make good house watchers with the barking and all.

Great hunters.

Overall he's a great dog and yes I'd get another one in a heartbeat. A bark collar is your best friend.

[LABS4ME]

Field Bred Cockers...

I have a field bred American and he is always 26 1/2 pounds. Great house dog, and this from a guy who never had a house dog....

Good Luck!

Ken

[deerminator]

I echo everything DTro mentioned. Beagles are great family dogs and we love our's. We have two and since they are so social, I think that they really help keep each other entertained. Not that we don't spend lots of time with them as it is, but they CRAVE attention. It's almost as if that if you aren't paying attention to them, they seek you out and make you do so. Ole, our older dog paws at me if I stop petting him and Sven, the younger one, follows me around the house all day. Again, this is not bad, but you need to make sure you can give them the attention they need. They need lots of excercise and play.

They also bark, sniff and chew - a lot so we always have plenty of kong toys stuffed with healthy snacks and rawhide rolls and chips available, especially during our own meal times. I put up a small 4x4 kennel with an insulated doghouse off it inside our garage as well so they can have their "rest time," when needed (excessive barking, interloping on meals) or when we are gone. Beagles like to investigate while you are away!

Bottom line, we love our Beagles and plan to get more when they go but they are smart and a little high strung, which means they can also get into trouble if you don't keep them occupied, entertained, and most of all - loved. Ole sleeps in whosever bed he chooses that night. Sven has to learn not to roam the house and pee at night and then he'll get that priveledge too!

I have thought about adding a third - Lena - but my wife says no way and I tend to agree with her!

[DTro]

And they keep learning...

7 years old and today was they day he decided he wanted to figure out how to get into one of these while I was gone:

I guess those Famous Daves leftovers smelled pretty good. I don't mind it so much except for the fact that there were 3 cooked ribs in there. Now I gotta watch him all night.

[deerminator]

Ha! Sven, our 1 1/2 year old will keep track of where we hide things and then get it later. He watched my wife stash a teddy bear of my daughter's he likes in our mud room under some coats. Half hour later he crept into the mud room, up into the coat lockers and pulled that thing out. He's found "his" teddy bear in other hiding spots too.

Back to Beagles, you might also want to consider taking up rabbit hunting too if you get one or two, a form of hunting most people, including myself, have never experienced. I've been doing some reading, though, and thanks to advice of B-Man in another post, may get into this fairly soon. I might even try it out after the holidays if confident enought.