Is anyone here a beagle owner? We've been offered a one year old beagle and we'd really like to take him but I don't know much about the breed. He's fully papered, current on shots and has been fixed. His owners are divorcing and each of them is taking one of their dogs with two of them up to new homes. We have three dks (9, 7, and 5yo) who are great with animals and another dog (2yo terrier mix) and we'd like to get a cat in the near future. Are these dogs good with children or other animals? We don't have a fenced yard but I take our dog out for two one-mile walks and a couple of trips around the block each day. I'm assuming that they aren't terrible shedders since they are shorthaired but our terrier is quite a shedder so I'm not sure it would really make much difference one way or another. I'd love to hear what are the pros and cons with this breed and any experience you may have had with beagles. Thanks!

By Pamt on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 06:53 pm:

We have a basset hound which is the nearest cousin and we researched beagles before getting a basset. On the con side they are stubborn (but awfully funny/cute about it), shedders---yes even that short hair, can be barkers, and they do need a good bit of exercise. The walks and another dog to play with should help with that. On the plus side, they are a good size, can be good watch dogs because they'll bark when people come, very loyal, smart, and not aggressive or prone to biting. One other thing...hound dogs have a particular hound dog odor to them. It's not necessarily offensive, but definitely there---kind of a yeasty smell. Even after our dog just has a bath (she gets one weekly) she still has that hound dog smell. I think you'd be pleased with a beagle if you can commit to giving it enough exercise.

By Pamt on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 06:56 pm:

P.S. Our friends have a beagle and a dachshund and we have been dogsitters for them twice. Here's a cute pic of all three dogs sitting by the door. Three low to the ground long dogs--LOL Copper is the beagle that's "waving." She looooooves to snuggle too and is quite a lap dog.

By Jackie on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 07:53 pm:

Our first foster dog was a beagle/foxhound mix. We had her for 5 months. She was simply wonderful with the kids, and expecially Faith. Faith was under 2 when we had her for the 5 months. She would lay on the bed, and Faith would rub her, and be very grabby with her. This beagle did not show any signs of aggression what so ever. She was a real couch potatoe. She loved to sit on our lap, and just snuggle. She did shed.

By Reds9298 on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 08:51 pm:

We had a beagle from high school on and he's still happy and healthy living with my parents. He is WONDERFUL with children, you wouldn't believe it. I agree with the exercise, but if your kids will be playing with him often that should be covered. I have only good things to say about beagles. Ours *could* be a howler at night when he wasn't sure what he heard or saw, but he was also an outside dog. Baxter does shed quite a bit, but again, he was generally outside so it wasn't an issue.

By Hol on Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - 10:59 pm:

We have two Beagles, and they are my favourite breed! We also have a Brittany and he is DH's buddy. I love him , but the Beagles are mine. All of our dogs were shelter rescues.

My Beagles are girls. My DD also adopted a one eyed Beagle from the same shelter, and she is wonderful. She is patient and tolerant of my 21 month old grandaughter who really pours on the love, rather roughly at times. She has never snapped or growled. You can take food from her without a reaction. My "girls" are loving, calm, very good with our Brittany AND the cats. We have three cats, and they rub on the "girls" and they just stand there. My Beagles are rather lazy because they are older, but they never were wanderers. Males CAN be, but not always.

They do have that hound dog howl/bark, but not any more so than any other dog. Molly, my full-sized Beagle is overweight (they DO tend to "pork out" a little if they aren't active), but she will head for our woods in the back if she gets scent of a deer or other animal, but she comes right back. "Munchkin" is a "pocket Beagle" (like a miniature). She is a real cuddler. They are both extremely lovable and loyal.

They shed a little, but my cats shed worse. I can't think of one negative. I highly recommend the breed. I think you'll be glad if you decide to take him. Good luck.

By Tunnia on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 08:32 am:

I'm glad to read all the good things you all have to say about beagles. We are seriously considering getting a puppy next year and my dh and dd are pushing for a beagle while I'm still not sure because I didn't know anyone who has one and I don't know much about the breed.

By Ginny~moderator on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 09:57 am:

Cute, good with children, stubborn (and far stronger than you might think). Playful, very good companions from everything I've heard. If the dog hasn't had obedience training, that is a must. How do you feel about dogs and dog hair on upholstery? We have a Rottie (also shorthair) and I find Rottie hair everywhere. It seems to collect in little cloudy bunches under the edges of things.

If you don't have a fenced yard, you will have to be very careful the dog doesn't get out an opened door. And have you thought about walking two dogs at the same time - especially if they want to go in different directions?

By Tayjar on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 10:06 am:

We had a beagle and she absolutely loved our kids. She was so gentle with any kid that came to our house. Never growled, bit, snarled, or anything at any kid, ever. She was never food aggressive either. She did like her food to the tune of weighing in at 55 pounds. When we would have sleepovers, she'd be right in the middle of the action getting petted and eating popcorn. She was very protective of my kids. If they even whimpered in their sleep, she was there in a flash.

Her only downfall was she liked to hide DH's socks behind the couch and then sleep on them. We had to put her down a couple of years ago. We are seriously thinking about getting another beagle but we already have two dogs. If something happens to one of our current dogs, we will definitley get a beagle. OK, now I am seriously missing her and getting sad.

By Tink on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 10:41 am:

Thank you for all the info. I will have to be vigilant about keeping the doors shut. We've finally got our terrier to stay when the doors are open and we've gotten lazy. I'm not too worried about walking both dogs. The woman we are getting the beagle from is a trainer and we're going to have several meeting with her and Buddy before we give the final ok so I'll see how he is with the kids, what level of training he's had and get a better idea of what life is like for him now. I don't love the idea of their bark/bay/howl but we don't have any nearby neighbors so I'm not worried about it bothering anyone but me. Hol, is your pocket beagle really tiny? Everything I've read says pockets (under 8 inches) are nearly extinct but I think they sound adorable. I'd love to see a picture. Buddy is the smaller variety of beagle (under 13 inches) vs. the 15 inch variety.

Thanks again for all of your input. It was very reassuring that a beagle might be a perfect fit for our family.

By Hol on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 04:05 pm:

Wow, Dora! A 55lb. Beagle!! LOL!! I thought Molly was bad. She is 44lbs. and looks like a little tank. She was about 27lbs when we got her ten years ago, and she wasn't yet spayed. DH calls her "rump roast". LOL! He said that he is amazed how fast her little legs can carry her in the woods, tho, when she gets scent of something. She is a love, tho.

"Munchkin", my pocket beagle IS tiny. She weighs 22lbs, and stands about 10" off the ground. She is the about the size of a Dacshund, but with a little bit longer legs. She is so precious. When I take her to the vet, everyone loves her. She looks at you, cocks her ears, and tips her head and it is the cutest thing!! Poor baby was found sitting in the middle of a farm road, and brought to the shelter. Despite extensive advertising, no one claimed her. We think she was a "drop off". My vet thinks that she was someone's hunting Beagle who lived outside in a cage because it took a while to get her housetrained. However, she is middle aged, and from the looks of her little nipples, had been used as a breeder, too. We got her spayed. The first time I saw her at the shelter (I volunteer there), she was in a big dog bed filled with nice fluffy towels. She took all of her toys into the bed and dug and buried them in the towels. When I saw her, she looked like a "Munchkin", so that is her name.

Be careful in looking for a pocket beagle. They were bred in the 1700's, and had almost become extinct. In order to try to bring back the breed, they created some gentic problems like bow legs. Munchy's legs are slightly bowed. They are still around, but if you buy one, check out the breeder really well. I met a man recently who had one that was 7 months old. If you adopt from a shelter (my choice), have a vet check her over well. They are a pretty hearty, healthy breed, overall. My DD's beagle only has one eye. The vet can't tell if it was injury or congenital. However, it doesn't slow her down. Her nose makes up for it.

Beagles do love to hide things. Molly will take her Milk Bones outside and bury them, then Howdy, our Brittany digs them up and eats them. He likes that game. LOL!

I am partial to female Beagles. They don't have as much wanderlust as males. They can be bums, tho still very sweet.

By Hol on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 04:06 pm:

I would post a picture of her, but:

a). I don't know how.

b). I don't have a digital camera.

By Tayjar on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 04:43 pm:

Hey, Hol. 44 pounds? That's a pretty good size dog, too.

Our beagle was found on the side of the road playing beside her dead mama. She was 5 weeks old when we got her. We were supposed to find a good home for her, but I fell in love at first sight.

Once she hit about 40 pounds, she just couldn't jump in the bed anymore. She instead would go to my DH's side of the bed and do this low growl/bark at him until he lifted her up. It wasn't a mean thing, just more of a demand. He was the only person she would do this, too. Then, she would push him over so she could lay between us. She really didn't know she was a d-o-g.

By Hol on Thursday, October 5, 2006 - 05:10 pm:

Dora- Yup, that's pretty typical beagle behaviour. LOL! My "grandbeagle" sleeps between my DD and SIL, as does one of their cats, and sometimes the baby. LOL!

Molly can't jump on the bed, either. She sleeps in her dog bed on our bedroom floor, with Munchkin. They cuddle together. Howdy sleeps in bed with us.

They do have "doggy steps" now that you can put next to your bed so that elderly/overweight dogs can get on the bed.