To not want a beagle?

[tired1245]

We've always wanted a dog, house just feels empty without one as both had one when living at parents house.
He's got his heart set on a beagle, when i would love a cockapoo.
I've just heard always bad things about beagles, how they're hard to train and recall is awful.
I don't really want the hair either!
He won't be able to take a month off to train the dog when we get it, maximum 2 weeks.
With a cockapoo I just think they'll be a lot better to train, don't malt nowhere near as much as a beagle would and we've got a 3 month old, so the last thing I need is a dog running off on a walk when I've got a baby with me. What do we do?

I'd go back the drawing board I think. Family member has a cockapoo. They do need a lot of exercise. She has a few acres that it runs and plays in but then still needs to take it down the beach most days - which is fine for her as all children are grown up but not a pressure I'd want on top of a baby. I'v got a cocker and it is definitely madder as well. Very loving dog but yep mad.

Hey OP, you’re definitely crazy for wanting a puppy and a baby, but I’m getting a puppy and I’m 25 weeks pregnant so I am too!

Could you sit down with your husband and go through all the breed facts? That’s what I did with my husband, we knew we wanted a medium sized dog that was good with children but could still play with our resident 50k dog!

We eventually settled on a Labrastaff, we found the crossbreed ended up with a good amount of traits from both sides that worked well for us; same amount of exercise e already undertake with our current dog, excellent with children, the mix of their coats cancels out the common skin problems seen with their purebred parents etc.. it just works well for our family!

We currently have a 7mo and 20mo, and our current boy has just gone through a major regression in his training and it felt like he needed to be retrained from the beginning, which is common - dogs are like teenagers, they randomly test the boundaries with what they can get away with! It was stressful but totally manageable, especially if you already have training knowledge. Speak to a dog trainer now, we’ve already got ours booked (online if still in lockdown with weekly video calls and everyday access to fb page with videos, tips, tricks that we can contact her on with any struggles)!

Good luck! Dogs are just a stressful as children, but just as worth it!

You need months to train any sort of puppy. My snoozy Bichon is an easy little guy now but it took 6 weeks for him to be fully housetrained (and I worked really hard at it). He was 1 before he started to settle and became really “trained”. He’s 2 now and aside from 2 good walks a day and for someone to sit next to on the sofa in the evening he really doesn’t demand anything.

The puppy stage was one of the hardest parts of my life. And I'm a single mum of 3! I dreamt of being able to give mine away. He is 5 years old now and I love him more than life. But the puppy phase was so much harder than having a newborn at least you can put a nappy on a baby.

@vanillandhoney, I wonder if they vary and some have more of the "run all day" drive that a working hound would have.

A friend had one when she lived in Cornwall. She also had a horse. The dog would go miles every day with her and said horse, and would still have the energy to bog off and disappear in the afternoon.

And a lady who lives near me runs 3+ miles most days, with her beagle on a long lead. He's still full of beans in the evening, and ready to do it all again the next day.

Both the lakelands I've had have been more than willing to walk 10-15 miles (back in the days when I could walk that far) as long as they got a rest at lunchtime, but come the evening, jangling the lead at them just got you a "You must be joking" look and they would be noticeably tired for the next day or two.

I think if you get one from show lines, rather than working lines, they may be a very different matter.

When life gets back to normal Discover Dogs is a part of many events through the year and involves multiple breed owners taking their dogs to the event to allow the public to see, interact and ask questions. It's a great way to learn about other breeds you might not think of and meet the dogs

That's an excellent suggestion. Most of the people who do Discover Dogs will give you a warts and all view of their breed. The lakie people certainly did, I took my two to the London one a couple of times, and they told several people that really loved the dogs that they were unsuitable for their lifestyle and circumstances.

One woman was so manifestly clueless that the word was passed round the breeder grapevine not to sell her a puppy.

We have a Shih Tzu boy. When I one day look back on my life and consider the good things I did for my children, getting our Shih Tzu will come up tops. I can't tell you how much joy he brings every day. He is incredibly good-natured and wonderful with children. He is clown like and very amusing. So loving and absolutely part of the family. He is non-destructive (still has all his baby toys in tact) and doesn't moult.
Admittedly, he is thick as mince. His constant confused expression is brilliant. This made the toilet training very difficult indeed.
But what a dog, what a character! He's an excellent wee guard dog (until a would be burglar sets eyes on him! ) but only ever barks when there's good reason. He's fantastic with our cat too.
Happy with a lot or a little bit of exercise.
He is perfect for us!

@JojoLapin, when several terrier people tell you a breed is ... challenging, that must surely sound an alarm.

On here, there've been people with Welsh, Irish, Fox, Lakeland and JR terriers saying the same thing, despite us all having breeds that have the average lab or cavalier owner quaking in their boots.

Fox terriers were what I originally wanted, but my friend had recently lost his 2 when we were looking, and I thought getting a WHFT puppy so soon after that might upset him, so we went for a lakie. My late mum was a big FT fan too, she bred a couple of litters of smooths when she was young.

No-one told me that the little bastards can climb and open doors though. I was prepared for everything else, but that took me by surprise.

Please don't do this. I had 2 small kids 2&4 yo. And an older dog that Id bred who was about as perfect as is possible. I could not devote the time needed to the 2 puppies. Result poorly trained, fairly disobedient annoying dogs for life. A baby will fill every minute of every day. Your puppy will be ignored and neglected and you will spend 15 years regretting this frankly not very clever idea.

@BeagleTaleofWoe

Thank you for sharing the story of George! I loved it.
I'm curious to know if you are still the double of your mum?! The child on her lap is really just her in miniature form!

@IMissTheOutside There is never any guarantee with dogs, especially when they are poorly bred as these designer breeds are. You just don't know what to will cause problems, it's not as simple as one breed cancelling another out.

the mix of their coats cancels out the common skin problems seen with their purebred parents etc.

I am genuinly happy you've got a great dog and not anti-crosses but must caution that genetics are no so simple as to be able to cancel out the "bad" bits. In fact, it's easy to trace down the liklihood of genetic probems and see that F2 and beyond generations may still have all the same problems as the orignal pure breed grandparents, even if their parents seem healthy.

The best way forward is to look at all the health, coat and behavioural issues that are common with the contributing breeds and be prepared to handle any combination of those. In the same way you would with a single breed dog, but covering all the inputting breeds.

@TheSkyWasDark Thank you for the advice, they have full insurance cover anyway it just gives them slightly more chance of not having the issues. There isn’t a guarantee with any animal.

Beagles smell!

Wait until your baby is mobile- you may want to consider getting a dog at all.

A three month od baby is very easy to look after compared to a one year old.

@LakieLady I grew up with many smooth FT (my mother was also a breeder), they are most certainly not “easy” dogs and need an experienced hand but they are very very bright and huge fun. I love terriers. They are rascals but not in the “challenging” way that beagles can be.

I thought Beagles were supposed to be very docile which is why they are always used in animal testing rather than other breeds?

They used to be used in tobacco testing because (apparently) they have the right shaped mouth to puff/inhale

Beagles smell!

They really don't!

If you feed your dog the right diet, don't over-wash them and look after them, they shouldn't smell unless wet.

Mine smells vaguely of digestive biscuits

Beagles smell!

FreakStar All dogs smell All owners are blind to their dogs smell.

@LakieLady I don’t suppose you used to hang out on the old DogChat forum did you?

My current dog is JRT x Lakeland - fabulous dog. Does obedience/tricks/agility and is far cleverer than any other dog I’ve had including the collie. I’ve been converted to terriers having always previously been a collie girl 😁

@Herecomestreble1

They work though surely? I find working dogs are fab. If they are worked. If they aren't. They're a nightmare.

@Lansonmaid

My father was a police office and found a young border collie tied up on the side of a motorway. No one collected him. So we brought him home. He was fully trained. Someone had obviously put in hours and hours. Never understood what happened. He was the best dog we've ever had. He would walk by my mum off the lead. She'd leave me outside a shop (I'm old! We used to do this). The dog would guard me. No one could come near. He alerted us to many things. The local boys would knock on our door and take the dog off to play football (he was a whizz at football!!) so he was a well known local dog. He died when I was 5. But my god. Beautiful dog. So lovely and so well trained. I'd have another one in a shot. But it must of taken whoever did it a good year or so. He was about 5 when we found him.

Many moons ago the DCs wanted a beagle - vet told me they need 50 mile run a day!

We have a rehomed cockapoo. He is nearly 5 now & the nicest, completely chilled & gentlest dog ever. We've had him from when he was 8 months old & although he'd been well loved, hadn't been socialised so it took a while. I'd get another in an instance.

@FreakStar

Beagles smell!

My two don’t