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 have a cockapoo. He is lovely but he's 5. They require training. They get bored easily and they need to be with people. Until this he went to a class every week.

Personally, I wouldn't get a dog either a new baby. Puppies are hard work.
And I'd be really careful about rehoming with a small child.

“I work with dogs and find cockerpoos to be hyper, neurotic, prone to separation anxiety, temperamental, vocal (and by that I mean they never stop fucking screaming) and often very quick to snap without warning”

I’ve met a disproportionate amount of cockerpoos like that too tbh...

My assumption would be that because they’re so popular and so easy to make money from that there’s a lot of them being bred from dogs that don’t have great temperaments and you can end up with exaggerated worst traits from both breeds.

I think I'd keep arguing about what breed to get for at least the next nine months, with a three month old baby. . .

Make that, more like 5-6 years? I have a toddler and she is harder work than a baby. Her basic mode is to toddle around merrily trashing the house while I run around trying to clean up one mess after another. The thought of dealing with that and a puppy is making my eyes pop out.

Get a good old mongrel!

My assumption would be that because they’re so popular and so easy to make money from that there’s a lot of them being bred from dogs that don’t have great temperaments and you can end up with exaggerated worst traits from both breeds

Yep.

I could even handle having our cat when mine were babies. My kids are now 6 and 8 and were only just considering getting a dog. I've heard puppies are more hard work than babies!

That should say couldn't lol

Fair enough FreakStar (I like a mutt too!) but where should she acquire said mongrel from? A calm older dog who is already well trained would definitely be ideal but I don't think there are many rescues who will even consider rehoming to a household with such a young baby, and the rare rescue who would may not have a 'perfect' dog available, a lot of dogs in rescue will have issues of one kind or another and the more flexible/smaller rescues in my experience are not always the kind that take in nice easy dogs whose owners just can't keep them through no fault of their own, they are often ex-street dogs from europe or ex breeding stock and these can be really hard work (lovely dogs eventually I am sure but if OP arguably doesn't have time for a well-bred pup she 100% doesn't have time to rehabilitate a traumatised adult)...ditto for people who advertise their dogs free to a good home on gumtree, I think someone earlier in the thread posted she'd got her dog this way and it was fine but it must be massively risky as perfect well trained family pets surely don't end up being flogged off on the internet for the most part...

So alternatively if OP buys a dog/puppy she needs to be really careful about all the risks described on the thread already, puppy farmers, health issues, poor/indiscriminate selection of parents, badly brought up/socialised puppies etc etc. Plus there's no such thing as a breeder selling 'mongrels' any more it's all 'poos', 'doodles' or other such made up names. I guess somewhere out there there probably is someone whose unspayed bitch has had an accidental liaison and who now genuinely wants to find great homes for the resultant mutt puppies and doesn't care about making a quick buck, but the problems with that are so myriad, (a) yes accidents do sometimes result in lovely healthy sweet tempered pups but they just as often result in the exact opposite, after all neither parent will have been selected for temperament or health checked (b) if the owner is not experienced will the puppies have been properly raised and socialised? (c) the 'accidental litter' is a very common cover story for puppy farmers.

So all in all if OP really must have a dog at all, a well bred pup from a carefully selected breeder, which has known, healthy, really good tempered easy going parents is her best bet. Like others I don't think a cockerpoo/cross breed is the likeliest to fit the bill for all the reasons covered already and a pedigree (whilst no guarantee) is the safest option...

You have a baby, why would you want a dog? You are being foolish and make work for yourself.

It’s not unknown to want both, it doesn’t have to be one or the other. Dogs are a lot less work than babies.

Please do not get a beagle or any other sort of dog until your baby is at least a year old. As pp have correctly pointed out, they're not easy to train and have one consistent trait : picking up a scent and following it, however long that takes. I don't think that it would be a good idea for you and/or your baby to be walking through a downpour in dense woods for several hours calling (unsuccessfully) for your beagle's return. This happened three months ago to a friend of mine (who has no children). Eventually, when she had given up for the night, she returned to her vehicle and the dog was there. Please don't choose a hound. Their priority is following a scent, not listening to you.

What a judge preachy wee shower you all are on Mumsnet. Maybe it's an English thing? So everyone who buys a mixed breed dog doesn't give a shit about where it came from and is happy to hang over their money to "Clive" or whoever? You lot don't half talk a load of utter shite.

I'm Scottish actually and literally no one said that anyone who buys a mixed breed dog doesn't give a shit about where it came from. What I personally take exception to is the intentional cross breeding of dogs, giving them whimsical names and selling them for no other reason than to make a quick buck. Where did you find your breeder? Were the parents health checked?

We're not talking shite but you are however spitting your dummy out because some of us had the audacity to point out that you are not guaranteed a placid, sweet natured angel of a dog when you buy an overpriced mongrel. If that makes us a "judgy wee shower" I don't give a fuck.

Hear hear ^

Beagles are hard to let off lead. I have a cockapoo and you won’t see nice comments about them on here as people seem to think they can tell people what they spend their money on despite the people who buy them having no problem. But mines a lovely dog, well trained, doesn’t mould. Just need to bear in mind grooming tests

Also plenty of puppy farms breeding pedigree dogs but everyone blames it on those breeding cross breeds (not mixed breed)

And any dog can be naughty / untrained. You need to invest time and energy into training a dog. No way I’d even do it with an under 5 let alone a baby. I’d wait 5yrs. So many ended up being rehomed

I'm a dog walker. I have a Cockapoo. We got him after we looked after several Cockapoos and fell in love with them.
My dog walking friend has two beagles she walks and they're a nightmare. She also rates Cockapoos.
All dogs can be hard work. I think we was just lucky with ours, as he's been so placid from day one.
Must admit I don't miss the 3am wake up calls for a toilet trip to the garden.

Babies+puppies+limited time to train it=get a kitten instead

We have had our beagle for 10 years first 2 years were a nightmare now she is lovely but stubborn. Please don't get one as so many people give them up and it's so unfair. Unless you have experience with beagles I would not get one. They are however wonderful with children. I would not trust any dog with a baby whatever breed they are. We didn't get our dig until our youngest was over 5 years old. Will I ever have another beagle yes I will but I've 10 years experience and know what beagles are like.

We do let our beagle off lead but it took a very long time training. A friend's beagle doesn't even have a lead when out walking

Our old lady staffie cross is just amazing. I'd rescue another staff in a heartbeat.

It all depends on the individual dog, not just the breed.

BIL & SIL used to have a beagle. He had excellent recall, gave the best cuddles, was very well trained (even after he lost one eye) although he did have a penchant for socks, and would very carefully take them off a toddlers feet to devour!

PIL have a cockapoo. She's lovely, totally daft and wild, not the best with recall, jumps up and all over anyone who walks in the house, steals anything she can get in her mouth (lighters and pens are among her favourites) and runs into the garden with them or chews them to bits! Because she's so excitable, she jumps up at all the kids and has been known to accidentally scratch their faces or arms.

I would definitely include other potential breeds in your search

Sure it's been said a million times but with a rescue you have a more clear idea in advance of their temperament, regardless of breed, and don't have the ball-ache of training a puppy.