To get a beagle?

[mashh]

My parents think I am. DF says they are hunting dogs so are hard to train and very noisy. DM says they are working dogs, not family dogs and no one really gets them as domestic pets.

DP grew up with one so is happy to have one but says his childhood dog was stubborn and had bad recall. I personally just don't want a big dog and preferably a low maintenance breed. Aibu to consider beagles?

Beagle? Low maintenance? Hilarious.

and as for someone saying “easy to train”?! Not in my experience! Fuck that.

Beagles are not low maintenance!

We've got a couple in the family and my god they are greedy. Like distractingly so. Lovely dogs, great temperament, but definitely naughty.

I have a rescue beagle, I found out in the first month why she was turned in to the shelter 🙈.

definitely not low maintenance, obsessed with food to a level you wouldn’t believe, incredibly intelligent but very stubborn. Sheds so much I feel like loosing my mind but the most beautiful nature you could imagine.

I wouldn’t get a beagle again because of the shedding more than anything else but she’s here 5 years now and wouldn’t be without her. Even though she drives me insane sometimes

I personally wouldn't recommend a beagle. We have a 2year old beagle that we have had since he was 9 weeks old.oh my days , it's been and still is sometimes hard work. For the 1st year he nipped the children constantly and destroyed the house. He isn't easy to walk and has no recall outside of the home. Again he is greedy and constantly begging or sniffing around for food. We love him but it's been a real tough ride.

They can be lovely, in fact I don't know of any that have a side to them.
But! My God they can be noisy.

Of the 10 I know well, only 3 of them are "normal" on the noise front. The others howl, bark and bay for fun. Not just for a short amount of time either, they have some stamina!!

I would say yabu to even consider one.

I wanted a beagle for exactly the same reasons as you. However I did some research and decided it was not for me. Also, have you actually heard one? The howl is quite something.

I also noticed there were a lot of beagles available as rescues - all about 9 months/ a year

My niece had a beagle but had to rehome him because he had massive separation anxiety and they couldn't leave the house.

In the end we got a cocker spaniel. Not without his challenges but a little easier to manage than a beagle I think.

You could do the beagle test?

Get a brick, an ordinary house brick will do. Take it to the woods, throw it into the bushes then spend two days calling for it to come back. After 2 days retrieve brick, go home and rip up your own sofa. Shut brick in laundry room for its own safety. Spend the evening sat in the wreckage listening to a recording of of a beagle howling every 5 minutes. See how many of your neighbours come over to complain.

If this sounds fun you'd be a good fit for a beagle. Lovely dogs, but an expensive pain in the arse.

I come across a two year old beagle while dog walking.. The owner is exasperated and says she can’t take her eye off him for a moment as he will eat what ever he finds - he’s had operations to remove items he’s swallowed. He can be pet off the lead but is easily distracted, he’s also lovely and friendly but he sounds such hard work. I don’t know how typical he is for the breed.

BUT the downsides are .. off lead, it is true that the nose goes down and the ears become purely decorative.

Can't emphasise this enough. We have a Basset Fauve - French scent hound with very similar temperament to a Beagle. These type of dogs cannot be trusted off lead in an open space. The scent instinct is unbelievably strong and once they have a sniff of game they follow their own path and recall goes out the window. If you think about it, Beagles are bred to run in packs and be followed by humans on horseback. They give chase and you have to follow - that's how they are wired....

Know a few Beagle owners who say they are lovely with people and very affectionate family dogs. But very stubborn independent spirit. You'll never fully train them.

DH lived with a Beagle (his Ex's dog) and it's about the only breed he wouldn't consider were we to get a dog.

Couldn't take him off the lead, ever, no recall whatsoever if he was interested in something else, food obsessed, wildly high maintenance.

HUGE personality, but you pay for it.
Constant shedding of little spiky hairs. Will steal food.. any food, right in front of you. (We lost the christmas turkey the first year - the dog climbed on a bar stool, grabbed it and took off. Keystone style chase with Benny hill music ensued).
They also can be anxious.
No agression and love everyone and everything.
When the head goes down the brain leaves the builidng and the PP that said the ears become purely decorative is spot on. The upside is the dog can always find you and being a hound owner is a mind shift. Invest in a tracker if you are going to let them off lead.
They are loving, funny, full of personality, stubborn, prone to destruction and disappearance, and definitely not easy.

God no. My PIL had a beagle. It was incredibly greedy, obsessed by food and it put its front paws on the table at every meal and barked constantly. Untrainable, no recall, stank. The only time I ever liked it was when it bit my father in law after refusing to go for a walk with him.

We have a scent hound and we never let her off lead in wooded areas, she smells squirrels and her ears turn off. Most other areas she's fine off lead, but you do have to have lots of treats. Obedience and training is perfectly possible, but they have a 'what's in it for me' attitude eg you can ask her to sit, but until she sees a reward she won't do it.

Lovely dogs though and the only breed for me now. Ours only barks when out and her favourite thing is playing with her doggy pals.

Beagles can be very loving dogs, as others have said - but (also as said) they usually have a LOT of issues that can be difficult to manage and live with.

Our neighbours have 2 and and jeez, are they NOISY feckers! They yodel all the time, even on walks, especially when they spot another dog.

A colleague's daughter got a pair of beagles as family pets; unfortunately, she and her husband worked full-time - the dogs destroyed the house in their boredom. Mind, other dogs might well do that!

Other beagles in our town are all overweight - too greedy and not exercised enough (because they need a lot of daily exercise).

There are lots of other dogs which would be massively easier to manage - someone mentioned lurches, which rescues are full of, because they're not fashionable. They're brilliant dogs.

We have a beagle. I would say she is definitely low maintenance when it comes to her coat. She can come home muddy after her walk but she always goes to sleep when she gets home. When she wakes up she's dry and all the mud is gone. She's a self cleaning dog 😃

We have a beagle.

In terms of grooming he's incredibly low maintenance but I wouldn't say he was a low-maintenance breed in general - he's an amazing house dog though.

He has separation anxiety and can't be trusted off the lead unless at the beach or in a secure field. Otherwise it's nose down, ears off and away he goes.

If you're looking for a dog that will trot away next to you on a walk then they're not the breed for you! They need lots of input when they're out and about and they're very easily distracted.

But at home he is amazing. As long as he's had a walk and some food he will sleep and cuddle the day away. He loves fuss, loves people and loves nothing more than curling up next to you under a blanket.

I've always loved Beagles (to look at, as a PP said).

Strangely enough, when we did a 'which dog is best for you' quiz before we got Ddog, a Beagle was in the top 3 as a family dog / not guard dog. We did our research which mentioned having a strong scent drive, and then saw a distraught woman in Richmond Park whose two Beagles had just run off.

So we got a wonderful Border Terrier instead.

Close friends family had ex-airport working beagles when they were retired. They were beautifully cared for and kept entertained and exercised (rural property) but still caused no end of chaos.
One got in through the sun roof of a Ute and ripped the whole interior to pieces trying to find the food it could smell.
Also snuck into the kitchen, stole a whole salmon and buried it in the garden (he was trained to locate certain foods but not eat it).
Very beautiful, intelligent and lovely but prone to mischief!

Oh god no! Not if you are looking for low maintenance! There are many in my local country park, only one is ever off lead and it is 14 and obese. The howling, the food obsession, the spiky hairs, the selective deafness. They are very cute and friendly though!

Some generic advice...There is a rarely a perfect breed.
All breed traits have their flip sides
Dogs bred for companionship who dote on their owners and like a cuddle are prone to also be dogs that are a bit needy, will follow you to the toilet and be upset when left

Dogs that are foody tend to be more trainable but also tend to be ones that raid your bins

Dogs that are playful and active, are playful and active on the soggiest winter day.

Different people want different levels of thungs from a dog, I dont care about recall for example but do care about being good with horses, I dont mind a dog that is a more one person dog, but would mind one that over heats in the sun. What I think is reasonable in terms of grooming time, training time or time left alone might not be what you think.

Theres no such thing as a universal perfect dog as what your looking for in a dog will be different to what I am.

Beagles are perfect for some owners, awful for others. They are often a dog that can't be let off, and that raids your bin but are also likely to be good family dogs

Beagles are amazing but very high maintenance in terms of behaviour. Grooming wise they are low maintenance in that they will just wipe the dirt off on your carpet /rugs / side of the sofa 😂

I have a Beagle Bitch 9 Years Old.

Positives:
She is very loving with humans and good with other dogs.
She has never growled at a human or another dog (even when our new puppy was annoying her). The most she does is a little grumble if she is unhappy.
She gives her paws and sits up when asked.
She knows commands like outside, bed, lay down and some others.
She is a beautiful looking dog.
She has only ever howled when she was frightened.

Negatives:
We don't let her off her lead (we take her to a field for running).
She sheds a lot.
The smell of chicken sends her wappy but we have never over fed her so she is not over weight.
She will bark if she sees another dog walk by our house but never bats an eyelid when she meets another dog outside.

We have had the best 9 years with her and my DH definitely prefers her to our other very cute non Beagle dog.

The biting, smelling & being totally untrainable is the opposite to ours.

Also, the hours of exercise is puzzling me, as much as mine likes a walk her favourite place is definitely curled up on her blanket on the sofa.

I'm beginning to think we did alright training her because she is such a good dog.

I think some people on this thread are wildly exaggerating the negatives of a beagle. I feel like I have to stand up for this very loveable breed!

My beagle is perfectly behaved unless there's food or a truly irresistible scent involved (her weakness is deer). You couldn't ask for a better dog indoors and they are very trainable. You just have to reduce the opportunities to lose their heads. So we only let her off the lead in a secure area or if we have the time for her to go on a little jaunt! I'm glad picnic season is over as that makes life a lot easier.

They're cute and gentle souls, and will do anything for treats. My dog has learned an impressive retinue of tricks! They just needs exercise to keep the pounds off and lots of work on recall, so not low maintenance by any means. But they are amazing family dogs and only smell if you never wash them.