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?

Some of you should start vlogging your beagle adventures, sounds hilarious!

Made me laugh because it's true.

When our dog came to us, the first words she learned to recognise were "walkies" and "what's this?". If she hears "walkies" she runs to where we keep her lead and then capers about all excited. If she hears "what's this?" she thinks she's about to get a snack and goes full action stations. She'll lie on her belly and drag herself with her front paws all the way to the fridge, the dragging is to convince us that she's weak from hunger. She then lies there in front of the fridge door making the "I'm wasting away!" face and whining sorrowfully while doing the head tilt. She once heard me opening a pack of Jumbones and nearly took my 5yr old out in her rush to get to the kitchen, skidded on the kitchen floor, and slammed headfirst into the cupboard door.

Mine bin raids. He used to get stuck in the wheelie bin when he was a puppy. Once would assume if he could get in he could get back out but unless it was more than halfway full he could not. This occurred daily until he was big enough to reach what was in the bin without jumping in. We now have a bin shed.

My mum had beagles growing up and has many tales of them rolling in fox poo. Getting lost on walks and taking themselves home. Clearly I didn't take any of it in as I got a hound myself, albeit a different type. Adorable chaos sums up my hound experience.

In my opinion beagles are the best breed you could have but they are not for everyone.
So many are given up in the first year because people don't do their research.
Yes they do get a scent and go deaf but that's not them being naughty, it's what they have been bred for. We let them off the lead in the countryside and they are pretty good at coming back after they've had a good run.
They don't smell bad, only bark to go out and howl once in a blue moon.
As for needing loads of exercise, I class two walks a day as pretty standard for most dogs. Ours are actually happy with one long run with lots of smells and then being in our garden.
Yes they love food and will try it on but you have to be really firm. Give in once and you're done for!
They really love human company and are super affectionate. They have the sweetest nature and are great with children. Yes they can be stubborn but it's quite funny and part of their personality.
Ours have never destroyed any furniture but socks are fair game! Dogs usually do damage because they're bored.
I do think they have quite unique qualities and that makes them the best dog for us but could equally mean they are the worst choice for others.

Wow, there isn't half a lot of bollocks being talked here..

Not pet dogs? All the KC reg show bred Beagles are pet dogs, obviously avoid puppy farmers but otherwise, they're a good pet dog.

They are the smallest of our scent hounds, and bred to usually be followed on foot, not on horseback (though traditionally, by fairly fit young men running after them it has to be said).

Many of the problems people are describing are not specific to Beagles at all but are pretty common problems that arise as a result of people not understanding scent hound temperament and breed traits or plain not understanding dog behaviour at all.

'Creeping' which I have just seen mentioned is a dog thing, not a Beagle thing, and it is something dogs may do if they fear the reaction of their owner - that fear may be learned through experience with that owner, or with a previous owner or it may not be justified at all but may be a result of poor genetics. It is an appeasement behaviour designed to avoid a confrontation or aggressive response.

It is frequently mistaken for meaning 'my dog knows she's done wrong' but this is incorrect - it simply means they've added up owner behaviour + context and are now feeling the need to appease. I have seen dogs do this who did nothing wrong at all and this has been tested fairly thoroughly by canine ethologists and scientists.. its bunkum.

Scenthounds and hounds in general are often described as stubborn, bloody minded, ignorant, stupid even - they are none of these things.

They are mostly bred to be independent, to work at some distance or even great distance from a human, to work with groups of other hounds or to work with a hawk even... and very strongly bred to NOT quit hunting if distracted, to not be easy to distract from the sight or scent of game.

To label them stupid and stubborn for doing the job they were bred for hundreds of years to do... is pretty stupid and bloody ignorant don't you think?

They are often clever, almost always determined, generally food motivated (for the scent hounds anyway, less so the sighthounds) and its easy to see what will motivate these dogs to work with you - the opportunity to chase, to scent, to track.

To be a hound owner you do need patience, they do not do things the instant you demand it - you learn not to demand, you learn to suggest, you build a strooooooooong history of reinforcement for both listening and compliance, and a strong positive relationship, you employ sensible management (don't let them off in 100 acres of ground riddled with rabbit, hare and deer scent dummy!) and you train.

If you are the person who can show your dog where the good scents are, the trails that lead to something amazing (food, a hidden favourite special toy), you become the key to getting to do the thing they love to do... and they'll be inclined to listen to you.

Stick one on a lead and try to train it like its a collie, expecting collie like responses and a inbuilt desire to follow your instructions and yes, you will be disappointed and hate owning a scenthound.

I don't really think any dog is low maintanance - for me, I'd rather work to earn their co-operation and respect when it comes to general obedience, but have an easy time with them getting on with other people and dogs, than have an easily obedient dog that is much less easy going socially.

Oh and for the people who keep suggesting lurchers as low maintenance breeds, please stop it.

A deerhound/greyhound/teeny splash of collie MIGHT be easy going... a bedlington whippet collie almost certainly won't be. A bull x greyhound x malinois (yes v popular now!) will be a rocket powered murder machine of a dog. There are as many lurcher variants as you've had hot dinners and some of them will be an absolutely NIGHTMARE for some people and some will be perfection in dog form!

The smell, I'm guessing, comes from the ears. Any breed with floppy ears is prone to ear infections which stink. If you have a stinky Beagle you likely need to check the ears and either clean them or take a quick trip to the vet for some ear drops.

Mine is a cross and doesn't have the floppy ears and doesn't smell at all. I do have a floppy eared terrier who is prone to stinky ears. We clean them once a week as routine and daily if they start getting a bit dirty or smelly. He also has repeat prescription for anti fungal ear drops.

If you're really keen on a hound and are prepared to put up with everything you've read on this thread I can suggest www.facebook.com/casadegriffon. They get in a lot of hounds/beagles/crosses thereof. It's where ours came from. They often get abandoned pups too. Ours was four months when he came to us.

Scenthounds, are not, in my opinion, the best choice for a first dog. Sighthounds generally make good first dogs as they're much more easy going. Ime, the easiest first dog would be a retired greyhound, an italian greyhound, a chihuhua or an 18 month + staffy. Whippets are hit and miss. They have a repuation for being the typical, laid back, lazy sighthound but the only two have I known personally have been as mad as a box frogs on speed.

Yes its called speaking in hunting terms, our first beagle who was from a hunt kennel made this baying noise when on the scent of a fox. She was a 'proper' hunting beagle.

Partner rescued her from kennel man who was a friend as she was 2 inches too short at the shoulder as was going to be shot, she was only a couple of months old. We had her for 14 years, lovely dog.

No.

I second the suggestion of a longdog (lurcher, greyhound etc.) They need one good long walk, but are then very happy to curl up and do nothing the rest of the day.

I love beagles , my parents had a series of them, but they lived in the deep country and gave them plenty of exercise which they really need. They are greedy items and will steal food whenever possible - we lived near a school and they used to steal out of the kitchen swill bins, despite the cook’s best efforts.

They are affectionate and lovely with children, especially if those children enjoy a lot of running about games with them and have the space to do so. They are trainable to recall, though one we had used to occasionally just pick up a scent and disappear far over the horizon. Always came back at some point but worrying.

Never encountered any smell problems in a domestic setting. Foxhounds on the other hand……… Wonder if people are getting them confused ?

I was thinking about this as I was cycling around our outer London suburb on the weekend - saw 5 beagles on different walks ( pavement, leads) and wondered if they had become fashionable now, due to their cute looks. I silently judged - they aren’t meant to be round, and all those I saw were carrying too much weight for their health.

@JellyfishandShells funny you mention that. Beagles are #7 on the popular breed list in the USA but something like #26 in the UK list. Americans seem to have a different perception of them compared to Brits and see them as more cutsey vs scent hound. Maybe the perception is changing

@WiddlinDiddlin yeah I guess there's different ways of measuring dog intelligence. Obedience is one way but as you mention being able to do the job they've been bred for is another way

@IamMummyhearmeROAR My toddler and beagle cross gang up on me to steal my food. They're in cahoots.

My Grand Basset can't do tricks, is baffled at the idea of recall (if I want to be with him why aren't I there with him?)..

Oh but he can ... trick his sister Saluki out of the comfy spot by telling her there are rats outside... or asking for the door open (which for her means ratting!) and then diving into the comfy bed the minute her skinny butt vacates it.

He can tell me my blood glucose levels are off, even if I am asleep.

He has even (begrudgingly, I admit) learned that I have no interest in knowing if anyone ELSES BG levels are off...

He can also display intelligent disobedience - one of the few cues he knows is 'Get Mummy' which is actually the cue for him to climb on top of me and squish me and do deep pressure therapy which I need for muscle spasms, and he does like this as basically he leaps on me for a full body cuddle.

He will respond to the cue straight out of a doze , from sniffing, anything BUT... if either of my hands are full, he won't jump on me - because that might be dangerous, I could have a brew or something sharp in my hands!

And yet, no he isn't the obedient, fast reacting border collie like paragon of doggy virtue... but equally, a looooooooong way from stupid.

Mine is startingly clever, as I said in my original reply. He has taught himself how to open the oven, freezer, cupboard and kitchen door. He can also open the door to the back garden and will let the chihuhua in and out when she asks him to.

He's really quick to learn new commands and always eager to train/play clicker games.

He's not 100% with obedience. Unlike a collie, his main motivation is not to please me. His primary motive is to gain snacks. His secondary motive is to find play or affection. If he finds a scent or there is a possibility of finding more love or food elsewhere than I have my pocket he will consider his options before obeying me. He's still only a pup at 18 months old so I am holding out hope that with continued reinforcement and patience his obedience and concentration will improve. In the meantime I am careful where I let him off leash and he always wears a harness with a handle on the back for easier control when he's outside or when we have guests.

I have no idea what he is crossed with but he is very Beagle-ish in his behaviour and temprement.

I say this as a beagle mummy, with 4 of my own, and have fostered over 30 beagles with the charity beagle welfare.

Definitely not 'low maintenance' every bad habit you can think of in a dog, I have encountered with beagles! Definitely get something else, and smaller!

Photo for pure seratonin ❤️

My beagle is bonkers. She is only allowed in the living room unsupervised.. She can open doors ( ours are all slide doors) and move chairs. she is 2 and has worked out how to move the furniture to get onto the kitchen table. She is extremely food motivated. She isnt stinky . If the kids leave the garden gate open even for a second she across the road at the neighbours. She has bonded to the old man at the end of the street the man across the road the old lady behind us. She is as loyal as her next snack. She is walked twice a day and has access to the garden but is still slightly mad.

I have two, they are definitely not low maintenance, stubborn, hard work need a lot of attention. Don't like being left alone, can be noisy, they are affectionate, but you have to put a lot of effort it.
If you are looking for low maintenance something like a coton poo would be better. X