Beagles?

[Wotsitsareafterme]

Talk to me if you have one. What are they like? Pros and cons. I am planning a puppy later in the year. A friend has a beagle cross who is a very nice gentle dog in a house with v small dc. I am in love with this dog. There is beagle puppies locally but stopping myself going to see them before I have done some research. Our dog criteria is not too big, good with kids and not too much slobbering!

We had several beagles as a family growing up. They are not typical pets. I certainly wouldn't do it now but we lived on a farm. They need a lot of exercise and tend to be pack animals.

My BIL has a beagle and she is full on (but lovely).. He's not away from home for long (max 4 hours at a time) and she's destroyed his kitchen floor, dining chairs, the list goes on ha! He's athletic so has long daily walks/runs but needs constant attention.

My Aunty also has a beagle - slightly better behaved but has calmed down considerably since reaching 7years. Still opens kitchen cupboards and unwraps food to scoff down which is hilarious for guests - but not when he's managed to get Into the chocolate tin resulting in a costly vet visit! She's invested heavily in behaviour training and he attended doggy day care until she retired.. But he was still a handful..

Do it if you've got a shed load of time, energy and a complete commitment to the breed - they're not all the same obviously but not a breed I would consider lightly

My parents had two (sadly they have both died in the last 12 months) from about 12 weeks old. They lived until they were 11.

One was a jumper and the other a tunneller. As puppies they were eacape artists. they were 'safe' around kids but not fond of them so kept their distance. They get fat if you don't excercise them alot

Oh and as puppies they trashed everything. I was in my late teens living at home at the time and it used to drive me mad!

My mum has one. I never thought a dog could be untrainable until this one. A nose on legs. But very clever and manipulative. Their garden is now like Fort Knox. No recall. Don't do it.

Quite a few of them are noisy - some will bark/bay/howl for ages. They are a scent hound after all (a hound which "runs mute" - is silent when on a scent- won't be used for breeding, so there has been active selection over many generations for noise, and this still persists in the genes of some of the show/pet type ones).

Thank you all for your honesty. I did suspect one might be too much. A friend of mine is after the puppy I want so maybe I will observe this from a distance and see how they get on with a beagle until I'm ready