Beagle as a family pet?

[Sunseed]

I'm being mithered by DCs who are missing our late departed miniature dachshund and would like me to get a new dog. They seem set on a Beagle being the ideal breed. From my point of view it would be the right sort of size and I like that it is short-haired. We would be able to give it plenty of daily exercise, but I am a bit concerned about what I've read about them being great escape artists and high-jumpers.

Does anyone have personal experience of having a beagle as a pet, please?

We had a beagle/spaniel cross (she passed away last year) she was the most food obsessed smelly dog I've met. She was hard headed and obstinate and everything had to be done on her terms.
She was noisy and would make this Arooooo aroooo noise when she wanted food/attention/go in/go out which could be heard down the street.

Zero recall and didn't care about balls or sticks or dog toys.

But she loved my Kids,never so much as raised a lip. And she was such a help when the kids were little as she would happily eat everything that touched the floor(normally before it reached the floor) but she would not tolerate any one else outside our immediate family.

I love our beagle! Had her since a pup and she’s 12. She’s not noisy at all but she is food orientated which can drive you mad sometimes. Would I get another beagle? Yes in a heartbeat. As long as you know what you could get yourself into then they make a fantastic addition to the family. There’s a FB group called Beagle Banter which is brilliant.

Yes, they're extremely food orientated. No matter what training we put in place, ours will jump up at the table to get at whatever's on it. He polished off half a loaf of bread at the weekend because DP was on the phone and forgot to move it out of his reach.

Ours IS getting better but if you have anything he wants - namely meat or cheese, he will keep jumping up for it. We use baby gates to keep him away and work hard on training him to stay in his place while we're eating but it's definitely not foolproof. They're led by their noses and their ears switch off completely when they find a scent.

There’s a FB group called Beagle Banter which is brilliant.

Yes, this is a great group! waves I post on there a lot.

Hi Beagle Banterers!

Our beag is 9 and we've had her since she was a pup. She is awesome. But she can be a nightmare too. We worked really hard to train her, lost her many times when she was younger, but we persisted and as a result can walk her off lead, though would never 100% trust her. She had run after deer and rabbits - once they get a scent they go deaf. Also, food.. We had a family get together last week and she was found on the dining room table scoffing the buffet. She's food obsessed, stubborn, arooooos at the postie, and we have to constantly watch her weight, but I wouldn't change her for the world. Agree FB groups are a great support. However , I wouldn't recommend them as pets to anyone, especially if you've not had a dog before. They are not an easy option!

Beagles are runners! If you want to spend half of your life looking for a dog, get one. I have a friend with a beagle cross Jack Russell and he is fab.

The solution to that @Japanesejazz is to not let them off lead, surely?

Although most beagles I know can be let off lead with lots of training. There's one local to us whose three and he happily walks around off-lead next to his owner. He's never shown any sign of bolting.

Yes they're scenthounds but that just means you need to use those traits to your advantage.

Beagle1's finest moment was jumping onto the table at SILs and scoffing half a pound of cheese in ten seconds.

Beagle2 was better behaved but still ate a whole raw onion when SIL dropped it.

Bless 'em - affectionate, funny and with the best ears and tails of any dog ever. But hard bloody work

First Christmas we had Mimi,our beagle cross, we came home to find the 3 advent calendars that we had mounted on the wall were on the floor. She had bounced against the door which wobbled the internal wall//flapped the calendars and ate the lot. It was December 1st. Thank God it was cheap kinnerton chocolate.

Bloody tank.

Sorry if its too late, I'm not a dog expert but a beagle would be the last dog on this earth I would have as a pet.

My family have one and She is a beautiful looking dog, but that is the only nice thing about her. She is the most difficult dog I have ever come across.

I think a beagle is a dog that should be working, and around other beagles, so its just really depressed as a family dog.

@3luckystars surely that depends on the family and how much work they do with the dog?

Beagles are hard work but that doesn't mean they're not good family pets. They require a lot of exercise - not just mentally but physically. We do daily training and scent work with ours on top of two walks a day. Miserable beagles are those who don't get enough input or exercise.

A tired beagle is a happy beagle.

I agree. They do loads of walks etc but the beagle seems to be on another level and needs a huge amount of work altogether. You sound totally devoted so your beagle is lucky to have found you!

Thank you!

He is bloody exhausting but he's a good boy really and he's very rewarding. He loves to learn and will do anything for food so training is a doddle.

But he's also very clever and you do need to be one step ahead of him practically all the time. We train him to do scent work with him several times a day - basically he has to work or hunt for every single bit of food he gets. You can see his brain working as he figures out what we want!

I have a beagle. He is a healthy weight, we are strict on what he eats, learnt what the correct amount for him was and we are careful not to give him scraps.
He does get up on the kitchen sides a lot and does like to sit around my ds as he eats. Not even crafty anymore, he will try and steal food from Infront of us and give us a 'you can't see me' kind of look
He barks a lot at other dogs while on the lead
But we let him off at our local dog park and we have never had any problems. He isn't great at recall but he is getting better.
He is a big softy and is great with ds who is nearly two. They often play together and he is aware to be careful and gentle with him. We play hide and seek in the house and he will help ds seek. Ds will without fail call for buddy as soon as we step into the house. He has to be crated if we are out as he had major anxiety though. Hopefully as he gets older this will change. He is nearly three and I've heard they start calming at 6!