Beagles?

[opalescent]

Can anyone tell me about their experience of beagles?
We are a family of four- myself and DH, and our 8 & 4 year old children.

We'd really like a compact and friendly dog. Prepared to walk daily, and have a decent large green space over the road.

Medium sized house, and a good sized garden.

I predominantly work from home, and will continue to do so. Occasional 1-2 trips outside of the home during the day, where our dog would be alone.

We really like the idea of a beagle, but would love to know more!

They like the sound of their own voice ;) so you need to be prepared for noise and have understanding neighbours.

As a hunting dog breed they are led by their nose and it’s risky having them off lead in open spaces, even with the best recall training.

@vanillahoney has one I think.

I think they're wonderful fun dogs. But yeah - unreliable recall and aren't loners!

They are gorgeous though

Gorgeous.

My godson had one & he was very loyal, very cuddly, not noisy & generally a complete delight....BUT my godson was in his 20's snd due to an accident had brain damage and he could spend a lot of time with the dog training it to do daft things (goid mental stimulation for the dog) playing games with it & Walking for many, many miles everyday

The things I've read about their noisy habits & bad behaviour means I wouldn't get one & take that risk. (And I'm a spaniel girl).

I think there are many 'easier' family dogs.

Beagle owner here 😊 I used to be @vanillaandhoney as mentioned upthread.

Pros:

• excellent with children and people, which is sadly why they're used as lab dogs
• easy to toilet train
• very affectionate dogs and love cuddles
• generally a very healthy breed
• great temperaments
• relatively low maintenance - no need for grooming etc.

Cons:

• prone to separation anxiety
• can be destructive and vocal when left
• love the sound of their own voice - a beagle bay is very noisy!
• need a good amount of exercise everyday - mine gets 1-2 hours a day minimum.
• food obsessed so you need to keep a close eye on them
• can be difficult to train as they're very independent and bred to work alone.
• can't always be let off lead due to high prey drives

They are fantastic dogs but not for the faint of heart. I'm a dog walker and mine comes to work with me everyday as he has severe separation anxiety and can't really be left longer than an hour. He has excellent recall as an adult but disappeared several times after deer and rabbits as a teenager 🤣

He's very friendly, great with children and strangers and loves company and cuddles - he's very tolerant. But they do require lots
of exercise and consistency.

Here's my boy doing what he does best ❤️

Oops photo didn't attach!

We’ve got a beagle. He’s 11 now.
I don’t know if he’s broken but he barely makes a noise . Howls a couple of times a week. He’s also not too bothered about food.
He’s amazing with our children. Also good with strangers. Good with all people really.
One long walk a day. His recall took a lot of work, but we got there in the end. Now he’s 11 he can’t be arsed to run off anyway.
We had a bit of separation anxiety in the early days but we got through it.
Generally he’s been low maintenance. Only one health issue (had a tumour on his spleen) but that was age related rather than breed related. Has his spleen removed and recovered brilliantly.
He’s been a wonderful family dog.

We had a foster beagle for 5 months he is adorable.
Very family friendly, but required alot of exercise.
Downsides r couldn't be left alone. Wrecked our flat. Chrs everything! And there was dog hair everywhere...

Unreliable recall and food obsessed! Saying that our beagle isn’t noisy at all. Hardly ever barks and doesn’t do the beagle bay. Very very friendly and brilliant temperament for kids. As our beagle has got older he’s happy curled up all day on the sofa but equally has the stamina for really long walks. Separation anxiety- yes I’d agree with pp, ours is never left for long though and goes to stay with family for holidays. They really do have the sweetest nature.

Shittest guard dog ever!! if you ever want to burgle our house - just bring a treat!

We have a girl beagle, currently 4 years old. The first 18 months of puppy hood was so hard going we wondered what on earth we had done! Don’t underestimate puppies of any breed...it is really tough. We have older pre-teenage children now and our beautiful girl has been great with them, good with family members and visitors in the past (pre-covid). She barks a lot now at post men/ delivery drivers when she never did before so blaming that on covid and protecting the family who are now at home more. She is food mad! She would steal a piece of meat off your plate if she could get near and would eat all day long. She loves walks and likes to roam in the back garden but also wants to come straight back in in case she’s missing something. She is extremely loving and loves cuddles and a fuss but is high maintenance. We love her to bits but I genuinely don’t think we would ever get another dog...beagle or not...she will be our first and last!!

I have 2 beagles (female 9 years old), male (15 years old). Both rescues.
Both lovely.
They will eat anything!!
Neither of mine are noisy really except the female when she gets excited for dinner/sees another dog.
They are strong willed and she’d a lot.
Neither of mine have been destructive of anything other than dog toys/beds.
And they are great with my severely disabled DD.

They do smell a lot too! So bear that in mind. I'm sure it's not all of them but every one I've ever known really doesn't smell pleasant at all.

They are fantastic dogs but not for the faint of heart-I think sunflower put it perfectly. This is my second beagle whose 5 and I would never not have a beagle, but really consider the work you need to put into one. I see a lot of young beagles on beaglewelfare because they are a lot.

Can be soo smelly and the little hairs shedding are a nightmare

We had a loner beagle to try out a dog.

Noisy, greed, smelly and poorly trained. Which may be his owners' fault as he went back better than he came!

I wouldn't have one. They look cute though.

I've never known them to be smelly so I'm surprised people are saying that!

Mine smells of cheesy biscuits

@sunflowersandbuttercups

I've never known them to be smelly so I'm surprised people are saying that!

Mine smells of cheesy biscuits

Yes mine isn’t smelly, and I haven’t encountered one that is. He doesn’t shed much either. My mum has a cocker spaniel and he’s smelly! I always say mine smells of ‘biscuits and warmth’

Mine also isn’t greedy or noisy, but I know that’s fairly unusual.

@TheOneWithTheBigNose

Mine also isn’t greedy or noisy, but I know that’s fairly unusual.

Mine is definitely both of those 🤣

He's better with food now he's older but he once stole half a loaf of bread off the side when DH left him unattended for 30 seconds 🤣

He's also stolen half a burger out of someones hand in public DH was MORTIFIED!

To be fair he did once eat 6 raw chicken breasts off the worktop at MIL’s house... he’s not done anything like that since though

Most difficult dog I've ever owned.

@TheOneWithTheBigNose

To be fair he did once eat 6 raw chicken breasts off the worktop at MIL’s house... he’s not done anything like that since though

Bet he thought all his Christmas's had come at once

Mine did steal a pancake off FIL's plate a couple of weeks ago! FIL was all "oh, he's really good when we have food out", turned his back and gone, lol.

The smelly on our loaner beagle was anal glands.

Ours hasn’t had an issue with his anal glands but that’s a problem all dog breeds can have.

@MrsTerryPratchett

The smelly on our loaner beagle was anal glands.

Anal glands are grim but it tends to be a diet or allergy problem as opposed to a breed related one.

Weetabix/all-bran is good for anal gland issues.

Thank you all so much for these replies. Such helpful insights, and lovely to hear about your own dogs! I think it sounds like a beagle might be a bit of a challenge as a first dog?

I will keep researching family friendly dog breeds, and happy to receive any suggestions!