Beagles - tell me all about them..

[Bats]

My friend has a beagle and despite plenty of training, it cannot walk on a lead without dragging her, has no recall and is a dustbin.

I'd steer well clear despite how lovely they are!

For the cats, any dog has the ability to get on well with cats but the cat may have other ideas. A bouncing puppy can be terrifying for a cat as all they want to do is play - you're going for a breed that 'gets on well with cats' but actually you need to think about your cats more.

What will you do if your cats don't like the dog you get? It was their domain and all of a sudden, you're going to put a puppy or dog in it. Be ready for them to be upset.

Cats Protection can offer assistance on introducing other animals to your house, they do little booklets. I'd encourage you to look at that before considering any breed of dog.

My personal advice would be to get an adult/adolescent dog that has lived with cats before.

[mitch84]

Originally Posted by riversider2014

Grew up with dogs, only reason we’ve never had one is because we both work and not fair to leave one in house all day. Now I work from home it can be done.

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All I'll say (and I'm not criticizing as this was me earlier last year), is that growing up with dogs, isn't the same as having your own dog, especially a puppy that you are responsible for training, walking, just being home for. It was a serious shock to me.
We got a black lab puppy, and he is an absolute love, but the puppy months were especially hard.
Beagles are seriously beautiful, but monkeys for running away. You would need a very secure back yard, and be quite experienced and patient with recall training, or lots of on lead walking.

[silverfox46]

Originally Posted by balel

I have 4 and also have a litter of puppies occasionally so as you can tell I am a huge fan but they are not for everyone! I like to make sure prospective new puppy owners are aware of the negatives as well as the positives!
They do love company, either human or hound, so working from home is ideal.
Recall is difficult to train, but not impossible, so you do need a very secure garden. We have a farm so our mini pack are allowed off lead on walks down the fields, they often pick up scents but as they have space on our land it’s not a problem to us. I wouldn’t feel confident to let them off lead in a public place however. If you’d like them to go off lead it’s important to start early, I think that many people are nervous to let their young puppies off but this is when they are most reliant on you and will not stray too far, so it’s a great time to start recall training. If they have been kept on a lead for months and then are suddenly let off I think that’s when they think ‘wow, I’m free, I’m off exploring’. Mine are walked once a day and entertain themselves in the garden the rest of the time, they are very laid back and chilled but I know other people can find them quite excitable and hard work.
They are into everything, especially food, but they are also so cute and loving you will forgive them absolutely anything! This is my 4 this week, and our last litter of babies.

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Aww what a cute overload. They are sooo gorgeous. I miss my two so much

[JanetteP]

My son has 2 beautiful beagles. As others have said, they have a beautiful temperament, but are extremely difficult to train. Mitzy is fabulous, and we can let her off the lead, but it has taken a lot of training by my DS to get to this stage. Her daughter, Olive, is a nightmare. She has chewed settee cushions, absolutely anything she can get her teeth into! They are fantastic with my DGS's but boy are they hard work. They steel food constantly, the bins have to be kept off the floor. I previously had 2 Dobermanns, and they were a lot less work. Luckily, I have my youngest DS's Chihuahuas at home, and they are the easiest dogs to look after that I have ever had! I would think very very hard before you take on a Beagle - I can send you photo's of the damage Olive has done, and we are very experienced with dogs.

[Thekents]

We have a Beagle, Jeremy, and he is just over 3 years old. I would echo what others have said but would also point out that with hard work they can be trained to recall. I have just returned from an hour long walk with Jeremy where he was off the lead in open fields for the majority of the time. He keeps very close to us at all times. The only time he will leave our side is if there is another dog and he wants to go and play. Even then, after a quick run around with the other dog he comes back.

As others have said though, food / shoes / washing / remotes can't be left around though as he will be there in a flash if he senses a chance.

[cybermum]

We have friends who have a beagle , boy is he hard work. He also eats anything he can get his paws on . Good space is essential and lots of exercise they have found. He is beautiful and full of personality.
We have a poodle/bichon cross... we compared training and all that comes with the new routine etc of a new dog in the home.
Safe to say we had it a lot easier than they did

[riversider2014]

After these replies, and my DW asking her boss who said ‘over my dead body would I get a beagle’ I’m thinking this breed is off the potential list 😊

[olgaandcoda]

They are a working breed and very intelligent, get bored easily. As long as the owner is prepared to be pack leader (same with any breed) you should be fine. Friends have had two, neither have been trained well! Howl when left and do as they please. Although this is more my problem than theirs! They love the latest girl! She is a hound and will be off after a scent!

[Nicksgirl]

love Beagles, they are lovely, but round here, the people who own beagles are so snobbish... we never approach them.

[FlorayG]

Beagles are fabulous dogs - if you're hunting and can exercise them several hours a day. I used to walk mine for 2 hours, come home, put him in the garden and he would scale the 5ft fence and disappear for another couple of hours. He would eat ANYTHING including bars of soap.
His recall was OK until he got an interesting scent in his nose then he suddenly would become completely deaf.
I loved him, but they're not house dogs. Get a Dobermann.