The Beloved Hound: The Beagle | Dogs 101
one of the most popular dogs in America the beagle is one of the most beloved hounds everybody loves beagles and boy that dogs got a big boy charming an upbeat there pretty much everything you want in a dog and they adore their owners and make new friends with a turn of the head you may recognize them by their typical hound colors the triumvirate of white black and brown or by their famous ambassador Snoopy yep Snoopy is a beagle no wonder beagles are so popular it’s hard to say who we fell in love with first the beagle or Snoopy either way we remain smitten with these little hounds and the beagle is a true hound a hounds hound is bred for running across the fields and chasing rabbits centuries even millennia of breeding have crafted this pup into an almost perfect hound the beagle we know today was popular in the Middle Ages the Renaissance even as far back as Roman times but the breed is so old the specifics of their ancestry have been lost to the wind but as to the bloodline of the beagle only the beagles know the name however generally is assumed to come from the French word bagel meaning gaped throat and that is an assumption nobody disagrees with they balk horrendously they’re one of the loudest not only barking but howling the most vocal dogs in fact the gape throat is an understatement they have amazing vocal cords which vibrate when air passes through them allowing the dog to make different sounds and beagle can vocalize three different ways when it’s alerted or want something the beagle has a regular old standard bark when out on the trail the Beagle bays or ball barks this three pitched yoda-like sound alerts the rest of the pack as well as the hunter that pooch has the scent and is on the track and lastly the beagle howls for better or worse this howl knows how to howl it howls when it’s sad when it’s bored and sometimes in camaraderie oh so it’s a lot of fun but probably not the best apartment dog if your neighbors like peace and quiet being so low to the ground they don’t have to stop to catch a scent short legs keep their nose efficiently on the trail without stopping and no doubt it’s their nose that leads them all over Kingdom Come they have around 220 million scent receptors the wet nose attracts and helps hold scent molecules so they can travel up the nose they are scent motivated they have an amazing sense of smell they’re driven by their nose and on top of this incredible sniffer these dogs are smart too they can differentiate smells and remember them for the future however they have a helper in seeking out these sneaky smells their ears that’s right hanging an average of 7 inches the ears help to trap sense and keep them close to the nose so if that smell is across the street nothing is stopping him they catch a scent goodbye he absolutely must be in a fenced yard that he cannot get out of because he’ll follow a rabbit – you know heck and gone whether an actual fence and invisible fence or leash beagles need to be kept there’s no training them not to follow their nose also since they bark and howl so much they’re not the best apartment dog grooming these hounds is basic but you need to bathe them more than the average pup they’re gonna find stuff that smells good and they may roll in it and wear that doggie Cologne home a good discussing recipe will probably come in handy often costly medical bills are rare with beagles disease has essentially been bred out of them over so many centuries beagles need training and may not be a walk in the park they’re trainable as long as what you’re using out powers the sense of what’s on the ground start early and never stop these dogs are food motivated and will never grow tired of getting a treat and they’re great with kids so welcome them into your family they’re not known for being aggressive towards children so they are really good with kids for families that like to play fetch it’s a great match just be prepared for action with a beagle so beagles keep them on a leash or behind a fence not in an apartment but they’re one of the healthiest dogs and while they need more bass than the average dog if you bribe them with food they’ll do anything and they love kids and families whether playing fetch running through the woods or saddled in your lap beagles are affectionate fun happy dogs
