beagles

[bjolly]

in the thread on what breeds you don't want to own, there seemed to be quite a few people who didn't care for beagles. I haven't known any beagles very well, but they are a breed I might be interested in, so I was wondering what it is that makes so many people say they wouldn't want one.

superficially the things I like about them are their size, which seems perfect to me, no extreme conformation, not a lot of health problems as far as I know.

so tell me the good and the bad about beagles.

[Saeleofu]

The baying. OH GOD the baying...

[Fran101]

For me it's the un-reliability off lead (they tend to follow their sniffers) and the size (I don't tend to lean towards mediumish sized dogs, I either go really little (chi) or large (lab)

..and the baying lol

[Romy]

For me there's not any real reason I'm not a beagle person. It's sort of weird because I adore redbones, walkers, blue ticks, etc. but I'm just not a beagle person. Maybe it's the size? Honestly, I really like beagles, just can't picture living with one or wanting one bad enough to seek one out.

They're pretty adorable and funny little characters. The beagles I've met were sort of independent little clowns.

[Muttkip]

They smell, they bay, they don't listen, they're jerks, they bay, they howl, they bark....oh did I mention they bay ALL the time?!

But I love them so much...I'll NEVER be without a Beagle

[Saeleofu]

They smell,

A dog that's healthy and properly groomed really shouldn't smell bad...

[Laurelin]

A friend of mine got a BYB beagle and then ended up having my roommate puppysit her for a summer while she was in Europe. So I've spent quite a bit of time around this dog. We also got them in the shelter very often when I worked there for two years.

I wouldn't cross them out for certain but I'd be surprised if I ever end up with one. The main things I dislike are typical hound traits. They're independent, stubborn, and just in general not the kind of dog that is hanging on your every word trying to figure out what you want.

Layla was very trainable but not a biddable dog. She needed bribery and a lot of structure. While my roommate had her she was very well behaved but she was HORRIBLE to be around if she didn't have that structure. She bayed a LOT. I have never heard a more vocal dog and I grew up with shelties. The beagle was much worse. She needed some exercise too, which was a problem with my friend. She was in an apartment with no walks. She loved to go nose to the ground and just explore and I think she definitely needed that. She was a terrible choice for an apartment dog.

[Pops2]

i like them. in fact i could use a good deer beagle right now to push jack rabbits out of the deep sage for Sonic to run.
one thing in particular that i like is how many work (even from some show lines that actively breed against working temperament).

[Muttkip]

Originally Posted by Saeleofu

A dog that's healthy and properly groomed really shouldn't smell bad...

Doesn't matter, they're hounds and they have that houndy smell to them. My dog is groomed all the time but he still smells like well a hound dog. It's the same with Bassets as well.

[PlottMom]

If you like them, get to know them. People have tons of pre-conceived hound notions, and plenty of people just plain get in over their heads.

My friend's family has raised beagles since the 40's, he can run a pack of dogs by himself, and as soon as they're off the tailgate they WAIT for his OK to start hunting. He raises them inside up to 6 months to work on obedience and I don't believe he's ever lost a dog. BUT they are well exercised, physically & mentally and extremely content.

He has an outdoor kennel with up to 12 beagles at a time in it - you can pull into his driveway to SILENCE. It's all in how you train them, and knowing the breed. I don't consider his beagles "atypical" any more than I consider my coonhounds atypical for the breed - it comes down to KNOWING YOUR BREED, period.

A malinois would kill me - many people live happily with multiple maligators I don't understand herders - I get hounds.