Beagle as a family pet

LostInDharma

Hi,

Just looking for some advice from owners of beagles.

Mainly the pros and cons of owning one and the best place to get one from.

Thanks

KingIsabella

Don't know much but I have heard that they cannot be left off a lead as they'll instinctively follow any smell that interests them?

Daisy M

We rescued a beagle/spaniel from an animal santuary. He is the most placid dog imaginable, sometimes a little too placid when it come to defending his territory. Apparently Beagles are difficult to train and we had a problem with him for the first couple of years where he would take off but the most worrying part was when he had his nose down on a trail he was totally unaware of what was around him and would run out infront of traffic. We used a shock collar which worked very well. However when he got older and more settled we removed it. He calmed a lot since he was around 3 years, stopped digging up flower beds chewing things ect I think most dogs quiten around this age. He no longer feels the need to take off and is defending his territory by barking when someone comes.

The children love him and he is really placid with them, last week my young nephew pulled his hair quiet hard he was eating at the time but he didnt respond agressively just backed away.

LostInDharma

Daisy M wrote: »

We rescued a beagle/spaniel from an animal santuary. He is the most placid dog imaginable, sometimes a little too placid when it come to defending his territory. Apparently Beagles are difficult to train and we had a problem with him for the first couple of years where he would take off but the most worrying part was when he had his nose down on a trail he was totally unaware of what was around him and would run out infront of traffic. We used a shock collar which worked very well. However when he got older and more settled we removed it. He calmed a lot since he was around 3 years, stopped digging up flower beds chewing things ect I think most dogs quiten around this age. He no longer feels the need to take off and is defending his territory by barking when someone comes.

The children love him and he is really placid with them, last week my young nephew pulled his hair quiet hard he was eating at the time but he didnt respond agressively just backed away.

Thanks for the reply.

sionnaic

Daisy M wrote: »

We used a shock collar which worked very well.

Good God this is absolutely BARBARIC

OP please do not go away thinking that this is an acceptable training technique because words cannot express how wrong it is to do this

That poor poor dog walking along sniffing and having a great time, just doing as his breed was intended - and the out of no where electrocuted for no reason, for just following his breed's instincts - cruel, barbaric and very very wrong

I have a basset hound and so experience similar problems with recall. Our solution? Keep him on a lead at ALL times when out, we don't deprive him of off lead runs but only ever take him off it when we're in our big fenced garden or in an enclosed field. We never electrocute him...jeez.....

Also OP please be aware that just because this person's beagle is placid and good with kids doesn't mean another beagle will automatically be the same. We had 2 spaniels growing up, from different litters but the same parents. One was a total hyper looper who would swing out of us and the other was placid and lazy - complete opposites and they were brothers.

If you are getting a pup, any pup, early, positive and controlled socialisation and lots and LOTS of it is the key. Try and find puppy classes in your area, they're really good and if you have kids it will help teach them how to interact properly with dogs. Which is my second point, its so important to make sure your kids follow strict rules around your dog as its very easy for a child to hurt and / or scare a dog - contrary to popular belief, dogs do not come preprogrammed with the ability to ignore a 3 year old poking him in the eye or an 8 year old smacking him on the head with a football to make him do a "header"

Roxbb

I have a 4 year old beagle & I have to say I am a complete dog lover & I think you have to be to have a beagle they are amazing dogs but very stubborn have a mind of their own & are very very determined mine is off lead people ask me all the time how can she be off lead simple answer 6 months of recall training that will forever be on-going due to her stubborn streak - they need to be walked every day & not just little 15/20 mins around an estate proper walks where there is plenty for them to sniff at....they are highly intelligent but due to being so stubborn people say they are not the smartest dogs they are trust me Maggie picks up everything I teach her within 3/4 gos but she gets bored so I play a lot of games around the house hide & seek with treats etc to also mentally tire her out - honestly they are my favourite breed of dog I also have 2 cavaliers & work with dogs so have a good knowledge of most breeds but for me the beagle is the best they are so sweet & affectionate and they are just adorable as pups which by the way can add to the difficulty of training but start as you mean to go on as with every dog know what you expect from them then go about teaching them how to live within your family NEVER EVER use shock collars choke chains as someone said earlier it's barbaric it may have taken 6 months to get Maggie to a 100% recall but she comes running back to me now happy to come back to me....she doesn't come back to me out of fear of being shocked or hurt it's because I'm going to get something nice here if I come back to her also for training recall use high value foods like chicken etc stuff you ONLY ever use for training it's a better incentive for her/him to come back because they only get it when out & about if your going to use training classes make sure who you use only uses positive training methods:) ..good luck with your decision

Daisy M

Roxbb wrote: »

I have a 4 year old beagle & I have to say I am a complete dog lover & I think you have to be to have a beagle they are amazing dogs but very stubborn have a mind of their own & are very very determined mine is off lead people ask me all the time how can she be off lead simple answer 6 months of recall training that will forever be on-going due to her stubborn streak - they need to be walked every day & not just little 15/20 mins around an estate proper walks where there is plenty for them to sniff at....they are highly intelligent but due to being so stubborn people say they are not the smartest dogs they are trust me Maggie picks up everything I teach her within 3/4 gos but she gets bored so I play a lot of games around the house hide & seek with treats etc to also mentally tire her out - honestly they are my favourite breed of dog I also have 2 cavaliers & work with dogs so have a good knowledge of most breeds but for me the beagle is the best they are so sweet & affectionate and they are just adorable as pups which by the way can add to the difficulty of training but start as you mean to go on as with every dog know what you expect from them then go about teaching them how to live within your family NEVER EVER use shock collars choke chains as someone said earlier it's barbaric it may have taken 6 months to get Maggie to a 100% recall but she comes running back to me now happy to come back to me....she doesn't come back to me out of fear of being shocked or hurt it's because I'm going to get something nice here if I come back to her also for training recall use high value foods like chicken etc stuff you ONLY ever use for training it's a better incentive for her/him to come back because they only get it when out & about if your going to use training classes make sure who you use only uses positive training methods:) ..good luck with your decision

I have to admit we would not use one again and to be honest we were at the end of our tether when we did, we had him almost 8 months at the time he was a family pet slept indoors got lots of exercise and was part of the family but when he got a scent off he went. We have fences and walls all around the garden but he was able to scale them no problem. Aside from the danger of him getting hit by cars we also had the threat from a farmer that if he saw him in his field he would shoot him. My husband walked him in the morning for around 25 min I walked him in the afternoon a good hour and my son walked him in the evening for 30 mins but it made no difference off he would go. The collar did beep everytime he went near the boundary so aside from the first couple of days he didnt get shocked.
What we actually found was when a stray cat came to the house and adopted us, our dog settled down immediately.

We saved our dog from been put down I don't consider that to be barbaric.

Roxbb

Personally I would of made my walls & fences higher there are more humane ways to train your dog without having to inflict pain on your dog....
It's not easy to train beagles because of their noses it takes time & a lot of commitment.... But worth it in the end