A happy, healthy animal always makes the best pets, especially when there are young children in the house, and the happy, go-lucky nature of beagles make them ideal to have around the house. Although needing plenty of exercise to help them maintain a healthy weight to ward off the development of hypothyroidism, the overall health of beagles is one of their features that make them such lovable pets.

Their incessant barking and rowdy behavior when confronted by a stranger makes them appear more aggressive than their nature supports, but this action is what makes this otherwise friendly pet such a good watchdog, Usually, a word from its owner will settle the dog down while it becomes accustomed to this new person in its territory. In addition to them making excellent pets and serving as the occasional watchdog, beagles also can be trained as hunting dogs to track and capture game, due to its keen sense of smell.
Its diligence as a hunting dog can be traced back to the 18th century when hunters wanting to spend all day on the hunt used beagles to track and corner hares. Their later use as rabbit hunters allowed them to use their nose to follow the rabbits into high weeds and under brush to find the elusive quarry. Being in reasonably good health beagles also have the stamina needed to chase down as animal into its hiding place and then work on routing the rabbit into an opening.

This dedication to its purpose allowed hunters to follow on horseback and wait until the beagle brought the captured prey to them. When the days of the all-day hunt drew to a close and hunters wanted animals more for the quick hunt, the use of beagles waned. However, hunters today still train their beagles to hunt quarry and many are still used for their noses’ ability to track wild game. They are used in hunting not only rabbits, but also for pheasants and other birds. Some deer hunters use them to track wounded animals that may otherwise become lost in the woods.

In addition to hunting, their sense of smell allows them to also be trained to find contraband hidden away in suitcases and packages. Used frequently by detection services, the small size of the animal rarely intimidates travelers while a border beagle is sniffing their bags.
Their keen sense of smell as well as their stamina made them attractive as hunting dogs, especially during the days when people enjoyed the all-day hunts. They can fit into heavily wooded areas or in thick brush to bring out rabbits. Even though the faster animals can outrun the beagles, putting its nose close to the ground enabled it to track the animal into even the smallest hiding places.
The all day hunters appreciated the instincts of a well-trained beagle is they could ride leisurely behind the dog as it chased the scent of its quarry into even the thickest of undergrowth, emerging successfully with its prey.

Since breeding brings certain instincts and behaviors into play with different types of dogs , understanding the history of your Beagle will better equip you to work with your new pet. Although some of the history of the Beagle standard is a bit hard to trace, there is plenty of good information out there to give you a good understanding of the origin of breed standards relating to your new pet.

Tagged with: • • • • • •

Filed under: Dogs

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!