BEAGLES - gimme all you know

[*charmalea*]

we have about 6.5 weeks until our much longer for furbaby comes into our lives !!

we have just chosen our first purebread BEAGLE puppy

she is 5 day old at the moment and soooooo devine , the mum is so beautiful and placid , she is a tri coulor and dad is a Lemon coulor , none of the pups were lemon they are all looking to be tri , but thats ok , a lemon would have been sooooo gorge but ill take a tri

going back 5 years , DH and i were on a holiday and came across a beagle breeder at a place called "bom bom creek" and we were so sure we were getting one , but we were on a roadtrip and still had 3 wks of tripping left , we vowed to go back on the way home and get one , but we got lost and couldnt find the place , then and there we said " one day we will have one and she will be called "bom bom" "

so sentimental ... eveyone laughs when we tell them the name , but it means alot to us ( the holiday was great and it was part of it )

so , when a neighbour said her beagle was having puppies we were sold , we met the daddy beagle ( theirs also ) and before they were born , knew in our hearts we would have one .

so she was chosen and now we are waiting for her to grow , so she can come home .

BUT we are not going in to this blind i have more than enough time to prepare for her .

i want pros and cons . and breed specific advice , what books best describe beagles and what training methods work the best .

we intend to have her at our workshop ( we own a mech shop and its just DH there , so it would be good company for her when im not home all day )

so she would be in a car twice a day and at a workshop all day ( the previous owners of the WS had a german shepard , so its doggy proof)

i want to know why other ppl have chosen a PB beagle .

what annoys you , what makes you happy ?

TIA !!!

[ss_storm]

They are very scent oriented dogs, so need a lot of mental stimulation otherwise they will go wherever their nose takes them! So make sure your yard is very secure, lots of exercise and toys such as kongs to keep her amused when she is in the yard. hiding treats/bones around the yard will help to keep her stimulated and entertained within the confines of your yard. They can be barkers too which is mostly due to boredom, so plenty of things for her to do should help prevent problem barking.

They are gorgeous dogs though, I love their ears! Hope you enjoy your new little family member.

[Footsteps]

my friends mum has 2 *****es and one of them has just had 9 beagle puppies and she's a lemon colour. i can ask for some advice if you v got any questions i can ask no problem xxx

[AnyDream]

Lovely dogs, but very clever...high food drive (ie will eat non-edible things too LOL) and total escape artists - ours knew how to dig under the fence in a spot that was hidden by vegetation so she could get out and visit the spot where all the local kids waited for the school bus (they gave her sandwiches when she visited, so I found out one day when I stayed at home and followed her)LOL. Musta been a lovely dog because every kid on the block knew her name & she had a legion of fans who would stop & talk to her as they went past. So - will respond really well to clicker training, but will need lots of chewy toys & games as well. They tend to be very pack oriented, ours bonded with our cat, they were thick as thieves.

[didispunk]

My friends have had one for 8 years and it barks and barks and barks all day night.. inside outside.. took it puppy school everything and they love it .. but the poor neighbours..


Good luck.. no idea how to stop it from barking so much!

[*charmalea*]

thanks guys !

lol MD at your doggy !!

I like the clicker training method , i trained another dog i once had that way and it worked well .

i am kinda worried about the digging !

[AnyDream]

Didi, yes our Beags was a barker...we ended up borrowing a citronella collar every so often from the council...she would wear it during the day when we weren't there to intervene - not that the neighbours ever complained but i was always worried they might.

[Kazbah]

We had a couple of beagles in our agility club - they can be trained well, but their nose takes over. These dogs were at the top agility / obedience levels yet if they got a scent, they were off. I saw a really good spiel about beagles at the RSPCA (Burwood) and am trying to find it for you - in the meantime, here's a bit of info from Beagle Rescue (VIC)

• Do you have a JUMP proof, DIG proof, CHEW proof fence which completely encloses your backyard and is at least 5 feet high?
• Will your new dog have company for most of the day? This can be either human or another dog (preferably a beagle of course!)?
• Are you prepared to walk your dog on a lead AT ALL TIMES?
• Are you happy to live with a back lawn which may at times resemble a lunar landscape, covered in craters and pot holes?
• Are you prepared to make sure all your shoes, toys and anything else you don't want chewed are not left within beagle range?
• Are you able to resist pleading brown eyes that try to convince you they are perpetually hungry?
• Are you prepared to put some time and effort in training your new dog, letting them know who is in control?
• The average lifespan of a beagle is 10 to 15 years. Are you sure that any long term plans you might have will not effect your beagle?

Ahhh, found it ...

• I want a dog that will jog next to me and play and chase a frisbee off lead without running away. DO NOT GET A BEAGLE
• I want a dog that is easy to train and lives to obey me. DO NOT GET A BEAGLE
• I want a dog I can train if I’m willing to put some time and effort into the training. CONSIDER A BEAGLE
• I want a pup that is easy to housetrain. YOU MAY NOT WANT A BEAGLE
• I want a pup that can be housetrained. CONSIDER A BEAGLE
• I want a dog that will play with my kids and me. CONSIDER A BEAGLE
• I want a dog that is quiet and unassuming. DO NOT GET A BEAGLE
• I want a dog that is lively and confident. CONSIDER A BEAGLE
• I want a dog that doesn’t get in trouble in the house. YOU MIGHT NOT WANT A BEAGLE
• I want a dog that can be left at home while I’m at work or out of the house. YOU MIGHT WANT A BEAGLE
• I want a guard dog. YOU MIGHT NOT WANT A BEAGLE
• I want a dog that enjoys the company of people and other dogs. CONSIDER A BEAGLE

I'm not trying to turn you off beagles, but they are a very good, intelligent dog who need mental stimulation and training to keep them happy & out of trouble. Your hubby could have the dog at the workshop, but it'd be a few years before he could have it there off-lead.

Good luck!

Oh, and the agility club was near long pockitt / kholo area if you wander down there ...

[Caramello]

The other issue that our next door neighbour's beagle has is that he howls constantly whenever he is left outside. This howling can last for hours if they have gone out for the night. The howl is very mournful and sad - as if the dog feels it has been abandoned. We put up with it because our dog is 15 and sometimes barks at nothing - but I'm sure that if you had less tolerant neighbours they would complain a lot.

[*charmalea*]

• Do you have a JUMP proof, DIG proof, CHEW proof fence which completely encloses your backyard and is at least 5 feet high? YES
• Will your new dog have company for most of the day? This can be either human or another dog (preferably a beagle of course!)? YES
• Are you prepared to walk your dog on a lead AT ALL TIMES? YES
• Are you happy to live with a back lawn which may at times resemble a lunar landscape, covered in craters and pot holes? ERRRR....
• Are you prepared to make sure all your shoes, toys and anything else you don't want chewed are not left within beagle range?YES
• Are you able to resist pleading brown eyes that try to convince you they are perpetually hungry? NOPE .LOL
• Are you prepared to put some time and effort in training your new dog, letting them know who is in control? YES
• The average lifespan of a beagle is 10 to 15 years. Are you sure that any long term plans you might have will not effect your beagle? NO PLANS

Your hubby could have the dog at the workshop, but it'd be a few years before he could have it there off-lead. YEARS !! lol . its ok there is plenty of shade and area for it to still play on a lead .



Oh, and the agility club was near long pockitt / kholo area if you wander down there ... this one is the one we will be going to

SC - i am worried about the barking you hardly notice other dogs in my area cept for the occasionl disturbance . and i have witnessed the barking for the mum and dad beagle when the are out the front and another dog goes past . i do like the idea of a citronella collar , i did nt know you can borrow them from a council . i was going to buy one .

also i know its not going to be cheap either , luckily we have a big yard , 2 adoring kids and me whos looking for a bit of a challange in regaurds to training , eventaully we would like to go camping and beach walks with her . so im prepared for puppy preschool and puppy primary school and the agility club .