Beagle

The Beagle is a type of Hound Dog. They come in Medium to small sizes. They look more or less like a foxhound but only smaller with longer ears and shorter legs. They were primarily developed as scent hounds to track down rabbit, hare and other game. Their sense of smell is very sharp and they are very well suited for detection of prohibited food stuffs around the globe.

They have been popular as house pets in recent years. This is mainly due to their temper and their small size. They also happen to have no sign of any hereditary health problems. Sad but true, these qualities also make them ideal animals for animal testing. Right next to the Bloodhounds, Beagles are the only breed of dogs with the most sensitive sense of smell. There was a 13 year experiment carried back in the 1950’s in which a mouse was put in a 1 acre field and all the various breeds of dogs were given a fair chance to individually spot the mouse only by their sense of smell. From the time these dogs get hold of the mouse’s scent; the Beagles came in at under a minute, the Fox Terriers did it in less than 15 minutes and the Scottish Terriers had no clue of the mouse ever existing what so ever. This only goes to prove it more that Beagles are very good in ground-scenting. Their long ears and large lips might be the reason for this amazing gift of great smell as it must help them trap the scent more close to their nose.

Although they date back to 2000 years in existence, the modern ones came in to being around the 1830’s. They were developed in the country of Great Britain by breeding the likes of Talbot Hound, Southern Hound, North Country Beagle and Harrier breed of dogs. Beagles have also been in the limelight and fame since the Elizabethan days of paintings and literature.

They appear to be like miniature foxhounds only with shorter muzzle and a broader head. They happen to have many kind of colour in their coats, but the most common one is a tri colour of white and black and light brown. They mostly have a white coat with patches of black and brown hair in between. These coloured hairs of black and brown appear on them at different stages of their lives and they aren’t born with them. These colours change on them gradually and in some rare cases they tend to lose the black markings completely.

Beagles in general have even temper. They are merry as a breed and still not too timid nor too aggressive. They like the company of humans and even strangers can win over them easily in a little while and would be one of the last breeds you could expect to perform as excellent guard dogs. They still manage to be good watch dogs as they tend to howl or bark when confronted with something less ordinary.