Your beautiful beagle may not write fantastic stories and be the prudent companion of one of the world's most famous cartoons, but he or she is sure to be the apple of your eye. The beagle type dog has been around for nearly 2,000 years, but only as a breed of their own since about the 1830's. They were created from selective breeding of many different scent hound breeds including the Talbot Hound, Southern Hound and North Country Beagle. This small to medium size animal is smart, even tempered and not given to inherited diseases, which makes them the perfect pet and unfortunately subject for animal testing.
Beagle puppies have to be one of the cutest canines on the planet! Long soft ears frame a warm loving face that is primed and ready to show you affection at the drop of a hat. Being from the scent hound, these animals are natural investigators and can sniff out a mouse in an acre field in less than a minute, and this is a proven fact! All of these features of this compact dog make them a number one choice of families, hunters and even law enforcement.
If you have immediately fallen in love with the great beagle, you are probably in need of some puppy training advice. Young beagle puppies are full of boundless energy and innate curiosity, which combines for unique training issues.
Training Issues:-
You see the beagle has been trained for hunting and in particularly the long chase; this means your beagle puppy training will be faced with an animal that is single minded and focused. Their extreme sense of smell makes it difficult to pull them away once they have caught a particular scent that interests them. Although they are highly intelligent, they are easily distracted by all the smells around them. For this reason, you will seldom see the beagle in obedience competitions; in fact, they are ranked lowest degree of working obedience and intelligence.
Genetically all dogs are descendents of the wolf, which makes them predisposed to a pack mentality. However, most dogs over the years have adapted to the single living style associated with being pets. Beagles, on the other hand have been long used as a pack dog for hunting and therefore prone to separation anxiety. You will need to be patient and understanding with them.
As mentioned above the beagle has been trained to hunt for long periods of time. They have extreme amounts of energy that need some form of exercise daily if possible. This does not mean you have to run them to exhaustion however; it would be a good idea to take them for a walk or play Frisbee in the park on occasion. This also helps to ward of extreme weight gain to which the breed is prone.
Conclusion
Beagles are soft, loving and entertaining breed that will provide gentle companionship for you and your family for many years. Understanding the breeds inherit traits will give you a leg up on puppy training and make for a happy contented home for all concerned.
Ricky Chea is a dog lover and has lived with over 20 dogs and he loves Small Dog Breeds.
For more information on how to effectively train your Beagle, please visit: How to Train a Beagle.