Beagles

[tooleman]

I have the chance to get a free beagle dog. He is a pup and was dropped off at my inlaws. I would like to start hunting rabbits, however I have never tried to train anything. So ingo what are your thoughs?????

 

[THard6]

Beagle's are good dogs for hunting rabbits and such.. but if you don't have much time you might want to re-think this.. it's not easy and very time consuming to train a pup..
although once you get him running the fields, it feels amzing when eveything pays off!

 

[nsenneking]

get the beagle! my family has had them since before i was born. when starting out the best thing you can do to train them is to get them use to rabbit scent by using it on toys they play with, then move on to setting out scent trails for them. once they start on a scent trail, if the blood is right instincts will kick in

 

[kludge]

Make sure a beagle is what you want. They are great with kids and families, nearly tireless dogs that will wear you out long before they tire. If you don't have a place for them to run, you will need to run them. A lot. Some will bark (well... howl) incessantly. If let loose they could be gone for two days chasing rabbits, they always need to be penned or chained when unattended, and until well trained even when attended, they WILL run away. They do well at home and in the field in a pack. They are fairly hardy dogs and unless it is very cold do fine in Indiana winters (our beagle was part toy collie, so that may have helped). Ours also hated cats and squirrels with a passion and killed every cat she got a hold of. In fact she came to live with us (I was still in college living at home) after it was no longer politically correct for my brother to keep her (a neighbor cat got into her pen and was killed). She would lie in wait for squirrels. You must train and train and train for recall -- their nose and sight combined with their endless energy and instincts will have you hating the dog that will not come when called.

 

[tooleman]

Well I plan on keeping the dog out side in te back yard. Not sure how much room they need to run but it is a fairly big yard with a fence but I will keep him on a lead when I am at work. Thanks for the input everyone.

 

[indyjohn]

I've had beagles for more than 20 years. They're great dogs. I didn't see if you've had dogs before or not. So, I want to offer a couple of things.

Beagles are short hair dogs so they're not too bad in the house. If this dog will be outside a lot, spend money on a roomy shelter - something he can call home. Being in the sun, rain, wind all the time isn't any way to live (even for a dog) & a tree is not shelter. Something that cooks like an oven in the sun isn't a shelter either. Make sure it has water, water, water. When it gets cold, it needs to come in - at least to the garage. And pick up its crap often or it may start eating it. Like the guy earlier said, if you're on the run all the time and it will spend more time tied up, I recommend you find it another home.

I apologize in advance if you've already got all this covered. It's just I've had a bad experience in the past where I had to stand by and watch a good dog go to waste & nothing I did changed the situation.

My

 

[Hotdoger]

We got a beagle house dog and know two other familes close with the same. My wife just called my daughter to do some dog sitting and told her he likes to get under the covers in the bed with the AC on. LOL

He loves to run and needs a long walk everyday. Door gets open and he could be gone for days. Very good watch dog. He howls when he senses jogger/walker on our road. I won't even see the jogger/walker but he let me know ahead of time. Having him makes me feel all lot better when I am away from home.
His nails grow fast and loves to roll in dead stuff so a bath is often.

 

[tooleman]

I competely agree with all your statments, I have a indoor dog now, a pug. I plan on getting a good setup for him. I now have been into looking on training him to hunt rabbit....

I've had beagles for more than 20 years. They're great dogs. I didn't see if you've had dogs before or not. So, I want to offer a couple of things.

Beagles are short hair dogs so they're not too bad in the house. If this dog will be outside a lot, spend money on a roomy shelter - something he can call home. Being in the sun, rain, wind all the time isn't any way to live (even for a dog) & a tree is not shelter. Something that cooks like an oven in the sun isn't a shelter either. Make sure it has water, water, water. When it gets cold, it needs to come in - at least to the garage. And pick up its crap often or it may start eating it. Like the guy earlier said, if you're on the run all the time and it will spend more time tied up, I recommend you find it another home.

I apologize in advance if you've already got all this covered. It's just I've had a bad experience in the past where I had to stand by and watch a good dog go to waste & nothing I did changed the situation.

My

 

[nsenneking]

We got a beagle house dog and know two other familes close with the same. My wife just called my daughter to do some dog sitting and told her he likes to get under the covers in the bed with the AC on. LOL

He loves to run and needs a long walk everyday. Door gets open and he could be gone for days. Very good watch dog. He howls when he senses jogger/walker on our road. I won't even see the jogger/walker but he let me know ahead of time. Having him makes me feel all lot better when I am away from home.
His nails grow fast and loves to roll in dead stuff so a bath is often.

if the dog is an outside dog, bathing often them is not a good idea especially in cold weather. the oil they build up on thier skin helps keep them warm and dry. sometime you just have to let them stink

 

[Mike H]

I love beagles. Great dogs. Good choice!
Its best to run them with an expierenced dog. They will pick up the rabbit business a lot faster.

 

[chefnick7]

We have a 3 year old pure breed beagle we got from a farmer who breeds them. Never been trained but in the past 3 years he's killed 2 rabbits, 8 groundhogs and a raccoon. Some people might not think there a good hunting dog but for rabbits and such they do well.

 

[shooter1054]

I have a beagle I got from a shelter. She is a great dog. She is a little independant, but she loves to be around the family. She's my first beagle but will not be my last. I don't hunt her. She is a house dog.

 

[under32hurts]

i have never had a beagle myself, but my old man had a beagle and i swear she was one of the smartest dogs i have ever witnessed...it seemed she could actually understand english..she was a good dog for him. good hunter too...

 

[gunrunner0320]

we have 3 beagles there great dogs they always look like there smiling when you go around them we hunt with ours they can be stubbron and can have a one track mind but i dont think you would kick your self for geting one like the one man said if your going to hunt with it you would want 2 or more they work with each other when hunting some are fast some are slow they can be hot nosed or cold nosed . the big thing to wach for is it runing deer you dont want that at all and you dont want to run yours with one that runs deer unless you have a coller on them that you use if you need to . i love it when there runing a rabbbit there howling is like music when you here them you will know .

 

[Deaddogwalkin]

Good bloodlines are hard to come by, I got two sisters last year that will turn 1 year old monday aug 1, killed 52 rabbits with them last season, harder to train together than one at a time, still too much puppy they tend to want play instead of hunt at times. IMO there isn't anything better than a couple good dogs helping a person do what they enjoy