Is a Beagle for Us? Honest opinions

[Howl]

My partner and I have a very elderly Great Dane, and we have to face the hard fact that she may not be with us this Christmas. We wish she'd live forever, but she's old, tired and starting to feel a bit of pain.

Because we also have a young daughter, who has always had a dog in her life, we want to get another dog when our darling Paw moves on to the other side.

We have owned a beagle before, a rescue, who was stolen from our home. His body was found and recovered by the police a time later and it was a very emotional and heartbreaking time for us.

Our first beagle was a terror to our very souls, an incredibly intelligent and stubborn dog. I am well versed in dog training and after daily hours of training a day, he learned to sit....after two weeks. He learned to chew the seals open on the fridge to help himself, he'd howl the second he was crated and keep it up for hours upon hours, he was like a runaway train on the leash and was a butterball when we got him. He was so fat that when he got a sore on his tail, we didn't have to bother buying him a bucket collar, the fat rolls on his sides prevented his teeth reaching his tail.

He dug under the fence, leaped over the fence when we blocked the bottom, dug up the vegies when we added another foot to the fence, tore up his bed when we fenced off the vegies....all the while ignoring the couple of hundred $$$ we'd spent on interactive toys, and despite the two hour's training a day and twice daily walks.

Despite all of that, we loved him! Just the most upbeat, loving dog, always ready with a wag and a kiss.
We always joked that it wasn't a surprise that he was dumped at the shelter, and every day was cause for another "Charley! Oh my god what have you DONE?!", but when he never came home to us...well, it was terrible.

We've done extensive research into beagle breeders in our area, have developed a rapport with a few of them, have gone to visit them at shows and at their homes to interact with their dogs, and our beagley passion hasn't died.

We really want another one, but we're practically minded and we want to make sure we know what we're getting into, and that our desire for another beagle isn't just a desire to have our Charley brought back to us.

A bit about us.
We rent a large house from family, very pet friendly. We've been told that we can keep whatever we want as long as it's legal and kept responsibly. We're BIG animal lovers, so all our animals are spoiled rotten. We've never had a complaint about noise, smell or nuisance.
7 foot fences to the ground, embedded in concrete. Absolutely no chance of digging out. Fully enclosed yard, very large.

I'm a stay at home mum, our only child is at school full time and we're planning another baby within the next 2 years. I do dog training on the side.
Hubby is a CFO and is being trained by me to train dogs.

Our daughter helps out with dog training and has helped out breeders with socializing pups with young children. Very dog savvy, not grabby or demanding and doesn't yell at or chase dogs. We'd never trust her alone with a dog but supervised we trust her to handle any type of size of dog. Charley was 'her' dog and they attended dog training classes together, as well as agility training.

We don't exercise a great deal and don't play sports beyond equestrian, but we're fit and healthy. Weather permitting, I walk for about three hours a day. I walk to the shops instead of driving and take a hand-trolley with me once a week for the groceries. I also walk Paw {the dane} for half an hour a day, but given her age it's more of a slow stroll.
On weekends we all do something outdoors for at least an hour a day.

We live three hours away from family and visit once a week. They are extremely anti-dog {both families despise dogs over a certain size and never allow them into the home}, therefore the dog would have to stay home alone for 6 hours once a week, and about one hour a day, perhaps more, while I do the grocery shopping.

With Paw, we handled this by building her a secure dog run with an enclosed sleeping area. It has a water trough, a sandbox for digging, and every time she's put in the dog run, she's given a stuffed treat ball and a chew toy.

I have a terminal illness and some days I cannot leave the bed and have to sleep the entire day. some days I'm okay to get out, but have to sit in the lounge and just relax, not go for a walk outside or do anything exhaustive. The dog would need to be able to deal with no training or exercise on these days, except for what I can do sitting down.
Hubby is at work from 5 in the morning to about 11 at night, and cannot help on these days.
We can afford to pay a dog walker, however.

The only thing that we have a concern about, a real concern, is noise.
Given my illness and my need to have a quiet, restful day about once a week I could NOT deal with having a barker or howler.
We'd work closely with our breeder to make sure we got a laid back, quiet pup, but I've read so much about there being no such thing as a quiet beagle...and Charley was like a bomb siren all the time.
I emailed one breeder to explain all this, and she called back and said to choose another breed because there has never been a beagle that can be trained to be quiet or calm; they are all very loud and very untrainable.
This kindof fills me with doom

Knowing all this, do you think we could be potential beagle owners?

[brandypup]

Our first beagle was a terror to our very souls, an incredibly intelligent and stubborn dog.
Yes this is a beagle. :-) Diligent training and excerise would be a must from day one. I am terrbile sorry about your loosing him.

It sounds like beagle would be fine though. You know and understand them, you can train and excersie him.

Why not adopt an older beagle? their personalitlies are already known. You can find adult dogs that are not howlers or overly destructive dogs and that have some trianing with them already. The breeder syou spoke with should be active in national or local rescue as well.

My beagle came to me at a year old and while he needs a ton of excersie and mind activity he isn't a barker or howler.

Choosing a dog

Dog Owner's Guide Profile: The Beagle

Beagles

[brandypup]

Breeder/Breeding Information

Health and Genetics

The dog would need to be able to deal with no training or exercise on these days, except for what I can do sitting down.

I would not get a puppy of any breed. Puppies require around the clock work for the first few months and should not skip days of training becuase consisistancy every day is what trains them. I highly reccomemed an adult. I am sorry your going through so much.

http://www.beagles-on-the-web.com/adopt/

[Mollys Mom]

It sounds like you and your home are "equipped" for a beagle addition. All beagles have such different personalities so of course you can't determine ahead of time how easy they will be to train, how calm they will be etc. My only concern I have is that you need quiet to rest. In that instance, I would recommend crate training for the beagle. I say that because I get very bad migraines and Molly was never crate trained. When I am sick she can be quite annoying. My other beagle Vazzle is an angel in the house.

I also don't see an any issue with leaving the dogs home if you go to visit your relatives. Take the beagle for a good walk before you go or have your dog walker stop by.

[BUDDYTHEBEAGLE]

I agree with the crate training, I recently tried to get Buddy out of his cage and into the kitchen when I was out and at night as I was worried he needed more space. He howled and ate everything. I put him back in his crate and he is happier in there. I guess its a security thing.
But then as a trainer you would know more about that than me. I suspect your beagle will instintively know when you are having a bad day. As bolshy as my 5 month old is he knows if i'm not quite right and his behaviour changes accordingly.
Good luck in whatever you decide.

[Dawna]

I'm a little confused by "terminal" illness. Are you referring to something chronic like fibromyalgia or rheumatoid arthritis, or something directly terminal like metastatic cancer? I wouldn't think you'd be planning on having another human child if that was the case. I am a former cancer patient with multiple chronic illnesses myself, but "terminal" to me means you may not have more than a year at MOST. I'm impressed by your fence. I wish I could afford to do that with mine. Your Charlie sounds like a combination of my Beagle and my Feist mix. The Feist has started jumping the 4 foot sections of my fence with ease and it is to the point where I can't even let her potty in the yard off leash! My Beagle has many of your other Beagle's traits but thank God he hasn't fence jumped or dug out yet! Beagles do tend to be noisy, though I am told not all of them are. But I think it's enough of a breed trait that if the howling, barking is an issue it may not be the best breed.

[Dawna]

Originally Posted by brandypup

Breeder/Breeding Information

Health and Genetics

The dog would need to be able to deal with no training or exercise on these days, except for what I can do sitting down.

You should definitly not get a puppy of any breed. Puppies require around the clock work for the first few months and should not skip days of training becuase consisistancy every day is what trains them. I highly reccomemed an adult. I am sorry your going through so much.

You and I are actually in agreement here!!!! And this is especially true for active breeds like Beagles.

[Dawna]

Chelsea, is it you?!

[Chelsea]

is what me??

[Dawna]

Hey, Chelsea. Glad to see you're still around.