Beagle Dog - what to do?

Typical beagle behavior on a track. Pretty much have to tackle them to get them off, until they get tired, or lose the track.
Danger in town, as they are blind to all else when on a track, including cars.
My older beagle would chase anything that would run from her, and that included deer, moose, and black bear.
We were canoeing the north shore of Superior, let her loose on the beach, bad mistake. Gone for half an hour. After they develop the urge to hunt, you won't be able to let them loose anywhere. They will always find a track of something.
Let them loose on a small deserted island, while we prepared camp a short distance away, and within sight. Both hounds swam ashore, and were off on another track before we could get hold of them. They were back in half an hour, but it was particularly bothersome, as right there, the bush is absolutely impenetrable (to me) black spruce.
The bear episode happened while deer hunting. I saw her stand up on her hind legs and let out a weird half scared howl. Then she took off, but a slow chase, like she didn't really want to catch it. I ran after her, figuring it must be a bear, and one of our guys shot the bear.
I never used her for moose hunting, but she did chase the occasional moose when deer hunting.
Most of their chases were half an hour or so, with a few that lasted a bit longer.
One time, they were in a big round swamp, going round, and round, figured she was on rabbits, and the guys were disgusted.
Not so, after a chase that lasted more than an hour, she put a big buck out to another camp.
She loved deer hunting, and would leave a rabbit track for a hot deer track.
 
Griffoneur said:
Beagles are great hunters but once they start hunting they are hard to call off. Get a tracking collar so you can find him if he decides to run 5 km after a deer.
Click to expand...

beagles are great little dogs. Sort of off the topic but one of our gang this year had bought a "catahoula cur" pup which is a american breed and one of the oldest hunting dogs, used on everything from coon to cats. Anyways he outfitted it with a collar and one day my beagle and another dog which I never should have run with him took out and the pup with them. The last thing he got on his receiver was the dog was eight kilometers away and heading south. Well by road that was about a hundred kilometers away and by the time they got out to that area the signal died. Batteries, apparently they are only good for 12 hours or so.
 
Orange collar, bell to keep track of him while he is hunting, let him loose where there is good rabbit sign. Wait till he learns what the hunt is all about before breaking him of bad habits (back tracking, hiding and eating rabbits etc). Stay clear of high traffic roads. When the chase is on, the dog aint stoppin and lookin both ways. There are also alot of online resources for beagling and there may be a club somewhere in your area. I have had several beagles over the years for house pets that are also great hunters.
Have patience and fun.
 
Yup - good advise here. My lab/retriever I discovered would run them great. Wait for the flush, watch the dog run, wait for the rabbit to run back and shoot it.

My problem was that the first time the shotgun went off, my dog headed for home! He did not like the shotgun at all. He still looks at me funny when the guns are out. You need to properly train him to the sound of gun fire.

Good luck!
 
You might want to contact members of the Alta falconry assoc...some of thoses guys hunt rabbits with Jack russels and beagles. I belonged to the Alta and Sak falconry Assoc's and ran Jack Russels. If some are still hunting rabbits they may let you run your dog...but without a gun...that will at least get him introduced to rabbits.
 
What's with all the bells?
My beagles not only howled on the chase, they had a different howl for backtracking.

A point should be made about running dogs together.
Groups of dogs will support each other, and run both longer, and farther.
If you plan to run more than one dog, make the others beagles as well. Otherwise, your beagle may run out of juice before he can come home.
A beagle left out over night, will probably resume hunting the following morning, and may eventually wind up a long ways from home.
Wait out that beagle.
 
I have one...working on the COME command...recalling is not going well but he sits, stays good.

0516001816-1.jpg
[/IMG]

He is a good swimer, as I found out on his first boat trip...he jumped in while we were in motion hence the leash unti he gets more used to it.
 
John Y Cannuck said:
What's with all the bells?
My beagles not only howled on the chase, they had a different howl for backtracking.

A point should be made about running dogs together.
Groups of dogs will support each other, and run both longer, and farther.
If you plan to run more than one dog, make the others beagles as well.
Click to expand...

:agree:

If you can't hear your beagle without a bell it's NOT a beagle.
Mine won't even look at a rabbit if deer hunting :eek:
Not sure what's going on there but I'm not complaining.

As for smart, well they're rated 6th smartest of all dog breeds in the world.
 
Be careful with collars with bells...I had a Jack Russel go into a brush pile and get hooked up...cost $350 to get a bulldodozer to gently remove the dirt and limbs to get my dog back safetly....it's also happened to other falconers. Collars hook up on branches and trap dogs!!
 
Here on the rock, i find the bells help keep the dogs from gettin hooked in snares, if one inadvertantly wanders near someones snare line. A beagle may be the 6 smartest breed but when it comes to rabbits they are like a sixteen year old boy looking for some tail of his own.
 
I hunt over a pack of 5 beagles and now 1 basset hound added to the mix. Its a lot of fun ansd a major pain in the ass. Cottontails will naturally go back to the area they were flushed hence the circle. Jacks well head back to the truck and start circling the concession blocks same with deer wolves fox and coyotes. Be patient with him sometimes it takes up to 3 years before they get it. Some never do. I would never allow anyone to carry a rifle and hunt over my dogs. The dogs flush the rabbits in there movements and use there nose to follow and there voice to keep the rabbit moving. Once you get to know the dog you can tell whare to run to to get a shot. My dogs have never been blood thirsty they don't care about the rabbit theyrun it I shoot it they go find another one. 3 of the 5 beagles will bring a dead rabbit to me the other 2 well ya they have there own ideas. Beagles are not stupid stubborn oh ya. A true hunting beagle a shock collar is absolutely useless tried it as they headed off across a feild after deer no effect at all its just more to get tangled in the brush. There colours stand out in any terrain so don't hamper his movement with vests or other crap. Bloody tipped tail and paws is normal it doesn't hurt them it means there haven fun. Feed premium food year round with table scraps. Being an indoor dog don't take him out for longish periods under -10 its hard on them as they won't have the coat they would if kept out doors. My 5 beagles stay outside my basset is a spoiled suck still in bed on the bed. If you have any questions pm me I've been running beagles for over 20 years. Happy hunting and best of luck
 
ABCZAR said:
I have one...working on the COME command...recalling is not going well but he sits, stays good.

0516001816-1.jpg
[/IMG]

He is a good swimer, as I found out on his first boat trip...he jumped in while we were in motion hence the leash unti he gets more used to it.
Click to expand...

WOW, he's an absolute carbon copy of mine. He's beautiful. :)
 
Well, I got this from Wikipedia. It clearly says that they are intelligent. This I can vouch for. They are also extremely loyal and pig-headed. I'm so much wanting to go out and hunt with him. I've discussed it with my wife, she's against it. She says it'll turn him into a blood thirsty different sort of dog. I disagree. I'm trying to explain that my first taste of blood from a Wt deer at the tender age of 14 didn't turn me into Ted Bundy.

The Beagle is a breed of small to medium-sized dog. A member of the Hound Group, it is similar in appearance to the Foxhound but smaller, with shorter legs and longer, softer ears. Beagles are scent hounds, developed primarily for tracking hare, rabbit, and other game. They have a keen sense of smell and tracking instinct that sees them employed as detection dogs for prohibited agricultural imports and foodstuffs in quarantine around the world. Beagles are intelligent, and are popular as pets because of their size, even temper, and lack of inherited health problems. These characteristics also make them the dog of choice for animal testing.

Although beagle-type dogs have existed for over 2,000 years, the modern breed was developed in Great Britain around the 1830s from several breeds, including the Talbot Hound, the North Country Beagle, the Southern Hound, and possibly the Harrier.
Beagles have been depicted in popular culture since Elizabethan times in literature and paintings, and more recently in film, television and comic books. Snoopy of the comic strip Peanuts has been promoted as "the world's most famous beagle"
Click to expand...
 
Glyn said:
I just found this. "Its on the Internet, so it must be true"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Intelligence_of_Dogs#Ranking_of_dogs_by_breed

According to this Beagles are dumb as stumps at #73 and I should be hunting with my wife's toy poodle. I suppose I could carry it in my hunting pack or on my belt when it gets tired after getting me a buck. Hmmm....like that'll happen.
Click to expand...

It seems you even missed the 1st paragraph :rolleyes:

"They are ranked 72nd in Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs, as Coren places them among the group with the lowest degree of working/obedience intelligence. Coren's scale, however, does not assess understanding, independence or creativity."

It seems you also missed reading the whole Wikipedia article :rolleyes:
which also states "Beagles are intelligent, and are popular as pets because of their size, even temper, and lack of inherited health problems."

All lot of people mix a dogs ability to preform tricks to inteligence.
I've had only Labs :) & beagles & while I loved my Labs & they did all the tricks, sit, roll over etc they were no where near as smart as the beagles.
When a scrap of food fell under the coffee table the Lab would come try to shove her nose under repeatedly then leave, the beagle would come over try that then next thing it would lie on it's side, belly to bottom of coffee table & reach way under with a paw & drag out the food scrap. That's the difference.
 
senior said:
It seems you even missed the 1st paragraph :rolleyes:

"They are ranked 72nd in Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs, as Coren places them among the group with the lowest degree of working/obedience intelligence. Coren's scale, however, does not assess understanding, independence or creativity."

It seems you also missed reading the whole Wikipedia article :rolleyes:
which also states "Beagles are intelligent, and are popular as pets because of their size, even temper, and lack of inherited health problems."

All lot of people mix a dogs ability to preform tricks to inteligence.
I've had only Labs :) & beagles & while I loved my Labs & they did all the tricks, sit, roll over etc they were no where near as smart as the beagles.
When a scrap of food fell under the coffee table the Lab would come try to shove her nose under repeatedly then leave, the beagle would come over try that then next thing it would lie on it's side, belly to bottom of coffee table & reach way under with a paw & drag out the food scrap. That's the difference.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I have two dogs, a male Austrian Cattle dog, which is #10 on the list, and a female Beagle. Whilst the cattle dog is easier to train and generally more obedient, the Beagle is by far the wiser dog of the two. Nothing stupid about her. And she has natural hunting instincts, whereas my cattle dog does not have a clue about hunting.

Here is my baby:

Jan312005009.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom