Beagle
Beagles are considered India’s one of the most amiable and intelligent dog breeds, and why not as it's very difficult to resist the appeal of hazel eyes, with the fun and loving nature of this dog. Beagles are happy and inquisitively curious natured dogs, belonging to the hound breed category.
The most important breed quality to know about Beagles is that they are scent hounds, hence nose is the most important part of their anatomy. Their origin dates back to as old as 1400s, best known for rabbit hunting.
Beagles are muscular, solid dogs with long floppy ears, adorned with a short, smooth double coat. Because of their short coat, they aren’t prone to a lot of shedding, but nevertheless they do undergo shedding multiple times around the year. Beyond frequent brushing to keep their short coat under control, they are very low maintenance pups.
Beagles are suitable for apartment living too, but require plenty of daily exercise, so ensure you have access to plenty of outdoor space for long meandering walks with your dog.
These dogs should not be let out in an open yard, as they will follow any scent and owners can lose track of them very easily. If you have big backyard in your house, make sure your home is properly secured and reinforced, to not let your beagle roaming around following a scent that may have picked up.
AllDogs recommends this dogbed to give a good night’s sleep to your Beagle. You should also consider feeding you dog this amazing well-balanced, nutrition-rich dog food.
Physical attributes
Males stand 13 to 16 inches, and weigh 10 to 11.3 Kg.
Females stand 13 to 16 inches, and weigh 9 to 10.4 Kg.
Average life span of 12-15 years.
Personality
These friendly, playful partners need plenty of daily exercise, hence suitable for an active family. But once exhausted from their daily exercise, they are happy to hang with their folks at home.
Beagles love to play, and are good companions if you have other pets or children at home. Beagles have high tendency to bark, and hence can double as a good alert systems at your house, but don’t expect them to follow up on an intruder or neighbor, they will mostly just bark and sit with a welcoming wag of their tail. They also have very high prey drive, serving the breed’s original purpose, this breed can become troublesome if not properly trained and cared for.
These smart curious creatures are slightly harder to train, as they have the tendency to follow their nose, rather than sit and being tutored. It may take longer to train a beagle, but positive reinforcement and patience can go a long way for this breed. Once trained, they make a very obedient and friendly dog.
Their fine-tuned nose and obedient nature, is what makes them preferable companion for USA department of Agriculture at airports to sniff out the food items at various entry points in the country.
Health
Beagles are considered healthy breeds, but like all breeds, beagles can have certain health issues too. They are susceptible to a specific breed condition called as Musladin-Lueke Syndrome (MLS). It’s a genetic disease affecting connective tissue and can affect nearly everything in the body.
Progressive retinal Atrophy, cone-Rod dystrophy 4 (PRA-crd4) is an inherited eye disease affecting Beagles. PRA-crd4 occurs as a result of degeneration of both rod and cone type Photoreceptor Cells of the Retina, which are important for vision in dim and bright light, respectively. Another most common health challenge in Beagles is Hip Dysplasia, an inherited disease that causes the hip joints to form improperly and leads to arthritis: it is common in Beagles. You may notice that he has lameness in his hind legs or has difficulty getting up from lying down.
AllDogs recommends this hip supporter for Beagles.
Feeding Beagles
Beagles need more exercise than the typical dogs, and hence when beagles who don’t get enough exercise they tend to become obese, noisy and destructive. They also tend to have a big appetite, and are prone to being obese if their meals or treats are not properly measured. They need at least an hour of exercise each day, to stay healthy mentally and physically.
These energetic breeds need a well-balanced and nutritional diet to live a long and a healthy life. Beagles require large variety of nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals. You can chose to feed your beagles either home cooked food or manufactured food, but make sure they are getting these healthy nutrients in a balanced way: protein 30% to 40%, healthy fats 15% to 20%, and carbs 30% to 50%.
For home cooked food you can prepare an excellent portion of greens using baby carrots, beets, spinach, beans, rice, potatoes, yogurt, fruits eggs and meat.
Beagles are best fed when they are fed just correctly. Recommended daily amount is 1 – 1.5 cups of high quality dry food twice a day. AllDogs recommends this puppy food for puppies and adult food for adults.
Dog food for Beagles should be free of harsh ingredients and any artificial flavors, colors and preservatives, or animal byproducts. Recipes that are comprised of these types of ingredients can have adverse effects on overall health and well being of your dog. Hence make sure you only serve high quality dog food.
Given the popularity of Beagles, one can easily find a puppy or a grown up dog easy to adopt from your network. Alldogs.in recommends one always considers adopting from someone who is struggling to meet the pet's needs before considering taking home a new puppy.
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