First beagle

[Dale L.]

I thought it would be interesting if people told us when they got their first beagle and what it was like. I got my first about 10 years ago. I got a black and tan female and my brother got a black and tan male from the same guy. They were young but supposed to be started good and only needed a good gun season with plenty of time on the ground. The first hunt we took the male jumped a rabbit and began running my female didnt even act like she had a clue what he was doing so she stood at my feet. We shot the rabbit and I took my female down the hill to show her the dead rabbit but she walked right by it went down the hill a little farther crossed the creek and jumped a deer instead. The race was on! The male joined in and we had a real chase on our hands! We caught them and I was so disgusted that I took my dog and went to the house while my brother and dad hunted a little longer. My brothers dog then had a seizure which as we soon found out he did every time he was hunted. We called the guy we got them from and asked if he would take them back and he said yes but he didnt understand why we werent happy. We took them back to him and even put the female in his rabbit pen while we there and jumped a rabbit for her. She saw it jump and simply stood there and watched it for a few seconds and then did nothing. So I learned from this experience two things. 1)Be careful who you trust. 2)Always hunt with a dog that is started or finshed before buying it. But we ended up after several years of trial and error getting a few hounds we're happy with. Now we have had a lot more bad than good but it has been fun and I plan on doing it for a long time if the Good Lord allows it.

[ddetar00]

Bingo was her name ....

My first beagle was given to me by me (at that time) brother in law's neighbor. He had to crawl under a shed in the back yard to get her out.
she was literally COVERED in fleas. I bathed her, and batherd her, sprayed her, and then baithed her again until I could find no more fleas.
she was weak and under fed. I did the whole hand feeding thing and nursed her to health.

She never made a rabbit hound, not for lack of exposure, she was as gun shy as rain is wet. Now, you could put her in a thicket and she would run
a rabbit, as long as she did not see any guns.... but if somebody was carrying a gun... forget it, she stayed at my feet, nothing to do with it.
I later acquired a B&T male (Rocky) who was a heck of a rabbit hound,,, I bread them and she had two wonderful litters of rabbit chasin fools.

She lived a full life as a family member, 4 years ago I had to put her down at the age of 14... she was mostly blind and artheritis had her crippled up.
but she was a heck of a good dog, kept my kids entertained all of their young lives.

Still have her picture framed and hangin in Cydnee's room...

[Tellico Hunter]

Got April (my first) about three yrs ago (she was almost 1 yr old) and she was a very shy and timid dog. She was even scared of the TV if it was turned on. I think she was whooped to many times in the dog kennel. I spent the first 3-4 months pampering her. She stayed in the house a lot and would share potatoe chips with me for many nights. Gave her a lot of contact time. Then we started her outside some with a friends older pup trainer. He left the older dog with me for about 6 months. About every night, I would turn them two loose on the farm, and the older dog would run rabbits until 1 or 2 in the morning. eventually it clicked with her Now she will run the hair off of one. I carry treats in my pocket for the dogs after they bring one around to us to shoot, and she is so pumped about running rabbits she wil not take the time to eat one.

[J.C. Blair]

My dad bought a pair of beagles for me when I was 4 years old. Their names were Tom and Jerry. My grandfather always had foxhounds, so I've been around some sort of hound ever since I came into this world.