Info on Beagles

Rigs · Post by **Rigs** » Sun Jan 05, 2003 2:25 pm

I am interested in possibly getting a Beagle? My 13 year old son is autistic and just loves dogs. I would like a smaller dog so I am thinking about a Beagle? My son is a bit rough, and I am concerned a Beagle would not tolerate the rough treatment? I am concerned my son my get bit? I am looking for opinions on getting a Beagle?

Thanks!

Rigs87@aol.com

inBRANDYSmemory · Post by **inBRANDYSmemory** » Mon Jan 06, 2003 7:27 pm

Hello Rigs,
I have only had 2 Beagles, but have found them to be extremely even tempered. They also have a high tolerance for pain. Are you more concerned that the bite would be serious or of your sons reaction to being biten? I would certainly crate train your dog and teach your son that the dog is not to be bothered when it is in its crate. That way if the dog feels stressed by any rough treatment he might receive, he can always retreat to his crate and feel safe. I hope this advise has been helpful

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 07, 2003 1:27 pm

Beagles generally are among the kindest and most tolerant breeds. It comes with the territory with a pack breed.

Have you tried a nearby rescue? You probably won't be able to get a puppy, but many rescues have dogs in foster homes with children, and they would be able to help select a dog that has been proven to be very tolerant with your child.

BglsRTheBest · Post by **BglsRTheBest** » Fri Jan 10, 2003 10:41 am

While I agree that beagles are wonderful breeds to own, I have a couple of important things to note about getting a rescued dog. It comes from personal experience.

My rescued male dog is a wonderful, loving dog. HOWEVER, he has a couple of unresolved issues we are working on. First, we believe he was mishandled by a hunter, who would pick him up by his ears and toss him into the back of his truck. He absolutely hates having his ears tugged. He would nip and lunge at us at first, but has eased up a bit (knowing that we won't hurt him). Still, he yelps when we put too much pressure on his ears. An autistic child MIGHT want to tug on the soft, gentle, floppy ears. (I find them a direct sense of comfort myself). I wouldn't want anything to happen to your child as a result of a past history of ear abuse.

Second, our dog has food issues. When we first got him two years ago, feeding him was a nightmare. He was so food motivated that he would literally slap the bowl out of our hands, spraying food everywhere. If we were able to get the bowl down on the ground, he'd wolf it down so quickly, he'd get sick. We believe he was probably the submissive male in the group and had to learn to fight for whatever food scraps he got. He came to the foster family about 5 pounds underweight. To this day, he will do what he can to get to food. We are still working on that.

Third, he is abnormally terrified of any lound sounding vehicle. He goes beserk at the sound of the UPS truck, the mail truck, any pick up truck or loud vehicle that comes onto our court. He barks violently and aggressively, and appears very distressed. We wish we knew what has made him that way.

Despite our dog's issues, I love him devotedly. He is the most loving, sweet boy. We're working on the undesirable behaviors. The point I'm trying to make is that with any rescued dog, you must prepare to deal with the issues that made them strays/abandoned animals in the first place. We have no history on this dog, so we don't know what he went through. And if you are seriously considering a beagle, that's wonderful. A rescued dog is, in my humble opinion, a very grateful animal and can be very devoted to you. It's important the dog you get bonds well with the family, and understands who is in charge. Also, you must make sure the foster family (if you choose to go this route) has carefully screened the animal ahead of time to make sure any undesirable behaviors for YOUR situation have been identified. Tug on the ears, the jowls, the tail -- anywhere your son might tug or poke. If the dog doesn't like it, then I suggest you look for another beagle until the match comes through.

I hope this helps.

Boomer · Post by **Boomer** » Fri Jan 10, 2003 4:09 pm

BglsRtheBest,

Your experience is a perfect example of what I am talking about. You probably learned very quickly that your dog would not be the type that would do well with this child. Rescues can often use their own observations or those of their foster homes to determine which dogs in their program could be suitable and which ones would not be suitable for a specific home. Shelters generally don't know/don't care/don't have the capability of finding out, nor do most breeders (who will often just tell a potential buyer that every puppy will work out if they are raised properly). With a puppy, you just don't know how the dog's personality will turn-out. Every beagle rescue I know of would be very cautious with this home and take its time finding the right dog for it. They certainly wouldn't even consider adopting a dog with issues like yours to a home with such a child.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jan 23, 2003 10:21 pm

BglsRTheBest wrote: I have a problem with this first part
First, we believe he was mishandled by a hunter, who would pick him up by his ears and toss him into the back of his truck.
Where in the world did you get this idea
He absolutely hates having his ears tugged. He would nip and lunge at us at first, but has eased up a bit (knowing that we won't hurt him). Still, he yelps when we put too much pressure on his ears. I wouldn't want anything to happen to your child as a result of a past history of ear abuse.
This is a pretty wild idea you have about how a hunter would handle his hunting buddy. I'm not a vet or anything but i would take a guess that maybee the dog has some sort of ear infection or irritation due to neglect not from a hunter tossing him into a truck by his ears.Again i'm not a vet but i know that they make ear washes and antibiotics that might help that problem.
Second, our dog has food issues. When we first got him two years ago, feeding him was a nightmare. He was so food motivated that he would literally slap the bowl out of our hands, spraying food everywhere. If we were able to get the bowl down on the ground, he'd wolf it down so quickly, he'd get sick. We believe he was probably the submissive male in the group and had to learn to fight for whatever food scraps he got. He came to the foster family about 5 pounds underweight. To this day, he will do what he can to get to food. We are still working on that.

I will just add here that i have had many beagles all house dogs and never had food issues
Third, he is abnormally terrified of any lound sounding vehicle. He goes beserk at the sound of the UPS truck, the mail truck, any pick up truck or loud vehicle that comes onto our court. He barks violently and aggressively, and appears very distressed. We wish we knew what has made him that way.
Again you might want to refer to the ear care above
We have no history on this dog, so we don't know what he went through.

Wait a minute you don't even know if this dog was a hunting dog at all, or if a hunter was involved. People like you give hunters a bad name for no reason. I don't know why you would accuse a hunter of mistreating his dog,but i can assure you that almost all hunters take care of their dogs.I'm sure there is one somewhere that may mistreat his dogs but if think of how many dogs are used for hunting compared to the the vast number of various(pet) house dogs I could guarantee that more run of the mill(pet) dogs are abused than hunting dogs.All the hunters I know, including myself, take excellent care of their dogs and don't abuse them. You should think before you speak and try to be truthfull in what you say. There are no grounds on which you make such a statement and you admit you have no hisory on this dog. In general hunters take better care for their dogs than most people. They are fed well, not fat out of shape overfed beasts like alot house pets, and live happy lives.

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Post by **Bev** » Fri Jan 24, 2003 8:32 am

Thank you guest - you beat me to it. BglsRTheBest and I have gone 'round before over the hunter/pet owner issue. I honestly believe she is grasping for knowledge about her hound that she will never get, so she's filling in the blanks herself to make logic of her hound's behavior. I'm pretty certain she chose hunters as the villains because that is the one aspect of beagling she has no experience with and it seems foreign to her. To many people, foreign = unlike me = must be wrong.

bigfoot · Post by **bigfoot** » Fri Jan 24, 2003 12:38 pm

I wrote the reply to BglsRTheBest. I'm sorry I didn't stick to the topic. I was just so mad when I read the truly false statements, I forgot to even log in.
I think a beagle could be a great pet for your son and a rescue could be a great way to find one, I would even take a chance and say it would be better to find a mature one. My past experience has taught me that a pup can change alot going to maturity, a real cuddly tolerant dog as a pup can change to a very independent non cuddly dog into maturity. What I'm trying to get at is you may want to find an adult dog that has already developed it manerism so you don't have any changes in the future. Good Luck. Bigfoot

kjohns · Post by **kjohns** » Fri Jan 24, 2003 3:25 pm

There are a lot of problems with her statements and go to prove Bev and Guest's point. I don't think Beagles R' Best knows a lot about the breed or dogs in general. You mention you think your dog was the submissive male in the pack and had to fight for any food he got. This wouldn't happen. If he was the submissive male in the pack, he would not dare fight any of the other pack members. He would take what was left and would be very reluctant to show any type of aggressiveness. It sounds more like to me he was the dominant or near the top of the pack and is telling you to get away from his food. Number 2 this dog obviously has something wrong with his ears. I've never seen a beagle that didn't love his ears rubbed. If he is that agressive just from them being touched, somehting is wrong. You seem to have a beagle that is WAY out of character for the breed. Very very few beagles are aggresive at all for any reason with people. Also, it sounds to me like you better get the dog's ears checked right away. Beagles require a lot of ear care as they are very prone to infection by the design of their ears.

Also, inBrandysmemory said "beagles have a high tolerance for pain" that couldn't be further from the truth. Beagles in general are big whimps. They have a very low tolerance for pain. I've been in the vets with mine getting shots and if I wasn't standing right there comforting my beagle, I would've thought the vet was beating him. Just from a shot.

Back to the original question, beagles are a highly intelligent breed and generally need a lot of love and attention. They will do just about anything to please their pack members as long as they know they are loved and will go to great lengths to return the love.