Pros and Cons of Owning a Beagle

Beagles are one of the most popular dog breeds in the US. They are also known to be one of the best family dogs. They are low-maintenance, affectionate, temperamental, independent, and highly intelligent dogs. This list of pros and cons of owning a Beagle can help you decide if a beagle is a good choice for you.

Pros of Owning a Beagle

Go through this list of Beagle advantages and see for yourself why owning these dogs is so much fun!

They Are Small in Size

One of the biggest advantages of owning a Beagle is the breed’s relatively compact size. This allows the owner to travel with their Beagles almost anywhere, allowing them to bond further with you and explore new environments.

Moreover, this hound comes in three different sizes: toy, standard, and miniature. Therefore, you can select the size of your Beagle according to your needs and requirements! Smaller Beagles weigh anywhere between 18 to 30 pounds making them easy to carry.

Low Maintenance

Every pet owner loves a dog that doesn’t shed or require heavy maintenance. While Beagles do shed, it’s certainly not as bad as several other breeds.

Owing to their long history of being bred as competitive hunting dogs, they are also super-easy to train, and very obedient. This means that you can easily get them housebroken and prevent most behavioral issues.

In addition to this, Beagles don’t need a great deal of exercise to keep fit. A 20-minute walk around the block should be more than enough to keep them healthy and happy.

Great Temperament

In this list of pros and cons of owning Beagles, one of the most important factors you’d consider is how friendly or social a dog is with strangers and other dogs – this is one factor in which Beagles do a great job.

They’re extremely social, loving, and loyal animals that love the company of their family, unfamiliar people, kids, and other dogs.

They are the perfect mixture of being friendly and not too overbearing. They love to stay around their owners and will follow them mostly anywhere, but won’t be too overwhelming. That is because Beagles love having their personal space too, and can often be found relaxing by a window in their own company.

Adaptable

One of the major factors one has to consider before bringing a dog home is if they’ll be able to adapt to the living conditions of that area. And with a lot of dogs, that can end up being a problem.

A Beagle is known to adapt and thrive in almost any living condition. These hunting dogs can live amazingly well in rural areas and big cities alike.

Although Beagles would love having a lush backyard to run around in, they don’t seem to mind going to a dog park as an alternative. They love going for walks and exploring new areas. Therefore, if you live in a big city, you don’t need to worry about how your Beagle will adapt because these animals tend to do just fine.

Good Watchdog

This breed was primarily bred for hunting because of their keen sense of smell and amazing sense of sound.

These dogs are extremely loyal and protective of their owners and will do their absolute best to protect them and warn them of danger.

Given their size, Beagles don’t make for very good guard dogs. However, with their loud bark, keen hearing, and incredible sense of smell, they can pick out and alert owners to potential signs of danger with ease.

Not Picky Eaters

One of the major problems of owning dogs is that a lot of them are picky eaters. However, you’ll find that this is not the case with Beagles. They aren’t picky eaters, given that there’s something valuable to eat.

Beagles very rarely fuss over the food they get, making your life quite easy and comfortable – and also making it much easier to keep their nutrition and diet in check. Irrespective of what you’re cooking, these cute little canines will always be ready for a bite to eat!

They’re easily motivated by treats. Moreover, their love for food makes it quite easy for you to do obedience training.

Get Along with Other Pets

While Beagles were bred as hunting dogs, they aren’t particularly aggressive to most other species of pets. Therefore, any tail wagging and barking you see will mostly be a sign of friendship and playfulness.

Moreover, if your Beagle sees another pet, it will be inclined to introduce itself – which could work very well if you have other pets in your household.

This effectively means that these dogs are highly affectionate and lovable! They’re great around cats and other animals. However, if you have a rabbit in your house, you may want to bring a different breed home because these dogs are known for hunting rabbits.

Playful

If there is any game that you enjoy playing, then rest assured your Beagle is up for it. These little dogs love playing, especially with their owners. They’re always up for a game of fetch.

Moreover, their tracking capabilities are amazing, so engaging in a game of hide-and-seek with their favorite toys is a great option.

You could create treasure hunts with dog treats as rewards as well. Treasure hunts are bound to be fun because they love eating and playing. Also, if you have a bigger Beagle, you can play Frisbee with them and other agility-building games, provided you have the space.

Affectionate

Beagles may be curious dogs, but they don’t go exploring unless it’s necessary. Most of the time these dogs love snuggling up to their owners. You’ll mostly find them jumping up on your recliner, bed, or anywhere you are.

They are extremely loving and affectionate dogs and want to be around their humans almost all the time. Be prepared for long periods of snuggling and cuddling with your Beagles.

However, this tendency of being around humans can lead to high levels of anxiety if they’re left alone for too long. During this period, Beagles can become challenging to deal with. However, this problem can be dealt with by crate training.

Therapy Dogs

While these dogs may have been initially used in hunting, their incredibly versatile, sensitive, and intelligent personalities allow them to make for excellent therapy dogs.

They can bond quickly with humans and other animals – offering comfort and often displaying an uncanny ability to understand when their owners are sad.

Moreover, their excellent sense of sound and smell makes them equipped to detect any problems in their surroundings.

Additionally, trained therapy Beagles have been known to save their owner’s life in dire situations. For example, in 2010 a Beagle rescued an individual trapped under rubble for more than 100 hours after the Haiti earthquake.

Cons of Owning a Beagle

While some of you have already been sold on the idea of adopting this lovely breed, there are also some disadvantages of owning a beagle.

If you’ve ever found yourself searching why you should not get a Beagle? online, then go through this list and get the answers you need:

They Love to Dig

One of the biggest Beagle disadvantages to watch out for is that they love dirt. They love rolling in it, digging in it, and sometimes even eating it. Don’t be alarmed if one day you find a big hole in your backyard after leaving your Beagle out there unsupervised for too long.

Why do they do this? It all comes down to instinct. Beagles were originally trained to assist in rabbit hunts, and as a result, have spent centuries digging through rabbit warrens to help hunters find their prey.

However, with a little obedience training with treats as rewards, you can substantially reduce these tendencies, although you cannot completely eliminate this behavior.

And if you live in an apartment, then your canine companions may dig into your pots, pillows, and can even end up destroying some furniture.

Loud Bark

Their barks are closer to howls and don’t sound the same in comparison with other dog breeds.

This can sometimes be funny if your dog tries to sing along to music – and not so funny when it’s late at night, and your Beagle brings in noise complaints from the neighbors.

Beagles tend to get startled easily, which means that you’ll have to think about the place you’re living in. They can even bark at spiders, innate sounds, or even flies.

So if you were wondering what are the disadvantages of owning a Beagle, this is one of the major disadvantages to consider.

Seasonal Shedding

These dogs don’t need to undergo the same levels of grooming as other dogs. But they shed quite a bit, especially during spring and autumn.

And if your dog loves lazing on the bed or couch, be ready to clean up loads of fur during these seasons. Moreover, their hairs will most definitely attach to your clothes and other items.

You can combat a fraction of this problem by brushing your dog 2-3 times a week or even daily. But it is impossible to stop their shedding entirely. Therefore, if you don’t like dog hair lying around your house, then you should not bring this breed home.

Fight-or-Flight Instinct

Most dogs are territorial and will go to great lengths to protect their owners and home. However, Beagles aren’t the same.

If there are any anomalies in the environment, these dogs prefer to run away. Therefore, think twice before walking your dog without a leash.

Moreover, because of their elite sense of smell, they tend to take off if their nose catches even the slightest whiff of something intriguing. Reconsider your decision of bringing a Beagle if you know this behavior will be challenging to tackle for you.

Stubborn

Beagles often have a mind of their own.

You can teach them tricks successfully in less than an hour. But they will only perform those tricks if they think it’s suitable for them at that given moment.

Also, if they realize that performing tricks will get them treats, they may entirely disagree with doing those tricks and will simply run after treats.

And sometimes, Beagles may stare you down when you call them. Almost as if they’re contemplating whether listening to you is the right option or not.

Easily Distracted

Beagles are primarily powered by their strong sense of smell – a characteristic that becomes very evident on walks.

You will find your Beagle sniffing everything during outdoor excursions. They love exploring new scents, so expect to take a lot of breaks during this period.

Also, if you’re looking for a dog that will run with you as a part of your workouts, then the Beagle is most definitely not the right option for you, as their nose tends to have a mind of its own!

A walk that should normally take 15 minutes may take close to 30 minutes because of the number of breaks your Beagle will take to sniff out new scents.

Heavy Eaters

And that isn’t relegated only to food, because they are known for biting at shoes, tin cans, and even clothes.

Beagles may not be picky eaters. But the flip side here is that they tend to eat a little too much. If you have any food within their reach, they will try and eat it.

You will have to keep pretty much everything out of their grasp and then monitor their eating habits closely. Moreover, even if they get adequate exercise daily, they can gain weight extremely fast. That is why monitoring their diet is so important.

Overly Energetic

Beagles are extremely energetic dogs and will almost always be up for new adventures. For their small disposition, these dogs seem to have an endless supply of energy.

Even after coming home from the dog park or long walks, these feisty little dogs will always look for something new to do.

If you live in an apartment, then your beagle pup may run around the house to blow off steam. You might find joy in watching them run around, but soon you will realize how fragile the furniture and other accessories in your house are.

As they age, however, Beagles tend to become a bit more relaxed and less excited.

Take Time To Potty Train

One of the other biggest disadvantages in this list of pros and cons of Beagles is the challenge of potty training them.

While Beagles can be trained fairly easily, they do not like being ordered around too much. Can also take quite a while to adjust to indoor life unless trained as puppies.

Can Cause Allergies

Individual hairs on a beagle’s fur can cause allergies because it is stiff and can easily pick up pollen or other seasonal allergens.

If you choose to get one, make sure that they don’t spend too much time rummaging around in parks – or they might bring in a bunch of allergens into your home.

Beagles are one of the most popular dogs in the US and rightly so. They bond extremely well with children, unfamiliar people, and other animals. However, taking care of Beagles is not always easy and mostly requires a lot of time, patience, and dedication.

If you can get through the pros and cons of owning a Beagle, then you will find that these dogs make for the cutest companions for your family. Go through this list and decide whether the Beagle is the right option for you!