Dogs on chains

The above pictured beagle is not mine, I found it on the Internet.

Tying your dog up on a chain, even for a short time is not a good idea. Many people keep their dogs on a chain, because it is a cheap alternative to fencing. I do not think this is good and I will tell you why. My beagle named Gabrielle, when she was still a puppy was kept on a chain on occasion because I was in the process of building a new home and had not put up a fence yet. One day, while at work I got a call from my wife that she had returned from shopping to find Gabrielle unable to move at the end of her chain. She brought her to me in the car and yes, she was paralyzed. She must have run to the end of her chain and violently come to a sudden stop while chasing after the numerous squirrels in our yard. She had broken her neck. We took her to the vet and it was verified that her neck was broken. She would need to be placed in a dog carrier box with a restrictive cone collar for several months. We would feed and water her in the cage and carry her out to due her duties repeatedly throughout the day. This broke my heart, I was devastated to think that my action of placing her on a chain had left her helpless. The good news is Gabrielle did recover almost completely, she adapted to loss of feeling in her front paws and taught herself to extend her paws so she could walk and eventually run. It was a miracle she was able to do that as she had nearly no feeling at the fronts of her front paws. This past year I had to put Gabrielle down as her life was no longer a joy after nearly 13 years. Once again my heart was broken. I will never again put any dog on a chain and I hope you won't either.

Consider the cold

Beagles make wonderful indoor pets as well as proficient hunters, but try to keep in mind, when taking your indoor dog hunting out in the cold, they get cold too. Your beagle loves to live inside with the family, but when they go out to hunt, they are not wearing a coat to keep them warm, they are like an athlete, as long their out and running on the chase, the cold will not bother them, but when you stop to take a break, keep in mind your dog has been exercising and will chill very quickly when not active. I always make it a point to look out for their well being, as they cannot. In that regard, they are like children. Even dogs that sleep outside will get cold as they are used to the protection offered them by shelter, so either put them together if possible in the dog box or the truck, and if they appear cold pick them up and warm them in your coat. Take good care of your dog and they'll perform better for you.

Rescue

Your dog requires more than just a doghouse, chain and 2 bowls. Three years ago while vacationing and working in Florida, I noticed the next door neighbor had a very large boxer tied up with a rope to a pile of junk. His house was nothing more than a wooden box, which he could not even get in for protection from the hot afternoon sun. Upon further investigation, I realized the dog whose name was Jake, did not have water or food and with his rope so tangled he would not have been able to reach it if he had some. I knocked on the front door to let the neighbor know his dog was tangled and did not appear to have water or food. The neighbor, young, barely out of high school came out to take care of the situation. I asked him if it would be alright with him, that if I happened to see Jake without water if it would be alright to give him some water. He said that would be fine but do not try to approach him as he would definitely bite me. As the days went by, I was giving Jake water several times a day, and approached the neighbor several more times about food for Jake. I spoke to Jake as did my wife throughout the day and Jake responded very well. One day Jake was tangled again, so I went over to let the neighbor know, there was no one at home. I went around and spoke to Jake as I had many times before and he immediately started wagging his tail. I cautiously approached Jake and extended my hand. Jake smelled my hand without so much as a growl, he was pleased to get some attention. I give Jake a pet and untangled the rope, give him some food and water, and spoke to Jake while I was doing it. When the neighbor got home that day, I went over to tell him he had left Jake tangled up without food or water again. I asked him if he would like to sell Jake, and he said that Jake would never go near anyone other than him. I told him about untangling Jake that day and that Jake was a fine dog, he just needed attention. He didn't believe me and asked me to show him, so we walked around the house to see Jake. Jake of course was happy to see me and came right over to me. A couple of more days passed and the neighbor came over and knocked at the front door. He said he really needed the money and would reluctantly sell Jake to me for $75, I paid him the money, because neither my wife or I could not bear to watch Jake live under those conditions any longer. We did not have a place to keep Jake, so I searched the Internet to find a placement home for Jake. We found one that would take him in Orlando and drove him the next day some 150 miles. The home was very well kept, air conditioned for comfort, with fenced in back yard for daily exercise, we left Jake there with the owners promise of finding Jake a good home. It was difficult to do, but Jake's life would be so much better and we did not have a good home for him.

Unconditional Love

Relationships are something we really have to work at to make it successful. Often times they are very frustrating, because we feel unappreciated for what we contribute. So sometimes, we don't contribute at all. Ever been in a relationship where you were giving and giving but never got any- thing back? That kind of relationship never lasts for very long, unless the giver just gives up on ever having a healthy relationship. Fortunately, dogs don't think like humans. They love unconditionally, even when being abused. If people were like dogs in that sense, we would see many less divorces. Have you ever yelled at the dog because you were upset with someone else? I have, then I felt horrible afterwords. The dog will always forgive us though, no matter how much we might yell. They seek to please us, even though we don't deserve it. Don't take your anger out on the dog, he's probably the last one in the house that deserves to be yelled at. They feel bad for us when we are sad, so they try to cheer us up, when we are happy, they are happy with us. They are such emotional creatures, too bad we couldn't all be that way isn't it?

It's that time of year!

Over the next three months men and dogs will embark upon the greatest time of the year, that is if you enjoy rabbit hunting. The warmer months behind us, deer hunting nearly over, the snow is on the ground, thank heavens the football season is almost over if you are a Detroit Lions fan! Time to get out and get some exercise, load up the hounds, we're going rabbit hunting! I can hardly wait to listen to the sweet music of the pack on track. Each one amazingly distinguished by their own unique bark. Some howl or bugle is another term, others are choppers, which is a short choppy bark and others can't seem to make up their mind as to whether bugling or chopping would be better. None in the field will be more excited about the hunt than the beagles themselves. The rabbits, I believe, look forward to the event too. I think they find a thrill in leaving a difficult track to follow. If they get too tired, or just are not in the mood, they often will hole up, which means its time to find another to chase. Once the freezer is full, I prefer to give the rabbits a sporting chance, so I resort to my 22 handgun and eventually to my longbow and arrow, totally instinctive of course. It is after all the chase I really enjoy the most anyway. It is just so much fun to get a pack on track and try to predict where to go to head off the chase, to get positioned for the oncoming rabbit! So get ready! Get out the gear, it's time to go rabbit hunting!

Christmas Beagles

Lost Beagle

One thing I've learned with my hunting beagles, is sometimes they can get far away from you while out hunting. I have had days when we just could not find a fresh track to run or the rabbits were all holed up. More times than not the frustrated beagle wanders off in search of a fresh scent to chase. On several occasions after giving up on a particular spot, one of my beagles would be no where to be found. I have spent countless hours calling and calling but to no avail. Eventually darkness would come and I would have to abandon the search for that day and take it up again in the morning. A longtime friend of mine, much older and wiser than me accompanied me one day on just that sort of hunt. One of the beagles had gone lost, it was late, getting dark and he mentioned to me that he learned many years ago that if he were to leave his jacket on the ground where we had last seen the dog, that most times in the morning when he returned, the beagle would be laying on the coat exhausted from a long night of hunting. I thought it was worth a try, and took my coat off just as he advised. The next morning, when I arrived, there she was! I have used this method a number of times and so far have only lost one dog. That one, had been stolen, as I found him in a cage at a guys house one day that was selling some pups. So if you happen to lose your dog in the woods, you just might try this , it really works.

Locked out

Most of the time when I leave the house to do anything, my dog will come along. She just loves to ride in the truck, it doesn't matter where or what time of day it is, she is always ready to go. She can be sound to sleep on her bed, but the slightest noise or indication I might be going somewhere and she is up and at the door, tail a wagging. All I have to do is say "you wanna go" and she is in full brawl mode, the excitement is overwhelming for her! She is the same way if she thinks I might be going hunting. She knows where the gun is kept and any approach toward that door and she is up just screaming. Another thing that triggers this response is touching her leash, that means we can go for a walk or perhaps better yet, we can go chase some rabbits!

On a number of occasions in the past I have left my keys in the truck while running in somewhere, to do something quick. When I came back out to get in the truck, I discovered the door to be locked as she had stepped on the lock button watching me leave. I have walked around to the other side to go through the passenger door and just as I was about to open it I hear that familiar click. She just wanted to greet me. I got really good at opening locked doors before I finally got in the habit of taking my keys with me every time. I would like to note, that I never would leave my dog in the truck in warm weather and the windows up. When I see that, it makes me cringe. As much as I hate being locked out of my own truck, I would hate even more not having the company she provides!

History of beagles

Beagle History

1. The Beagle is a rather old breed, whose first mention in English literature dates back to 1475. It is suggested that the term Beagle could have come from several different sources: the French beguele which means "open throat," the Welsh beag which means small, or possibly from the German word begele meaning "to scold."
   
   The Beagle was bred specifically for rabbit hunting, and King Edward III is known to have used the dog for just that purpose. Hunting with Beagles is done on foot, rather than horseback and has been called "beagling." The Beagle did not become as popular in America as it was in England for quite some time. It was not until 1885 that the American Kennel Club registered its very first Beagle. In 1888 both the National Beagle Club and the breed standard was established in the States. These days, the Beagle is occasionally used for practical purposes, for example, sniffing out out contraband at airports and locating traces of flame accelerants at disaster sites where arson is suspected. Generations of breeding specifically for loyalty and obedience have also made the Beagle a fantastic companion, which is why so many families today have welcomed the Beagle into their homes. The most famous Beagle in the world is Snoopy, from the popular syndicated comic strip Peanuts.

Buyer Beware

I love dogs. All shapes and sizes. I have a special admiration for beagle dogs. As a child, I never had a beagle, just admired them. They are too cute, so affectionate, and they make that awesome noise when they bark. Best of all, they chase rabbits. That was all I needed to know to make the beagle my choice for my very first pet as a senior in high school way back in 1972.

I bought that first beagle for $20 not knowing much about them other than what I wrote above. I was about to learn a whole lot about this wonderful little pet, the hard way. I would say today, I did everything wrong in selecting my first beagle. I am going to attempt to give you some good advise, based on those many lessons through the years. I have been a breeder and raised beagles purely for hunting rabbits, I have also participated in both gun dog trials and field trials. I enjoy beagles in every way, they are such a special little animal.

Lesson one, before you purchase any pet, determine why you want a pet in the first place. Are you simply looking for a hunting dog? Do you want this pet to be a house broken pet for companionship only? Do you want your pet to be both a hunter and and indoor pet? Are you buying this pet for your children to play with? You must determine why you want this pet before you select your beagle.

You see beagles are naturally good hunters, because of their inherently good sense of smell. However, if you are looking for a hunting beagle there are many other factors to consider, I will cover those in other blog posts in detail later. For now let me just warn you that beagles have been bred for gun hunting and for field trials over the years, each is a totally different approach to a hunting beagle. If you truly want to hunt rabbits with a gun, then you need to carefully choose a beagle that was bred for those characteristics. If you buy a beagle that has a field champion pedigree but your looking for a good gun dog, you will be very disappointed if his pedigree is not specifically gun field champion. Gun dogs are much faster on track and will be less apt to loose track on check. Field trial dogs will run a rabbit at an extremely slow pace being sure to bark at each hop the rabbit takes.

If you are simply looking for a nice pet, a beagle is a very good choice, with the following caveat.
Beagles often have very strong wills, they typically love to bark at anything that moves, are very stubborn, smart, and loving little pets. Obedience training at young age is important, generally 6-8 weeks of age is best. Start with basic commands, sit, stay, come, and fetch. Your pet learning these basic commands will make life much better later on. If you have ever gone to a shelter, you know beagles are in numerous supply, generally someone purchased a puppy, because they were just so cute. They did not properly train them, then later found them to be "dumb," and noisy. I have heard people say things like, they tore up my house, they wandered off, they would not listen and each of these statements can be true, especially with beagles.


In my opinion the beagle dog is an excellent pet for indoor enjoyment and family companion. They are and excellent watch dog and are loyal to a fault. They can be both a hunter and a pet if that is what you want, they require a great deal of attention and will give back all the love you give them. Some guys I know have beagles, not for a pet or companionship, but rather just for the pure enjoyment of listening to the music of the pack on trail. What ever your reason for having this wonderful little pet, be sure to know exactly what type of background this little critter comes from. It would be better to do some additional investigative work or pay a little more, than to purchase a beagle that will never be able to suit you needs.