Inviting a Beagle into Your Family

Beagles have always been great family dogs, but they have been the least boasted about until recently. Beagles are not commonly bragged about as being a family dog, they were not listed on family dog rankings. However, in the last few years more and more families and people have been showing off their love of Beagles in the family!

Families choose the Beagle because they are a fun, easy-going, tolerant, gentle dogs. They are a medium sized dog breed. They are very active and naturally curious.

Beagles socialize well with children and other animals, or house hold pets. They are scent hounds and benefit from lots of outside time and scent based games and challenges. Challenging their mind also helps them be calm and easily manageable. As they age, Beagle owners report this breed tends to gain weight and become "lazy", has less need and less desire to exercise.

Their grooming needs are minimal. A brushing about once a week is adequate. Expect some shedding. Worse in the spring as their winter coat thickness thins in preparation for summer.

Although Beagles are wonderful family dogs they do have some challenging qualities. Among some of their less desirable traits are:

• Need for MODERATE DAILY EXERCISE - if you are looking for a lap dog, this is NOT the breed for you
• They can be stubborn - Training takes time and persistence. Must be consistent.
• They are scent hounds - Sometime a scent will overwhelm their senses and even your commands! If you don't have solid obedience training they can be a lot to handle!
• They tend to bark a lot and without sufficient bark training are not suitable for apartment living

All breeds have their challenges though, and families that choose a Beagle enjoy sharing their experiences. As I researched for this post, I found a special video that really shows what special moments are created when you have a Beagle in your family.

If you were around watching cartoons in the 80's (1980's), you may remember a popular children's television series titled "Inspector Gadget". Inspector Gadget was a curious detective who pretects his city from evil with the help of his niece and her dog, Brain, a super smart, sleuthing Beagle!

Gromit is a Beagle in this popular clay-animation cartoon that originated in England in the late 1980's and was popular throughout the 1990's and 2000's. Gromit plays the role of the silent, intelligent and loyal anthropomorphic dog.

Beagles are amazing dogs that thrive with the acceptance of being part of a family. They socialize well with children and other pets. They offer joy, love and loyalty. Although they have been a family dog, secretly enjoyed for quite some time, they are just now gaining popularity in the family dog role at an ever-growing rate! More family's are choosing Beagles and more family's are bragging about how fun they are! They are a dog breed that also holds unique positive media influence because of popular celebrities that have owned them and Beagles who are cartoon super stars themselves.