"They're our Statue of Liberty," said one city official about
the 225-pound sculptures that were featured in a putting-on-the-dog
tribute to native son Charles Schulz, who created the comic
strip "Peanuts" in which Snoopy appeared.
If the pedigreed dog fancy had a Statue of Liberty, it would
be sculpted in the image of a beagle, too. When "Peanuts"
made its official debut on October 2, 1950, the beagle ranked
second in the American Kennel Club's (AKC) annual count of
new registrations. Since then the beagle has ranked no lower
than 9th on the AKC's hit parade, and from 1953 through 1959
the little hound with the big ears was America's most popular
dog. Indeed, there has never been a time since the AKC's inception
in 1884 that the beagle was not one of the most popular breeds
in this country.
Hounds in Gloves
According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the word
beagle first appeared in the English language in 1475 in the
following passage from the Squire of Low Degree: "With theyr
begles in that place, And sevenscore raches at his rechase."
(Raches were small hounds brought to France from England during
the 14th century. Heaven only knows what a rechase was - or
is.) The OED speculates that beagle evolved from the French
beguele, meaning "open throat," and was generally applied
to a shouting, noisy person.
Beagles and their reasonable facsimiles preexisted the word
beagle for many centuries in Great Britain. When Roman invaders
arrived in the year 43, they brought small hounds along, and
these hounds made conquests of their own among the small hounds
then living in Britain.
The next major contribution to the British hounds' gene pool
was provided by William, Duke of Normandy, who defeated Harold,
King of England, in the Battle of Hastings on October 14,
1066. In addition to the French language, which English rulers
and nobility spoke for the next 300 years, William brought
large, mostly white Talbot hounds to England from the European
continent. These hounds are thought to have contributed to
the development of the Southern hound, a slow moving fellow
with large ears and a deep voice that is one of the ancestors
of the modern-day beagle.
Although William was partial to Talbot hounds, subsequent
rulers of England favored beagles. Edward II (1307-27), who
acquitted himself poorly as soldier and king - and offended
English nobility by lavishing money and other rewards on his
male favorites - is remembered among dog lovers nevertheless
for keeping a pack of glove beagles, who had come by this
name because they were tiny enough to fit on a glove.
The beagle's popularity extended through the reigns of Henry
VII (1485-1509) and Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The latter, who
never married although she was an incessant flirt, kept packs
of pocket beagles that were only nine inches high at the withers.
When Elizabeth and other nobles went riding, they took the
pocket beagles along, releasing them only after the larger
hounds in attendance were hot on the trail of whatever prey
was on the menu that day.
By the beginning of the 18th century, as Alexander Pope noted
in the couplet that opened this article, men had discovered
the pleasure of repairing to the field with a pack of well-bred
beagles to watch them perform their artistry. Within 50 years,
however, the beagle went into decline as foxhunting, a far
more exhilarating chase, became all the rage. Ironically,
the beagle was obliged to contribute to its own decline by
participating in arranged marriages with a larger variety
of hound called the buck hound, which was already employed
in hunting fox. These unions produced the ancestors of the
present-day fox hound.
As foxhunting grew in popularity, the beagle's fortunes declined
to such an extent that the breed might have become extinct
were it not for the farmers and small landowners of the southern
counties of England, who maintained packs of beagles that
were used to flush rabbits into shooting range. But for the
efforts of these yeoman and their counterparts in Ireland
and Wales, the beagle might have become extinct.
A dog as beguiling as the beagle makes a poor candidate for
extinction. Thus, a number of beagle fanciers started The
Beagle Club in 1890 "to promote the breeding of beagles for
show and sporting purposes." Five years later the first standard
for the breed was published, and in 1897 The Beagle Club sponsored
its first show.
Beagles arrived in the United States before the colonies
had become united. From their earliest arrival in this country,
beagles' ability to help put game on the table made them useful,
and hence popular. Their affability and devotion to good company
made them even more popular. There are few things as consistent
and cuddlesome as a beagle.
Nose to the Ground
The beagle is a scent hound or, as dog authority Dave Barry
has observed, "a nose with feet." This configuration enables
the beagle to excel at sniffing out rabbits in the field,
contraband fruit at airports, or termites grazing behind the
wall of a house.
The beagle's inclination to follow his nose also makes him
a challenge for people whose pursuits are more sedentary.
Left to his own devices for long periods of time without a
task to perform (even if it's nothing more than a good, brisk
walk each day), the beagle will start to look for ways to
amuse himself. Random chewing, digging and howling are his
top three choices.
Beagles are intelligent and adept at solving problems. These
qualities, however, can make beagles difficult to train because
intelligent, problem-solving dogs sometimes become bored with
routine exercises. When beagles get bored, they're apt to
look for a different way to achieve the desired result of
an exercise, or they might choose to pursue a different result
altogether. That's why few beagles have obedience titles.
A beagle isn't a yappy dog, but it will bark and/or growl
when strangers of any species come into its territory. A beagle
will also bark when he's excited or he's bored, as he's sure
to be if he's left alone too long. Because beagles were bred
as a pack animals, they are inclined to get along well with
other dogs - and with cats, too.
Beagles are as happy to play with children as children are
to play with them. Nevertheless, beagles, like any other dog,
should never be left alone with young children. Beagles are
inclined to play - if not roughly, rambunctiously - and their
spiritedness can may lead to accidental injuries to their
playmates. What's more, beagles are often "mouthy." They aren't
biters, but they will use their mouths like an infant uses
its hands, for investigative purposes.
Maintenance
Beagles are clean dogs and seldom require a bath unless they've
been rolling about in decomposing wildlife. Their medium-length
double coat - coarse outer coat over a soft undercoat - should
be brushed with a medium-bristled brush or a hound glove at
least once a week. Regular brushing helps to loosen and remove
dead hair, thereby making way for new hair growth.
Beagles generally shed more in the spring, as their coats
are inclined to thicken during the winter. Shedding is caused
by an increase in light, not temperature. The greater the
exposure to light, the greater the shedding. Exposure to increasing
light usually correlates with a rise in temperature during
the spring, and that is why some people believe dogs begin
to shed because the weather has turned warm.
The beagle's generous, low-riding ears should be inspected
at least every two weeks for signs of infection or waxy build-up.
When a beagle's ears need cleaning, a session with an ear
wash should be sufficient. Odor emanating from a beagle's
ears is a sign of yeast build-up or some other kind of infection.
Other signs of ear infections include head shaking and scratching.
These signs indicate a trip to the veterinarian.
Colors and Combinations
Beagles come in two sizes: the 13-inch model does not exceed
13 inches from floor to withers; the 15-inch model is more
than 13 inches tall but no more than 15 inches. Whatever their
size, beagles are most commonly arrayed in black, white and
tan: a black saddle, white legs, chest and belly, and a tan
head. Other color combinations include read and white, and
lemon and white. Black and white beagles are rare, and all-white
beagles are even more rare. Many beagles have a white blaze
on the face, but a solid tan face is common, too.
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