New Hampshire Nesties
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Michelle, and other Beagle owners come in...
Can you guys tell me some more about your experiences with being beagle owners? I was looking at different rescue leagues this morning, and of course I found B.O.N.E.S
Michelle I know how much you love Abbie and the pictures of her crack me up. We had a bad experience with a friends beagle while we were dog sitting once and she would not stop barking.... the entire time we had her (3 days) she barked all night long.... all beagles can't be like this right???m
Any info you could offer would be appreciated, we are exploring all kinds of rescue leagues to see what might best fit our home.
Re: Michelle, and other Beagle owners come in...
My family had two beagles when I was younger. One of them was always biting people and was just a pretty mean dog, but the other was the sweetest little thing. I want to get a beagle puppy now that we have a house and everyone keeps telling me how much they bark, etc... but the two my family had did not bark any more than another kind of dog would.
Let me know if you go with BONES! You know I volunteer with them, but I had to give up being an adoption counselor because I just don't have time with work and school now. I am happy to answer any questions you have about the group or the adoption process.
Honestly, beagles can be a difficult breed. Because they are bred to hunt in packs, they tend to be more independent than say, a retriever, and they are sooooo persistent when it comes to getting something they want. They will harm themselves if they need to, going straight through an invisible fence and taking a shock, climbing on things, cutting their noses on things. Beagles have a high pain tolerance, which makes them a rough and tumble dog in a smallish body. This is one of my fave things about my Abbster -- she's not a prissy dog, but she's small enough to have up on the couch and in the bed.
When they hunt, they bay to alert their master that they are on the scent of something, so former hunting beagles DO tend to be quite noisy. BONES does have former hunters; if you are a first-time beagle owner your adoption counselor probably would not adopt you one of them, because they need work on lots of things. They can be timid around people because they're used to living in their pack (hunting beagles usually live outside with their pack, not indoors with the family), and they usually need housetraining and just general manners training because they're not used to living in a house.
Most beagles are NOT noisy dogs. It is all in their personality and training. Abbie only barks when she is excited about something (like when I come home from work) or if she's in the yard and someone comes near the house. She doesn't bark when people come to the door or when she hears noises. If we put her in a crate, she would bark her head off, but it's not like that's a beagle trait, you know? She just hates being crated and doesn't need to be. I have never heard her bay or howl in the three years we've had her.
Most beagles cannot be loose - ever. Some will bolt, some will follow their nose into trouble. Abbie would never bolt because she's a wussy, but when we have her off-leash (which we only do in very controlled situations, and it took us 18 months to train her to come when called reliably) we keep a VERY close eye on her, because she will just wander off following her nose and look up a mile later and be lost. I would never forgive myself if that happened, because she's just dopey enough to get hit by a car or have someone do something bad to her because she's so friendly and trusting.
Beags have a tendency to get fat, especially if they are not exercised. We walk Abbie twice a day everyday. A total PITA sometimes, but we always do it. She acts up if she doesn't get her exercise. A fenced in yard would be ideal (we have a 70-foot overhead run).
They can be hard to train, but we've not had any problems. I mean, Abbie is a little dense sometimes (cocks her head like ... huhhhhh?) but because she is VERY food-motivated it's easy to train her with treats. We've taught her tons of stuff like sit, down, off, drop it, nighty-night, on your bed, wait, etc... and she is just generally fairly obedient though she does have a sassy streak. I mean in most cases I can say NO or EH-EH and she stops whatever she's about to do.
I've mostly focused on the bad here, but it's important to know what you're getting into. On the plus side, beagles are even-tempered, generally friendly, playful, mischievous and silly. Most are snugglers and love attention. EVERY beagle I've met (and I've met A LOT) is full of personality and life.
The nice thing about adopting from a group like BONES is that your adoption counselor learns about you and your life, and they help you choose a dog that fits into that. If you get a dog and then have to change your life drastically to make it work, it's not fair to you or the dog. I loved matching my families with their beagies - it was my favorite part!
If you have any questions or want any more info please don't hesitate to email me. I actually only came over here today because someone told me you paged me, so just shoot me an email. suchatreat at gmail dot com
I have a beagle named Snoopy that I got through B.O.N.E.S. Michelle was my adoption counselor, and I had a very positive experience with everyone involved with B.O.N.E.S.
I love my dog sooo much, but I do have to admit he is a bit... neurotic. I don't think it is beagle thing though. It probably has more to do with his mysterious history (he was a stray). He has pretty bad separation anxiety, and it's hard on him even when someone leaves the house, even just to grab something from the car. He throws himself at the door and windows and tends to bark/whine.
He also barks a lot at other dogs, though when he was fostered he got along great (reportedly) with the other dogs in the house. He does eventually get along well with other dogs who like to roughhouse.
He loves people, and does not bark at anyone when they come over. In fact, it's kind of rare that he barks while he is just home with us, or with other people. Sometimes he barks to let us know that he needs more water, and every once in a while he just starts barking at the fridge or crockpot... but that's not even on a weekly basis. He does frequently bark at first when we leave him (again, separation anxiety), so although I find him fairly quiet overall he probably wouldn't be the best to have in an apartment.
We have a fenced in yard, and I can't imagine having him without one. He constantly wants to go in and out (he used to have a doggy door at his foster family...). He absolutely needs a leash when we go for walks, or he would absolutely take off following smells. He loves to be around people, but if a smell is more interesting, he doesn't care how much you call to him. I know that Michelle has said that her dog doesn't always need a leash, but I think in general beagles need one.
He is scent driven, and food motivated, and hysterical about a million things. He doesn't "counter surf" or knock over garbage. Overall he is a good little boy.
My husband is the one who really wanted a beagle and I have to say I am delighted that he talked me into it!
I think that it is a myth that the dogs bark all the time. Going through BONES is helpful, though, because you would probably know through the foster family whether or not your potential doggie would be quiet or loud.
Sorry I rambled on and on. Please let me know if you have any other questions though.