Beagle Facts

The beagle is a breed of small to medium-sized dogs known for their amazing sense of smell and tracking instinct. It is one of the most popular dog breed in the United States as well as the United Kingdom. While there is no questioning, the popularity of this breed when it comes to pet dogs as of today, one of the lesser known beagle facts is that it was primarily used as a hunting dog to track rabbits, hare and other such animal species. No prize for guessing that it was their very ability of tracking scents that made them such amazing hunting dogs. In this write-up we will uncover more of such facts about beagles which will tell you just how amazing this dog breed is.

Beagle Facts that You Need to Know

Generally, beagles sport a white coat with large black and brown areas. While this combination of colors is most common, other combination in this breed are not very rare as such. On an average, a full-grown beagle can be anywhere around 13-16 inches tall, and weigh 18-35 lbs. In fact the two different types of beagles are identified on the basis on their shoulder height. This dog breed has quite short legs in proportion to their body. This characteristic, along with their medium length neck, helps them bend to reach the ground with ease in order to pick scent. That their ears and large lips assist them in trapping scents close to their nose is yet another interesting beagle facts which not many people are aware of. These physical features of the beagles play a crucial role in making them the dog breed with best sense of smell, perhaps next only to the bloodhound breed.

While that was some general information pertaining to beagle description, there are some more things you need to know about this breed - especially if you intend to keep beagles as pets. Even though beagles are quite gentle in nature, you need to be a bit careful when keeping in your house with other small pets around. You shouldn't forget that the beagle is more of a hunting dog breed. They are quite curious as well, and if you don't pay attention they might just pick up some scent and follow it, even out of your premises. When training beagle you need to make sure that you subject them to regular exercise, or else it will turn into a couch potato. You will have to make sure that you adhere to their tendency to socialize, because lack of socializing tends to make them a bit aggressive.

Interesting Facts about Beagles

By now you must have realized that the beagle breed is one of the most popular among various dog types for more than one reasons. However, there do exist quite a few beagle facts which not many people are aware of. If you are one of these people, here are some beagle breed facts which will add to your knowledge about this hound dog breed.

• Let's start with one of the lesser known facts about beagles - the activity of hunting rabbits, hare, foxes, etc. with beagles is known as beagling.
• This breed of hunting dogs was introduced in the United States in 1870s. In 1950s, it was the most registered dog breed in the US according to the American Kennel Club.
• The United States Department of Agriculture has a team of beagles - the Beagle Brigade, which is trained to inspect luggage at the airports to search for agricultural products.
• The beagles are used as surrogates for direct human testing to test the toxicity of food additives and contaminants by the Food and Drug Administration.
• Over the time, this dog breed has become an important part of research programs in various fields including fundamental biological research and applied human medicine.
• In Australia, this dog breed is used for explosive detection as well as detection of termite colonies.
• The pocket beagle or miniature beagle is actually a beagle-type dog breed which has now become extinct. When it comes to pocket beagle facts, the most interesting one perhaps is that it is so small that it can fit in your pocket or saddlebag.
• Everybody knows Charles Darwin and his Theory of Evolution, what people don't know is the fact that the ship on which he sailed during this study was named the HMS Beagle.

If you thought those were the most interesting beagle facts that you have ever come across, wait for a minute - the best part is yet to come. Other than being good pets and amazing hunting dogs, the beagles are quite heard of in popular culture as well. Who can forget characters like Snoopy - the world's most famous beagle, from peanuts and Odie from the Garfield series. Beagles is perhaps the only dog breed which has made it to the silver screen, television, novels, cartoons comic strips and some of Shakespeare's works as well.