50 Fun Facts About Beagle

The Beagle was bred primarily to hunt which animals?

The sport is called beagling, and packs of up to 40 hounds are followed on foot rather than horseback.

The Beagle looks like a smaller version of which larger hound?

The Beagle's head is broader, its muzzle shorter and its legs shorter in proportion, and its expression is quite different.

Which monarch kept 'Pocket Beagles' that stood only 8 to 9 inches at the shoulder?

She called them her 'singing Beagles' and let them cavort among the plates and cups at her table to amuse guests.

Edward II and Henry VII both kept packs of what tiny beagle-type dogs?

The name came from their being small enough to fit on a glove; hunters carried them along and released them into the underbrush.

Gervase Markham likened the 'musick' of a beagle small enough to sit on a man's hand to what?

He called it the 'little small mitten-beagle', a companion for a lady's kirtle that could still run cunningly in the field.

Which clergyman's 1830s Essex pack is believed to be the basis of the modern breed?

His hounds stood about 10 inches at the shoulder and were reportedly pure white; Prince Albert also had a pack at the time.

Which two 18th-century hare-hunting hounds are the breed's chief ancestors?

The tall, slow Southern Hound had the better nose; the Yorkshire-bred northern dog was smaller and faster.

Which breeder is credited with refining Honeywood's hunting hounds into dogs that were also attractive?

He developed both rough-coated and smooth-coated strains; the rough coat survived into the 20th century before dying out.

Writing as 'Stonehenge' in 1856, John Henry Walsh divided beagles into how many varieties?

They were the medium Beagle, the dwarf or lapdog beagle, the fox beagle and the rough-coated or terrier beagle.

In what year was the Beagle Club formed in Britain and the first breed standard drawn up?

By then the threat of extinction was fading, with 18 packs in England in 1887 rising to 44 by 1902.

Which Illinois general imported English Beagles in the 1870s and helped write the first US standard?

The standard he drew up with L. H. Twadell and Norman Ellmore in 1887 was modelled on his own hounds.

Between 1953 and 1959 the Beagle held what position on the AKC's list of registered breeds?

Beagles have always been more popular in North America than in their native England, staying in the US top ten for over 30 years.

Uno, the first Beagle to win Best in Show at Westminster, triumphed in which year?

Registered as K-Run's Park Me In First, he was also the first Beagle to take the hound group since 1939.

Miss P, the 2015 Westminster Best in Show winner, was related to Uno how?

The tricolour from British Columbia notched 20 Best in Show wins in the United States and died in her sleep in 2021.

The OED's earliest 'beagle' in English literature is from about 1475 in which work?

The word itself may come from the French begueule, meaning 'gape throat'.

The word 'beagle' may derive from the French 'begueule', meaning what?

It is a nod to the breed's famous voice, which carries over long distances in thick cover.

The Kerry Beagle of Ireland is unlike the modern Beagle in what way?

At 22 to 24 inches it towers over a Beagle, and it was originally used for hunting stags.

What is the white tip on a Beagle's tail called?

It was bred for on purpose so the tail stays visible when the dog's head is down on a scent.

A Beagle's tail is traditionally called what?

It is long, slightly curved and held upright when the dog is active, but never curls over the back.

The Beagle's nose is described in the standard by which confectionery comparison?

It is black or occasionally liver, sitting on a medium-length, square-cut muzzle.

Tricolour Beagle puppies are almost always born in which two colours?

The white areas are set by eight weeks, but the black may fade to brown over one to two years.

The tricolour with a jet-black saddle is known as the 'Classic Tri' or what?

Other shades are the 'Dark Tri' and the 'Faded Tri', and some dogs lose their black markings entirely as they age.

Which very light tan Beagle colour shares its name with a citrus fruit?

Two-colour Beagles always have a white base; tan and white is the commonest and liver is barred by some standards.

What are the two Beagle varieties recognised by the American Kennel Club?

The UK Kennel Club and FCI recognise a single type of 13 to 16 inches, so British Beagles run slightly bigger.

How much does an adult Beagle typically weigh?

They stand 13 to 16 inches at the withers, with females slightly smaller than males on average.

In Scott and Fuller's scent test, how long did Beagles take to find a mouse in a one-acre field?

Fox Terriers needed 15 minutes and Scottish Terriers never found it at all.

Along with the Bloodhound and Beagle, which breed is named as having one of the best noses of any dog?

The long ears and large lips probably help trap scent close to the nose.

What is the popular Beagle-Pug crossbreed called?

Some are calmer than a Beagle, like the Pug parent, but many are highly excitable and need vigorous exercise.

Several breed standards describe the Beagle's temperament with which single word?

They are poor guard dogs because strangers win them over so easily, but their bark makes them decent watch dogs.

Where does the Beagle sit in Stanley Coren's ranking in The Intelligence of Dogs?

Coren's scale measures working and obedience intelligence only, not the independence a scent hound needs.

When a Beagle catches a scent and gives voice, hunters say it is doing which of these?

The same behaviour is called 'speaking', 'giving tongue' or 'opening'.

A 2024 UK study gave the Beagle what average life expectancy?

That is a shade under the 12.7-year average for purebreds; an Italian study the same year found 11 years.

Which oddly named condition, unique to Beagles, leaves a pup with weak legs and a crooked back?

The other breed-specific syndrome is Musladin-Lueke syndrome, marked by slanted eyes and underdeveloped outer toes.

Beagles that sound like they're choking but are just pulling air in through mouth and nose are doing what?

The cause is unknown, but the behaviour is common and harmless.

Primary open-angle glaucoma in Beagles is caused by a recessive mutation in which gene?

Corneal dystrophy, cherry eye and distichiasis are the breed's other common eye complaints.

Which act outlawed the pursuit of hares with Beagles in England and Wales?

Scotland had banned it two years earlier; Beagles may still pursue rabbits with a landowner's permission.

A traditional Beagle foot pack of up to 40 hounds is directed by whom?

Whippers-in help by returning straying hounds, while the Master of the Hunt is in overall day-to-day charge.

Which British public school has kept a Beagle pack despite protests dating back to 1902?

Marlborough, Radley, the Royal Agricultural University and Christ Church, Oxford, also still maintain packs.

The 'Beagle Brigade' sniffs out food in airport luggage for which US agency?

Beagles were chosen because they are small, unintimidating, easy to care for and work well for rewards; the airport programme began at LAX in 1984.

Of the 8,018 dogs used in UK laboratory testing in 2004, roughly what share were Beagles?

Their size, temperament and long history of laboratory use make them the default research dog; the US uses up to 65,000 a year.

Which US state was the first to pass a 'Beagle Freedom' law requiring lab dogs and cats be offered for adoption?

The 2014 law was pushed by the Beagle Freedom Project, which rehomes former laboratory Beagles.

In Australia, Beagles are used as sniffer dogs to detect which pest?

New York City has also hired Beagles to detect bedbugs, though not everyone is convinced they can.

After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, a rescue Beagle found the owner of which hotel alive after 100 hours?

In 2006 another Beagle, an assistance dog, saved her owner by dialling an emergency number on a mobile phone.

Snoopy, the world's most famous cartoon Beagle, belongs to which character?

He is nearly his owner's opposite: capable, quick-witted and imaginative, with alter egos from Joe Cool to a World War I flying ace.

Gromit, the silent Beagle of British animation, is the best friend of which cheese-loving inventor?

His bookshelf includes Where Beagles Dare and The Bone Identity, and his record collection features 'The Beagles'.

Which US president caused a scandal by lifting his Beagles Him and Her by the ears?

The 1964 photographs drew outrage from dog lovers, though LBJ insisted the dogs enjoyed it.

HMS Beagle, the ship named after the breed, is famous for carrying which naturalist around the world?

The Beagle Channel at the tip of South America was named after the ship, and Britain's ill-fated 2003 Mars lander Beagle 2 was named after it in turn.

A 1985 study by Ben and Lynette Hart gave the Beagle the highest rating for which trait?

It shared the top excitability score with the Yorkshire Terrier, Cairn Terrier, Miniature Schnauzer, Westie and Fox Terrier.

Because they are pack animals, Beagles left alone are prone to which problem?

It can make them destructive when unattended, though they generally get on well with cats and other dogs.

Which breed did William the Conqueror bring to Britain in the 11th century along with the Talbot?

Both strains were then crossed with Greyhounds for speed and stamina in deer hunting, an early step in the murky ancestry of the Beagle.