Beagle Trivia
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34 free Beagle trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
This Beagle trivia quiz covers the small British scent hound from Elizabeth I's 'singing Beagles' to Snoopy. The history questions run through the Southern Hound and North Country Beagle, Reverend Honeywood's Essex pack of the 1830s, 'Stonehenge' and his four varieties, the founding of the Beagle Club, General Rowett's American imports and the year the breed hit number one on the AKC list. The breed section covers what makes a Beagle a Beagle: the white 'flag' on the tail, the gumdrop nose, the tricolour that puppies are not born with, the 13-inch and 15-inch varieties, the famous mouse-in-a-field scent test, why they bay and howl, and the health quirks from reverse sneezing to 'Funny Puppy'. There are questions on beagling, the USDA Beagle Brigade, the breed's grim role in laboratory testing, and famous Beagles from Westminster champions Uno and Miss P to Gromit, LBJ's Him and Her, and the ship that carried Charles Darwin. Questions run from easy to expert with a difficulty score on each, so it suits a family quiz or a hound-lover's challenge. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia and breed references and each question carries its citation. Also try our Dogs and Snoopy quizzes.
30 of 34 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The Beagle was bred primarily to hunt which animals?
Rabbit and hare
Rabbit and hare: packs were followed on foot, so beagling suited hunters who could not keep up with bigger hounds on horseback.
Q 02The Beagle looks like a smaller version of which larger hound?
Foxhound
Foxhound: once faster foxhunting became the favoured sport, the Foxhound took precedence over the Beagle in England.
Q 03Which monarch kept 'Pocket Beagles' that stood only 8 to 9 inches at the shoulder?
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I: but the miniature variety of Beagle she kept later fell out of favour in Britain.
Q 04Which Newbery Medal-winning novel is named after the mistreated Beagle that a boy secretly hides from its owner?
Shiloh
Shiloh: Marty catches the dog's cruel owner shooting a deer out of season and uses it to make him sell Shiloh.
Q 05In which Shakespeare comedy does Sir Toby Belch call a woman a beagle true bred?
Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night: he says it of Maria, who forges a love letter to fool the steward Malvolio.
Q 06Which clergyman's Essex pack is believed to be the basis of the modern Beagle breed?
Reverend Phillip Honeywood
Reverend Phillip Honeywood: he bred his hounds for hunting ability, not for looks.
Q 07In Star Trek: Enterprise, which captain keeps a pet Beagle named Porthos aboard ship?
Jonathan Archer
Jonathan Archer: Porthos is male, but two female Beagles played him for most of the show's run.
Q 08Beagles are a chondrodystrophic breed, which makes them prone to which spinal problem?
Slipped discs
Slipped discs: intervertebral disc disease can cause pain and even paralysis.
Q 09Which eye condition, common in Beagles, happens when the gland of the third eyelid slips out of place?
Cherry eye
Cherry eye: the bulging gland is usually not painful, but most cases need surgery to correct it.
Q 10A Beagle named Elvis was trained to sniff out pregnancy in which zoo animals?
Polar bears
Polar bears: hormone tests and ultrasound can't reliably show whether one is pregnant, so Elvis sniffed their droppings instead.
Q 11When the Beagle became the American Kennel Club's most registered breed in 1953, which breed did it displace?
Cocker Spaniel
Cocker Spaniel: months earlier, Richard Nixon had made a Cocker named Checkers famous by vowing to keep him in a TV speech.
Q 12Which neurological disorder are Beagles more prone to than many other breeds?
Epilepsy
Epilepsy: its seizures can often be controlled with medication.
Q 13Which hormone disorder, common in Beagles, can cause weight gain and a dry, coarse coat even without extra food?
Hypothyroidism
Hypothyroidism: a daily hormone medication, given for the rest of the dog's life, keeps it under control.
Q 21Several breed standards describe the Beagle's temperament with which single word?
Merry
Merry: that good humour, and their gentleness with children, helped make Beagles popular family pets.
Q 22When a Beagle catches a scent and gives voice, hunters say it is doing which of these?
Baying
A Beagle on a scent is said to be baying; hunters also call the same behaviour 'speaking', 'giving tongue' or 'opening'.
Q 23Beagles that sound like they're choking but are just pulling air in through mouth and nose are doing what?
Reverse sneezing
Reverse sneezing: it can sound alarming, but its exact cause is unknown and it is not known to be harmful.
Q 14The word 'beagle' may derive from the French 'begueule', meaning what?
Gape throat
Gape throat: the French word also meant a loudmouth, perhaps a nod to the hound's voice, though the word's origin is uncertain.
Q 15The Kerry Beagle of Ireland is unlike the modern Beagle in what way?
It is much taller
The Kerry Beagle is much taller, standing 22 to 24 inches against the Beagle's 13 to 16, and was originally used for hunting stags.
Q 16What is the white tip on a Beagle's tail called?
The flag
The white tip, known as the 'flag', was bred for on purpose so the tail stays visible above cover when the dog's head is down on a scent.
Q 17Tricolour Beagle puppies, whatever their adult coat, are almost always born in which two colours?
Black and white
Black and white: the tan comes in only as the puppy matures, fading into the black.
Q 18Which very light tan Beagle colour shares its name with a citrus fruit?
Lemon
Lemon is the very light tan seen on lemon-and-white Beagles; two-colour Beagles always have a white base, tan and white is the commonest, and liver is barred by some standards.
Q 19What are the two Beagle varieties recognised by the American Kennel Club?
13-inch and 15-inch
13-inch and 15-inch: any hound over 15 inches is disqualified, while the UK standard allows up to 16, so British Beagles can run bigger.
Q 20What is the popular Beagle-Pug crossbreed called?
Puggle
The Puggle is the Beagle–Pug cross; some are calmer than a Beagle, like the Pug parent, but many are highly excitable and need vigorous exercise.
Q 24A recessive ADAMTS10 gene mutation causes which inherited eye disease in Beagles?
Glaucoma
Glaucoma: pressure builds inside the eye, and left untreated it can lead to vision loss and blindness.
Q 25Which act outlawed the pursuit of hares with Beagles in England and Wales?
Hunting Act 2004
The Hunting Act 2004 banned hunting hares with dogs in England and Wales from 2005; Scotland had banned it two years earlier, and Beagles may still pursue rabbits, which the act exempts, with a landowner's permission.
Q 26Who directs and controls the hounds of a traditional Beagle pack?
The Huntsman
The Huntsman: the whippers-in back him up by turning straying hounds back to the pack.
Q 27Which of these public schools has long kept its own pack of Beagles?
Eton
Eton College has kept a Beagle pack, the Eton College Hunt, since the 19th century; Marlborough, Radley, the Royal Agricultural University and Christ Church, Oxford, have also kept packs.
Q 28Which US state was the first to pass a 'Beagle Freedom' law requiring lab dogs and cats be offered for adoption?
Minnesota
Minnesota passed the first 'Beagle Freedom' law in 2014, pushed by the Beagle Freedom Project, which rehomes former laboratory Beagles; other states later adopted similar laws.
Q 29Snoopy, the cartoon Beagle of Peanuts, belongs to which character?
Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown: for all his loyalty, Snoopy never calls his owner by name, only 'the round-headed kid'.
Q 30Gromit, the silent Beagle of British animation, is the best friend of which cheese-loving inventor?
Wallace
Wallace, the Lancashire inventor with a passion for Wensleydale cheese, is Gromit's owner in Nick Park's Aardman films, beginning with A Grand Day Out in 1989.