Beagle Articles
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This is a recurring theme. A dog breed was bred for some purpose that has faded somewhat in importance or has become somewhat obsolete; humans get the idea of using the skills that that breed was bred with for some other, quite useful purpose. The Beagle is one of the breeds that have found itself in this situation. Beagles have an incredibly keen sense of smell and love following their noses; this, along with other characteristics regarding temperament and personality, have made of the Beagle an excellent detection dog used by a variety of organizations around the world to discover a wide spectrum of substances and items, including contraband agricultural and food products, narcotics and even insect pests. [...]
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Beagles are one of the most popular dogs in American society today and they've enjoyed that popularity for quite some time. They are happy-go-lucky dogs, always wagging their tails, ready to make friends with whoever they meet. Proper breeding ensures the almost total lack of aggression in the Beagle breed and the easygoing nature that allows them to be great around kids who will jump on them and pull on their ears and tail. [...]
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Besides being a very popular pet, the Beagle is often used as a detection dog due to his EXTREMELY keen sense of smell. As mentioned previously, Beagles are the dog of choice when it comes to contraband food products, insect pests and they are also often used for detecting narcotics. Historically, that sense of smell was employed to track rabbits, foxes and other types of small game; accompanying the Beagle’s heightened sense of smell was its very strong drive to track. All of these Beagle characteristics made it a wonderful hunter and then detection dog, but sometimes it makes for a problematic pet. [...]
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Beagles are relatively hardy dogs, but they are prone to certain health problems, some of which involve their eyes. Besides glaucoma and Progressive Retinal Atrophy, present in many species of dogs, Beagles also suffer from cherry eye and a condition called distichiasis. Fortunately, neither of these conditions is as serious as Retinal Atrophy and in the overwhelming majority of cases both can be corrected by surgery and neither lead to permanent blindness. [...]
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That energetic little bundle of enthusiasm that you consider your pet Beagle was actually created to be an effective rabbit hunter; actually, Beagles were used to track a variety of game including foxes, hares, birds, deer, bobcat, wild boar and coyote. They were ideal hunting companions because they were not bred to bolt off rapidly, but rather deliberately track an animal, with their nose always to the ground. This made them dogs that anyone could follow on foot, such as the elderly, young children, and hunters who could not afford horses. [...]
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One of the most important jobs any dog can undertake is being a Pet Therapy dog. These dogs can become important parts of a person's recovery process, whether they suffer from physical or emotional impairments, and have, in some cases, meant the difference between life and death for many patients who had lost hope. A variety of different animals have been used in pet therapy, all with astounding success; man's best friend, though, always holds a special place in everyone's heart and has at excelled at assisting those who are most in need. [...]
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As mentioned before, Beagles are relatively healthy dogs, though they do suffer from a few genetic problems, some of which can be serious. One of these serious problems is incorrectly labeled "dwarfism", though the term is widely used. The medical term for the condition is osteochondrodysplasia, chondrodysplasia or chondrodystrophy and it is actually a series of problems involving the cartilage and bones, most often of the feet and legs, though the spine may become involved as well. Indeed, the term "osteo" means bone, the term "chondro" refers to cartilage and the term "dysplasia" involves abnormal development. The disorder is genetic in nature and there is no cure. [...]
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One of the characteristics that makes the Beagle, and many other hound breeds for that matter, so appealing are those long, floppy ears. Combine them with that soulful expression and you have a weapon of mass cuteness almost unparalleled in the natural world. Those long, floppy ears were not merely created for their cuteness factor, however. Indeed, you'll notice that almost all scent hounds, like Beagles, have those long floppy ears; these ears are perfect for stirring up odor molecules that make up a scent trail, trapping those molecules and getting them to that incredibly sensitive nose. [...]
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Beagles, like all hound dogs, have been bred to vocalize while on the hunt; these vocalizations helped keep the hunter aware of the dog's position and let the hunter know whether the Beagle was chasing its prey or whether the prey had been caught. People who love the breed tend to find Beagle vocalizations endearing and entertaining, while others are not so pleased by all the loud noise such a little dog can make. Beagles are not dogs that bark incessantly all day, like many toy breeds, but they are hard-wired to sound alerts; usually, these alerts were sounded when prey was sighted, but with Beagles who have never been on the hunt, many things may trigger the alert, such as dust, a car back firing, a shadow or the wind slamming a door shut. [...]
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References to Beagles date back to Ancient Greece.
Beagles are unfortunately the breed of dog that is most often used in Animal Testing; they are used to test things like novel surgical procedures and cosmetics. The FDA even uses Beagles to test how toxic food additives and contaminants are; some drugs are even tested on Beagles. [...]
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There are a variety of hounds developed to accompany man on the hunt, which can be divided into three main categories. Sighthounds are incredibly fast and chase prey down, using their eyes as their main tools for locating prey; these hounds will kill the prey themselves, not waiting for their human handlers. Scent hounds are not as swift as sight hounds, but have an incredible amount of endurance; these dogs do not need to see the prey, but follow its scent. They usually signal to the hunter when prey has been found so that the hunter can kill the game. Lastly, there is the category of hounds with no distinct name, in which you find dogs that can hunt using both scent and sight. [...]
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