# Question for those of you who run rabbits with beagles



## RecurveRx (Jun 21, 2004)

I mean this with the utmost respect. Do any beagles mind?

As a kid my dad always had beagles. My brother still keeps 3 or 4. I had not hunted over beagles in years but had a chance to go out with my brother this week. It all came back to me as to why I dont have beagles. Sure they ran rabbits, but they didnt mind for beans. Pulling on the leash, not 100% to come and generally just stubborn.

Now I will be the first to admit, I know my dad did very little (if any) obedience training with his beagles and I wouldnt be surprised if my brother is the same way. 

I went down the bird dog path in my adult life and have really gotten into pointers. Im not expecting a beagle to be as biddable as say a pointer or a retriever, but with proper training shouldnt these dogs be able to perform simple tasks such as heeling, staying, or coming when theyre out hunting?

Are my dad and brother just knuckleheads and giving me a bad impression of the breed or are beagles just so darned stubborn that theyre going to do what they want?


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## SKUNK (Jan 6, 2001)

both my beagles mind well. I've never tried to house train them so whenever it's super cold out and I let them in there is always a mess to clean but in the field they mind well.


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## Big City (Aug 31, 2009)

Mine mind just fine, and never had a problem house training when I wanted them to be house dogs.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Cpt.Chaos (May 28, 2006)

Our one beagle mind's very good. Blow the whistle and she breaks off and comes flying back to you...but you had better be ready with a treat! The other beagle...dumb as a rock, can't even take her into the field, bot too lovable to get rid of, and the best guard dog around!


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## RecurveRx (Jun 21, 2004)

Pretty much what I expected. Dogs is dogs.

They're just not putting the time into them that they should be.


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

I know many kennel dogs (beagles) that don't mind worth beans

Mine are spoiled rotten house dogs. They hunt with me, don't range far and actually, look to see where I am from time to time. I refuse and hate chasing a darned dog over hill and dale. Breaking them off track is work bu t it can be done. I need to get video of my oldest obeying hand signals  
I work at it daily and I reap my rewards.


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## ajmorell (Apr 27, 2007)

Our beagle minds quite well in the field. She is a house dog and we've put her through 2 rounds of obedience training. At home however you can't let her roam or she's gone.


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## Wishin_Fish (Oct 7, 2004)

FREEPOP said:


> I know many kennel dogs (beagles) that don't mind worth beans
> 
> Mine are spoiled rotten house dogs. They hunt with me, don't range far and actually, look to see where I am from time to time. I refuse and hate chasing a darned dog over hill and dale. Breaking them off track is work bu t it can be done. I need to get video of my oldest obeying hand signals
> I work at it daily and I reap my rewards.


This completely discribes our two dogs to a T. My one dog will keep tabs on where we are every few minutes if she isn't on a rabbit. Most times she'll just stand on her hind legs to spot us then continue her search. She'll hunt the side of the trail I point to. If that side isn't workin I'll whistle and point to the otherside and across the trail she'll go. Not all dogs are boneheads, more time ya spend with them the better.


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## quackwacker (Sep 28, 2009)

we have adopted 3 kennel beagles this yr they are 3,4,5 and we made them house dogs .now with that said they were the typical stubbern/kennel dumb non listening non broke dogs.we started by crate breaking them and only letting them out to go to bathroom and eat.then slowly letting out to socialize and interact with us .to now they sleep and go in the kennel only when they make a mess but it has taken 4 months to get to that point.beagles are by nature very social and loyal dogs.
it boils down to what type of hunter you are traditionaly yes they were kennel dogs keep seperate and had human interation only when hunting that earned them a bad rep for being dumb and stubbern.

with dogs you get what you give no exceptions!!!!!!!


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## sgc (Oct 21, 2007)

Just read an article about a guy who did the opposite of you - went from bird dogs to beagles. He previously had bird dog field winners & now breeds beagles (he runs on hare). He insists that they hunt with him and heel & hup. Sounded pretty interesting. Just have to get the right bloodline & work with them.


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

Someone once said a wise thing to me:
Dogs are like ATMs, you get outa them, what you put in.


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## Logan the Destructor (Nov 20, 2009)

I echo what others have said, you get out of them what you put in. A house beagle will socialize well and w/field training will mind you in the field.
Like most beagle owners I love my little guy, awesome hunter rabbits & pheasant. 
Awesome w/my little girls.
Eats like a pig!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! gotta watch the weight. 

trailsong beagles in clarkston is the breeder I got him from.

good luck good hunting.


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## john warren (Jan 25, 2005)

my beagle was pretty smart. fairly easy to train, was a great little house dog full of love and fun.
only thing she minded was my lousy shooting....every time i missed a rabbit she would look back at me like "damn,,,,i gotta get a better gunner"


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## Shoeman (Aug 26, 2000)

I'm currently working on my 2nd beagle. (The first was a beagle/britt mix). The youngest just turned 4 months and seems to mind quite well, but I have spent a ton of time with him. I never leave him out of my sight around the house. If he even thinks about messing with something that's not his, a firm NO and I present him with something that's his (like a fuzzy or hide). He's getting the hint 

Stubborn? YES! I think they're bone-headed by nature. Like one breeder told me, with every beagle they give you a 2X4....lol

Like the others mentioned, you get what you put into them. My Otto (the mix) was one of the best dogs. I could take him to anyone's house and leave him without supervision. Just close your bedroom door. He'd jump on the bed in a heartbeat


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## Big City (Aug 31, 2009)

I dont think it makes a difference if they are kenneled or house trianed, if you train them to mind you, they will. I have owned alot of beagles, and only had one or two that didnt mind well, and they found new homes. But I've seen spoiled house dogs that are just as hard headed as any kennel kept beagle. 

However, I dont expect mine to come off of a track unless its somthing other then rabbit. If mine are running a rabbit, they are doing what i want them to do, so i dont try to hard to get them off. They run it in circles, so i just wait for them to get close, and go get them, they will down when i say, so its not that hard to put them on a leed. 

Tri tronics speaks beagle very well, I wouldnt own a e collar that didnt have a beep command. I hardly ever have to use them anymore.


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

In the land of 10 acre parcels and many roads, I do have to call the off a track a few times a year. Yes Tritronics with the beep works perfectly and I'd rather use a correction on my dog than have him dead.


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## Big City (Aug 31, 2009)

I hear ya on that. If thats what you must hunt, i guess you wouldnt have much of a choice. I havent ran many rabbits that circled under 10 acres with steady pressure. i would be way to nervous to even put mine on the ground in a place like that, there worth to much to me.


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## #8 shot (Aug 27, 2009)

I also agree with Big City. I have had kennel dogs and have 2 in the house now. All of them come when called on track or not. But unless they are in danger I try not to call them off track. I will say that my male was harder to house train than the female.


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## FREEPOP (Apr 11, 2002)

I do try and avoid those places most of the time, but with the population so low in the way out places, we are basically pushed there like the remaining rabbit population :sad:


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## SNAREMAN (Dec 10, 2006)

When it comes to hunting,all I expect out of my beagle is that he comes when called (not off a track),and not to run deer.


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## bwade (Sep 11, 2008)

I have two beagles one 7 and one 3 booth of them mind real well. I walk them and they walk right by my side . You just have to put the time in on training them. I tell them to stay they stay. I will always have a beagle in my house. I love to hunt and to have a beagle is to love to hunt.


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## predatordave (Feb 24, 2003)

my beagle minds good and has very good kennel manners also. i let him run the yard with the tritronics but when hunting no shocker with no poblems. the guy i bought my dog from came up over the summer and ran with me. after we ended our running we had a 1/4 mile walk down a road. we did it without any leashes. it was quite amazing walking down the road with 8 beagles following. it was a dead end dirt road with public land all the way down on one side and houses on the other. i would never do that on the majority of roads though. you can train most beagles to handle like bird dogs it just takes time and consistency. mine will call off of track, it just depends how he feels. if i need him to stop running that bad i will just walk in and cut him off or try to turn the bunny.

later, dave


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## Cpt.Chaos (May 28, 2006)

john warren said:


> only thing she minded was my lousy shooting....every time i missed a rabbit she would look back at me like "damn,,,,i gotta get a better gunner"


Isn't that crazy? An old hunting partner of mine hada beagle that would look at you for like what seemed forever if you missed or lost a rabbit it had been on. Pretty bad when a little hound gives you a guilt trip!


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## dougdad (Nov 11, 2007)

It is no doubt a beagle can be hard headed, esp. if they are older and been left without any ob. training. But it is nothing a bunch of patience and hard work can not fix, o and lots of treats, they seem to speak loader then words LOL  Bribe them to death works every time.


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## sixft4par (Apr 1, 2008)

Beagles mind well if they are trained well. You have to put your time in while it is a pup and continue the work as they get older. I start mine coming back to a whistle when they are really young....pays off later on.


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## sigman (Nov 2, 2006)

I am in the "never had a beagle come to me right away in my life club :lol:" Could always do it arond the house but soon as they got in the woods it was I am gonna chase rabbits just leave me alone! But everyone of my friends that ever had a dog always listened well. Lost my buddy of 15yrs a year ago last November  and havent replaced him. Dont care if he never came when I called, I love him to this day.


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## eino (Jun 19, 2003)

Mine lives in the house and minds well. I can't call her off a track though. She gets tunnel vision sometimes and only thinks of the rabbit she is after.
I wish I could call her off a track. She was almost killed running beside a train one day. I believe that if the rabbit had crossed the train track she would have never gave it thought and ran under the train. Other than that she minds every command I tell her.

Ed


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## micooner (Dec 20, 2003)

My buddy and I train our beagles to come in when we tone them with our tri tronics....when its time to quit or they are near a road or traintrack we tone then yell come and here they come track or no track..


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