I always thought, when I read the "Dumb and Dumber" section of the Q&A, that I simply couldn't know anyone that stupid. I was very, very wrong.

I met up with the owner of one of my dog's half-sibs at Petsmart. She told me that she had had problems housebreaking her little beagle, even though the vet said there were no medical problems. This was very strange, as the dog was about 18 months old. I suggested a crate and a prong. She replied (of course) "I don't believe in harsh methods. They don't work and make dangerous dogs." This was said while my beagle Darwin sat in the heel position, with her prong collar, looking about as dangerous as a bowl of soup.

Now, beagles are notoriously slow at everything, including housebreaking. This is made worse by the fact that they are rather insensitive to physical corrections and don't particularly care whether their owner is pleased or not. I mentioned all these things and said that with enough training and corrections and proper use of a crate, her dog should be reasonably housebroken in a month or two.

"Oh," she replied. "I already dealt with it."
She explained that she had PUT HER DOG TO SLEEP. Really. Apparently the carpet stains were "driving her crazy."

I can't understand people like this. I also want to slap the vet that thought an incompetent owner is reason to put a dog down. I have never heard of anything like this. Don't vets have some sort of code of ethics, such as not to put down a dog on request for reasons like "moving to new state"?

This really illustrates the strange, crazy idea of lots of so-called animal lovers who kill perfectly good animals because they see proper training methods as "abuse."

Funny you should make a post about a beagle, I have 1 beagle and 3 GSD, the beagle is the one that keeps the GSD in line. I have to laugh everytime the beagle goes and takes a toy form the big bad GSD's..... A beagle is something to be reconed with.

Ok, please don't take this the wrong way, but considering your statement about a typical beagle, what is the attraction of owning one <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> In my GSD's basic training class there was one and it seemed as if the dog never learned anything <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> Not trying to make a put down, but it really made me wonder what the attraction was!!


Now, beagles are notoriously slow at everything, including housebreaking. This is made worse by the fact that they are rather insensitive to physical corrections and don't particularly care whether their owner is pleased or not.

 Quote:

Now, beagles are notoriously slow at everything, including housebreaking. This is made worse by the fact that they are rather insensitive to physical corrections and don't particularly care whether their owner is pleased or not.

it is not that they are mentally slow. its the way they where breed, most hounds (beagles and bassets i know are this way) are and still are breed for hunting purposes. they are indipendant and are not all that worried about pleasing their owners.

this independance is what leads people to the assumption that they are "slow". they are very smart and intelegent little tikes but they just don't care what you say.


the appeal is in their personallities

Erin,
Wow...that is one *stupid* owner! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

So rather than crate train a dog she had it euth'd. I guess I should be amazed, but I'm not.
Hope she didn't have any children, I can just imagine how they'd get raised. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

See my signature... lol. Unfortunately I seem to bump into all the stupid people.

Beagles are something else! We have a rescue beagle that came in for biting 4 children (over the age of 10, nonresidents of the home) because of an untreated ear infection. This poor beagle had been in so much pain that she screamed every time any one touched her any where on her body. (Makes me angry at the parent that let the kids torture the poor dog)

But "Beagle" or "Bejel" as we call her is a neat little resilient dog. She's obviously over her issues. If she wasn't going to a forever home, I would probably keep her.

Anyway, my point is that Beagles are nice little dogs. Slightly stubborn, but thats what treats are for. They're notorious for doing anything for a treat (and being overweight!)

Quote from Anne: Anyway, my point is that Beagles are nice little dogs. Slightly stubborn, but thats what treats are for. They're notorious for doing anything for a treat (and being overweight!) END

I agree 100%. They are hounds, and if we remember that they have hound characteristics then they'll go to the right owners.

And btw, there's that "untreated ear infection" thing again.........most dogs have it in their nature to endure. No one knows they have an ear infection until someone rubs their head and ears with affection and they moan in pain........ It's SUCH a good idea to go over your dog's body regularly, feeling for lumps and wounds and sniffing at their ears and mouths. You can catch any number of problems before the dog is in agony or seriously injured/disabled. And a bad smell from the head area or from a wound is NOT something to ignore. It's so likely to indicate an infection ........

David, I would actually argue that beagles are mentally slow compared to most dogs. This is not an insult to the breed, it's just valuable information when training. There are lots of dog intelligence tests that point to very low problem-solving ability and association with regards to scenthounds. It's just as valuable to know that your Border Collie might be smarter than you. Training a stubborn dog is differently approached than training a dog who doesn't understand. Almost all breed standards list "intelligence" as a quality of the breed, but that's just not the case.

As to why people want beagles. . . they are bred to be friendly to any and all, and ones from good lines are so happy all the time it seems like they are on something. My beagle plays happily with my 2-lb dwarf rabbit, and people bring their new puppies to my house because Darwin is known for playing gently with little ones. Hounds are harder to train, but all dogs can be trained eventually. Lots of people, like that awful woman, just don't take the time or use the right resources.

I'm not surprised at all. So many ppl have weird logics; some of them r just plain evil under the surface of niceness. They just want to show others they r so nice, so not abusive that they can feel good, feel like saint themselves. But when anything touched their interest, they won't hesitate to kill.

I was just recently contacted by a friend. This guy used to want a gsd from me so bad, he calls everyday. Finally, he got one, but then he feel he doesn't have time to meet the dog's exercise demand. It's a high drive dog. So he wants to put the dog down. I was asking him why he can't just give it to someone else. He told me transferring to a new owner would be too traumatizing to a dog, but he can see the dog die. What kind of logic is that?