Been thinking about a beagle...

troy2000 · 09-05-2006, 10:14 PM

or maybe a brace of them, so they can do the leg work for me when I go rabbit hunting. And so I can listen to them.
Unfortunately, in Southern California the breeders all want "My Precious Puppy" prices for them, and I'm a wee bit sceptical anyway about the hunting prowess of critters descended from 14 generations of house pets and show dogs, no matter what kind of AKC papers they come with.
When I go on the internet I see what seem to be good hunters at good prices, but they're all on the other side of the country.
Does anyone have any suggestions about where I might get at least one good beagle on the Left Coast, instead of having one flown in from Georgia or some such? Or any idea how much it costs to have one shipped, if I go that route?
If I have to train a young'un from scratch, I have the perfect place to do it. The company base I work out of is several acres in size, over-run with rabbits, and fenced in to boot.

mark308 · 09-12-2006, 11:17 PM

It realy doesn’t cost that much to ship an animal the airlines does it all the time. It will be cheaper than one of those inbred show mutts. PM me and I’ll give you my brothers info I think he my still have some pups, they wont have papers but if you want a “hunting dog” their all you need.

troy2000 · 10-08-2006, 01:04 PM

I found a breeder in the High Desert who actually runs his dogs on rabbits as well as showing them, and has nothing but disgust for people who breed the hunting out of them to get obedient little show dogs.

He's just been called out of retirement to go to Iraq, and he's desperately trying to place his pups in good homes. Because older ones are harder to place, he's offered me a pair about 5-1/2 months old for 400 bucks, complete with papers and shots.

His website is Beagles Unlimited; it claims to be the oldest site on the net devoted to Beagles.

Apollyon67 · 10-08-2006, 08:33 PM

Troy, thats great, Got any pics? Don't forget a range report on the rascals when you start training.

Rookie_Rover · 10-08-2006, 09:05 PM

A beagle is a joy to have around! I wish I still had mine named Pete.

troy2000 · 10-08-2006, 10:48 PM

I don't pick them up until next weekend, though. At first I thought I'd be out of my mind taking on a pair instead of one, but then I started thinking about it. Two beagles keeping each other company in the front yard will probably behave a lot better than one by himself; there's nothing like a bored, lonely beagle for getting into trouble.

I had thought about putting a single beagle in the back with the two big dogs, just so he'd have company while I was gone to work. But that was going to mean moving the chickens, ducks and geese to the other side, because I doubt any half-grown beagle could resist the temptation to run 'em. Believe it or not, the shepherd and the boxer/pit mix don't bother the birds at all, except that the shepherd will anxiously try to guard his food dish from them. Someday I'll get video of that; it's hilarious.

Also, two well-matched beagles from the same litter should work great as a brace. If they have their act together, they'll hunt up rabbits separately and cover twice the area. Then when one jumps a rabbit and tongues, the other one will run to his assistance. Two noses are better than one, particularly in this dry climate.

I'm looking forward to years of listening to them as they run the bunnies. Heck; I may even shoot one now and then as they send it past me...

Rookie_Rover · 10-09-2006, 01:34 AM

Are you getting a 13" or a 15"? The 15" breeds have a small problem with a dog form of asthma. (Just thought you'd like to know.)

troy2000 · 10-09-2006, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rookie_Rover

Are you getting a 13" or a 15"? The 15" breeds have a small problem with a dog form of asthma. (Just thought you'd like to know.)

Although as far as I know, the only difference between the two is in the size.

Rookie_Rover · 10-09-2006, 07:01 AM

Pete was a 15", he, and his eldest littermate both developed a slight wheeze later in life. My friend down at the kennel claimed that this was normal. Maybe be un substatiated, but I am pretty sure he knows more about dogs than I do.

troy2000 · 10-09-2006, 08:40 PM

I hadn't heard anything about that. I went googling for beagle asthma, and found a few posts about what some people call "reverse coughing," where a beagle who's laying around or sleeping suddenly starts making weird noises like it's trying to catch its breath. It doesn't seem to hurt them any; some vets attribute it to an elongated soft palate.

troy2000 · 10-09-2006, 09:23 PM

Assuming I can remember how to do this, here's a baby pic of one beagle I'm getting this weekend. He's quite a bit older now, though.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4...agleboy761.jpg

Since I was raised on Donald Duck and Scooge McDuck comics (the original classics by Carl Barks), any beagle with a mask like that is doomed to be named "Beagle Boy."

Those markings also mean he'd never make it as a show dog, even though he's descended from show champions. But his ancestors have been running rabbits in the High Desert and the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains since 1967, so I don't really care whether he has show-type coloration or not.

Rookie_Rover · 10-09-2006, 09:33 PM

Cleaned up the links for you a bit Troy.

troy2000 · 10-14-2006, 11:16 PM

One is the male I posted a puppy pic of. He's built like a wannabe bassett, strong and wide, and he's totally easy-going. The breeder said nothing bothers him: he shrugs off having shots, getting his nails clipped, having his ears washed, whatever. I was going to name him Beagle Boy 176-617 after the old Scrooge McDuck comics because of his black mask, but he may wind up getting called Pork Chop instead.

The female is a different story altogether. she's lightly built, vocal, and so hyper she might get named Pinball for the way she bounced all over the yard when I got her home.

The poor things had a rough beginning with me; I'm surprised they don't run when they see me coming. I drove 70 miles north up through the Tejon pass on the I-15 to get them, and the southbound I-15 was closed for repairs. It was raining and chilly (by SoCal standards, anyway), and they were riding in a crate in the back of my Nissan Frontier. The next closest way home was up across the mountains through Big Bear, and I wasn't about to freeze them by going that way after they had gotten wet. So I swung east out through Yucca Valley around the mountains instead, and it was a 140-mile ride up and down through the rain and the winding roads. The dogs got wet and chilled in spite of my attempts to wrap the crate, and took turns being car sick. It took them a few minutes to uncross their eyes after I got them home.

When I was talking to the breeder, he said these beagles have a Canadian ancestry and are faster than the beagles we're used to in the Southern U.S., even though they're small. He said that instead of just pushing rabbits, they sometimes catch them. He breeds for speed. According to him, "why should I wait half an hour for a rabbit to go by, when I can get a shot at him every ten minutes instead?"

of course he's running beagles mostly through open country, in the desert and the foothills. If his dogs were working through dense cover, he might have a different approach.

I'll post pics first chance I get.

rdnckhnter · 10-15-2006, 12:39 PM

thats one perty dog troy congrats

Dale · 10-15-2006, 02:14 PM

A beagle is a great dog to have.

I didn't realize that you could train a beagle to run a Kalifornia rabbit or that Kalifornia even had any rabbits.

Come to think of it I'd bet it'd be easy to train a beagle to run one out there in Kalifornia....wouldn't they run to the "left" all the time???? He he he he.

troy2000 · 10-15-2006, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dale

A beagle is a great dog to have.
I didn't realize that you could train a beagle to run a Kalifornia rabbit or that Kalifornia even had any rabbits.
Come to think of it I'd bet it'd be easy to train a beagle to run one out there in Kalifornia....wouldn't they run to the "left" all the time???? He he he he.

There aren't enough hunters around here to keep 'em down. Too many people grew up watching Disney films, I guess.

Only the city rabbits run to the left, by the way. Out where I live they mostly run right, like in most rural areas.

Apollyon67 · 10-15-2006, 09:26 PM

Handsome pup there Troy, Is Beagle Boy gonna stick?

troy2000 · 10-15-2006, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apollyon67

Handsome pup there Troy, Is Beagle Boy gonna stick?

At the moment we're calling him Pork Chop, and his little gal pal is Mindy. But that could change; sometimes it takes a few days to settle a name down onto a dog.

Normally my wife names the animals around here; she has a knack. But she's still steaming, because she told me not to bring home a beagle and I brought home two. So far the conversation has consisted of, "I thought I told you I didn't want any beagles," answered by, "Well, you didn't get any. I did."

Stay tuned for round 2...

Apollyon67 · 10-17-2006, 09:57 PM

Troy, good luck with the wife, I reckon those pups will grow on her, they are mighty handsome. Besides, it looks like the cats are OK with them. How about Pork Chop, and Applesauce?

troy2000 · 10-17-2006, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apollyon67

Troy, good luck with the wife, I reckon those pups will grow on her, they are mighty handsome. Besides, it looks like the cats are OK with them. How about Pork Chop, and Applesauce?

Trying to yell it loud and fast would tangle up my tongue. Nice try, though. Thanks.

The wife and I aren't getting along to begin with, or something like this would never send her off the deep end. The ridiculous part is that she's been over at her mother's for a month, and still expects the last word on anything I do here at home.

I don't know why; she's never had it before in the seventeen years we've been married. She gets her way ninety five percent of the time, because I don't care one way or the other as long as she's happy. But on the five percent I do care about, she's never budged me. If she were better at arithmetic, she'd realize she's had it pretty good...

09-05-2006, 10:14 PM	#1
troy2000 Resident Armed Liberal Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Southern California Posts: 9,472 Images: 9	Been thinking about a beagle... or maybe a brace of them, so they can do the leg work for me when I go rabbit hunting. And so I can listen to them. Unfortunately, in Southern California the breeders all want "My Precious Puppy" prices for them, and I'm a wee bit sceptical anyway about the hunting prowess of critters descended from 14 generations of house pets and show dogs, no matter what kind of AKC papers they come with. When I go on the internet I see what seem to be good hunters at good prices, but they're all on the other side of the country. Does anyone have any suggestions about where I might get at least one good beagle on the Left Coast, instead of having one flown in from Georgia or some such? Or any idea how much it costs to have one shipped, if I go that route? If I have to train a young'un from scratch, I have the perfect place to do it. The company base I work out of is several acres in size, over-run with rabbits, and fenced in to boot. __________________ If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. -Anatole France Last edited by troy2000; 09-06-2006 at 09:41 AM.

10-08-2006, 01:04 PM	#3
troy2000 Resident Armed Liberal Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Southern California Posts: 9,472 Images: 9	Found my dogs I found a breeder in the High Desert who actually runs his dogs on rabbits as well as showing them, and has nothing but disgust for people who breed the hunting out of them to get obedient little show dogs. He's just been called out of retirement to go to Iraq, and he's desperately trying to place his pups in good homes. Because older ones are harder to place, he's offered me a pair about 5-1/2 months old for 400 bucks, complete with papers and shots. His website is Beagles Unlimited; it claims to be the oldest site on the net devoted to Beagles. __________________ If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. -Anatole France Last edited by troy2000; 10-08-2006 at 10:51 PM.

10-08-2006, 08:33 PM	#4
Apollyon67 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Southern Maryland Posts: 2,235 Images: 17	Troy, thats great, Got any pics? Don't forget a range report on the rascals when you start training. __________________ "To err is human, to repent divine; to persist devilish." Ben Franklin

10-08-2006, 09:05 PM	#5
Rookie_Rover Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: South Western Tennessee. Posts: 300	A beagle is a joy to have around! I wish I still had mine named Pete. __________________ Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself – Twain.

10-08-2006, 10:48 PM	#6
troy2000 Resident Armed Liberal Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Southern California Posts: 9,472 Images: 9	Oh yeah, there'll definitely be pics I don't pick them up until next weekend, though. At first I thought I'd be out of my mind taking on a pair instead of one, but then I started thinking about it. Two beagles keeping each other company in the front yard will probably behave a lot better than one by himself; there's nothing like a bored, lonely beagle for getting into trouble. I had thought about putting a single beagle in the back with the two big dogs, just so he'd have company while I was gone to work. But that was going to mean moving the chickens, ducks and geese to the other side, because I doubt any half-grown beagle could resist the temptation to run 'em. Believe it or not, the shepherd and the boxer/pit mix don't bother the birds at all, except that the shepherd will anxiously try to guard his food dish from them. Someday I'll get video of that; it's hilarious. Also, two well-matched beagles from the same litter should work great as a brace. If they have their act together, they'll hunt up rabbits separately and cover twice the area. Then when one jumps a rabbit and tongues, the other one will run to his assistance. Two noses are better than one, particularly in this dry climate. I'm looking forward to years of listening to them as they run the bunnies. Heck; I may even shoot one now and then as they send it past me... __________________ If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. -Anatole France

09-12-2006, 11:17 PM	#2
mark308 Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 16	It realy doesn’t cost that much to ship an animal the airlines does it all the time. It will be cheaper than one of those inbred show mutts. PM me and I’ll give you my brothers info I think he my still have some pups, they wont have papers but if you want a “hunting dog” their all you need.

10-09-2006, 01:34 AM	#7
Rookie_Rover Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: South Western Tennessee. Posts: 300	Are you getting a 13" or a 15"? The 15" breeds have a small problem with a dog form of asthma. (Just thought you'd like to know.) __________________ Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself – Twain.

10-09-2006, 07:01 AM	#9
Rookie_Rover Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: South Western Tennessee. Posts: 300	Pete was a 15", he, and his eldest littermate both developed a slight wheeze later in life. My friend down at the kennel claimed that this was normal. Maybe be un substatiated, but I am pretty sure he knows more about dogs than I do. __________________ Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself – Twain.

10-09-2006, 08:40 PM	#10
troy2000 Resident Armed Liberal Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Southern California Posts: 9,472 Images: 9	Thanks for the heads-up I hadn't heard anything about that. I went googling for beagle asthma, and found a few posts about what some people call "reverse coughing," where a beagle who's laying around or sleeping suddenly starts making weird noises like it's trying to catch its breath. It doesn't seem to hurt them any; some vets attribute it to an elongated soft palate. __________________ If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. -Anatole France Last edited by troy2000; 10-09-2006 at 08:44 PM.

10-09-2006, 09:23 PM	#11
troy2000 Resident Armed Liberal Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Southern California Posts: 9,472 Images: 9	puppy pic of one beagle I'm getting Assuming I can remember how to do this, here's a baby pic of one beagle I'm getting this weekend. He's quite a bit older now, though. http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d4...agleboy761.jpg Since I was raised on Donald Duck and Scooge McDuck comics (the original classics by Carl Barks), any beagle with a mask like that is doomed to be named "Beagle Boy." Those markings also mean he'd never make it as a show dog, even though he's descended from show champions. But his ancestors have been running rabbits in the High Desert and the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains since 1967, so I don't really care whether he has show-type coloration or not. __________________ If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. -Anatole France Last edited by troy2000; 10-12-2006 at 02:26 PM.

10-09-2006, 09:33 PM	#12
Rookie_Rover Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: South Western Tennessee. Posts: 300	Cleaned up the links for you a bit Troy. __________________ Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself – Twain.

10-14-2006, 11:16 PM	#13
troy2000 Resident Armed Liberal Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Southern California Posts: 9,472 Images: 9	Picked up my two critters today One is the male I posted a puppy pic of. He's built like a wannabe bassett, strong and wide, and he's totally easy-going. The breeder said nothing bothers him: he shrugs off having shots, getting his nails clipped, having his ears washed, whatever. I was going to name him Beagle Boy 176-617 after the old Scrooge McDuck comics because of his black mask, but he may wind up getting called Pork Chop instead. The female is a different story altogether. she's lightly built, vocal, and so hyper she might get named Pinball for the way she bounced all over the yard when I got her home. The poor things had a rough beginning with me; I'm surprised they don't run when they see me coming. I drove 70 miles north up through the Tejon pass on the I-15 to get them, and the southbound I-15 was closed for repairs. It was raining and chilly (by SoCal standards, anyway), and they were riding in a crate in the back of my Nissan Frontier. The next closest way home was up across the mountains through Big Bear, and I wasn't about to freeze them by going that way after they had gotten wet. So I swung east out through Yucca Valley around the mountains instead, and it was a 140-mile ride up and down through the rain and the winding roads. The dogs got wet and chilled in spite of my attempts to wrap the crate, and took turns being car sick. It took them a few minutes to uncross their eyes after I got them home. When I was talking to the breeder, he said these beagles have a Canadian ancestry and are faster than the beagles we're used to in the Southern U.S., even though they're small. He said that instead of just pushing rabbits, they sometimes catch them. He breeds for speed. According to him, "why should I wait half an hour for a rabbit to go by, when I can get a shot at him every ten minutes instead?" of course he's running beagles mostly through open country, in the desert and the foothills. If his dogs were working through dense cover, he might have a different approach. I'll post pics first chance I get. __________________ If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. -Anatole France Last edited by troy2000; 10-14-2006 at 11:30 PM.

10-15-2006, 12:39 PM	#14
rdnckhnter Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: pennsylvania and new jersey right on the bored Posts: 182	thats one perty dog troy congrats __________________ My long hair dont cover my redneck and u know what im ok with that

10-15-2006, 02:14 PM	#15
Dale Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Too Dang Hot, Arizona Posts: 4,284	A beagle is a great dog to have. I didn't realize that you could train a beagle to run a Kalifornia rabbit or that Kalifornia even had any rabbits. Come to think of it I'd bet it'd be easy to train a beagle to run one out there in Kalifornia....wouldn't they run to the "left" all the time???? He he he he. __________________ "It confuses me how some people can vigorously go against the 2nd. Amendment and still call themselves patriotic"-me Last edited by Dale; 10-15-2006 at 02:16 PM.

10-15-2006, 09:26 PM	#17
Apollyon67 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Southern Maryland Posts: 2,235 Images: 17	Handsome pup there Troy, Is Beagle Boy gonna stick? __________________ "To err is human, to repent divine; to persist devilish." Ben Franklin

10-17-2006, 09:57 PM	#19
Apollyon67 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Southern Maryland Posts: 2,235 Images: 17	Troy, good luck with the wife, I reckon those pups will grow on her, they are mighty handsome. Besides, it looks like the cats are OK with them. How about Pork Chop, and Applesauce? __________________ "To err is human, to repent divine; to persist devilish." Ben Franklin