Beagle Dog Facts & Personality Traits

According to Roald Dahl’s well-loved novel Fantastic Mr Fox, the Beagle dog breed loves eating blueberries. Yours may or may not but either way, as it happens, the Beagle isn’t just a literary figure – it’s also a silver screen icon.

Who, you might ask? Snoopy, of course, Charlie Brown’s infallible sidekick. Clearly, we love Beagles!

And because we love them so much, we’ve compiled a bunch of Beagle facts (no mention of blueberries here)…

Origin of the Beagle dog breed

The Beagle dog breed is no newcomer to the world of pets. This breed can be traced back as far as 2,000 years ago to its origins in Greece. It later became a respected hunting dog in Britain and after that the house pet we know and love today as well. What a journey!

Beagle personality

Beagles are friendly and fun-loving with a superb and well-balanced temperament. In other words, they make great best friends. They also pack weight on the intelligence scale, and they’re social. Beagle dogs are big foodies too; they love eating and have a healthy appetite.

Another throwback to their hunting pack days is that they get easily distracted by, and follow, smells. This can be so engaging for them that they’ll choose to seek out the smell over other stimuli. The run-off effect of this sociability is that they’re good with kids and other pets, making them everyone’s best friend!

On the flipside, this follow-their-nose tendency means that when heading to the beach, park or street for a walk, it’s best to pop them on a leash. Or your scent-driven pet may end up running off after some smell us humans can’t even pick a hint of a whiff of!

For this, check out our guide to dog leashes and leads. A long extendable leash may be a good choice for your Mr or Mrs B, as that way they can get to run and explore to a certain extent.

Beagle physical features

The Beagle dog has enormous stamina and need lots of regular exercise and ample space to run and play. They’re sturdy, strong and medium in size and they come in three colours:

• Tri-colour – black, tan, and white 
• Lemon – very light yellow-brown and white
• Tan and white – yep

Tri-colour Beagles are the most common colour variation you’ll come across and all Beagles have a tail with a white tip. This is a breeding characteristic that helped make them easy to see when hunting out in the fields.

Despite their upbeat temperament, Beagles have a sort of Eeyore (from Winnie the Pooh) look about them. It makes for great drama… a wagging tail with droopy ears and dark eyes that almost appear to have rings around them. Kind of like a scientist who’s been up for days, drinking espresso while formulating the latest breakthrough for a COVID-19 vaccination in pets.

Beagle dog health

Beagles live on average for 12-15 years and are usually healthy. However, the two things to keep in mind as a Beagle parent or would-be Beagle parent are:

1. Obesity

A Beagle’s penchant for eating can easily escalate to overeating if left unchecked. Map out a healthy diet with the correct food portions and figure out the right amount of exercise (read: how much exercise does a dog need). Obesity can lead to diabetes in dogs so get familiar with all of this plus its need for routine pet care.

2. Separation anxiety

Bred to be part of the pack, the Beagle dog isn’t just good as being friends with us, they need attention from either people or pets. Without a healthy daily dose of interaction, Beagles can experience separation anxiety. Work together with your Beagle on how much love and attention is enough for their health and wellbeing.

3. Epilepsy

When you look at the prevalence of epilepsy in various dog breeds you’ll see Beagles are right up there. This is often caused by genetics, so it’s a hereditary condition. Read more about this in our Beagle epilepsy article.

Regular check-ups and more for your Beagle dog

Other than what’s mentioned above, your Beagle will very likely need vet visits throughout its lifetime for accidents and/or illness, allergies and more. Consider dog insurance to alleviate much of these costs.

Depending on the age of your Beagle dog, with us you can get one or more months of pet insurance free… With no lock in contract. No lose, all win!