Pocket Beagle Pros And Cons – Complete Owners Guide
Miniature, pocket or teacup breeds are all the rage nowadays. The Pocket Beagle is different though, think of it as the original trendsetter, the Pocket Beagles we know and love today are actually recreations of some of the very first miniature breeds way back in Medieval times.
In fact, arguably the first celebrity to fall in love with these bite-sized bundles of joy was the Faerie Queen herself, Queen Elizabeth the 1st, who was rumoured to “often entertain guests at her royal table by letting her Pocket Beagles cavort amid their plates and cups” according to the Queen Elizabeth Pocket Beagle Foundation.
The full-sized beagle is one of the most popular and beloved breeds on earth, with Snoopy, the lovable beagle from Peanuts being the only animated animal character with his very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Pocket Beagle resembles their larger cousins in every way but size.
While these dogs won’t bark incessantly, they are very communicative and will have different barks, grunts or howls for different messages, this is another trait left from their days hunting in tandem with humans in years gone by. Some people believe them to be a bit obnoxious and naughty, but this is almost guaranteed to be a result of them feeling bored or lonely.
If you train them well, spend adequate time with them and make sure their exercise needs are met, they will be the best friends anyone could ask for.
As their name suggests, they are Beagles, only smaller. That means they share all of the well loved characteristics and traits of Beagles, packaged into a bite-sized bundle of energy and joy. They love playing, they love exploring and they love making new friends. Whether it be humans or other dogs, Pocket Beagles.
Pocket Beagle Overview
| Size | Very small
Average mature height: 7 to 12 inches tall Average mature weight: 7 to 15 pounds |
| Personality | What they lack in size they make up for in heart, tenfold. They are extremely loving and friendly and will enjoy nothing more than playing with their family and both giving and receiving affection. |
| Temperament | Pocket Beagles are made for love and playing, aggression is not likely to be a problem at all. Like all dogs though, it is vital to socialize them from a young age for the easiest results. Because they are pack animals they tend to befriend any animal or human who gives them any attention. |
| Tendency To Bite | They won’t bite and even if they did, they are simply too small to cause any damage.
They are definitely much more bark than bite. |
| Maintenance | 4/10
They won’t require much grooming or brushing, in fact, they don’t even need to be bathed that often. Their coats are designed for the outdoors and won’t matte or get tangled. They do, however, require a lot of exercise and attention. They also aren’t known to shed much, which means less chance of causing allergies and less cleaning up to do. |
| Family Pet | 5/5
Pocket Beagles make pretty much the perfect family pet under any and all circumstances. They are small enough to get enough exercise in a restricted space like an apartment, but they’re equally at home outside. They are loving and gentle and small enough to make the perfect friends for kids and adults alike. To top it all off, they are also extremely intelligent making them quite trainable. |
| Intelligence | As we’ve mentioned, Pocket Beagles, like most hounds are in fact very intelligent. One note that should be made is that they are notorious for taking quite a while to be potty trained.
Also, as with any other intelligent breed, if left idle, their intelligence could easily be transformed into destructive boredom. |
| Exercise Needs | Hounds are active and energetic, Pocket Beagles are no different from any other hound, despite their significantly smaller size. They would enjoy an active lifestyle and will need plenty to keep them busy.
Because they are so small though, they will be able to get adequate exercise from walks or playing and do not need to go on long runs or hikes. |
| Health Issues | When getting a Beagle from a reputable dealer, they should be relatively healthy. That said, as with any breed, they do seem to be more prone to suffer from certain ailments. The major health problems Beagle owners need to look out for are eye disorders, epilepsy and dwarfism or funny puppy syndrome, the latter is especially prevalent in miniature breeds like Pocket Beagles. |
| Life Expectancy | 10 – 14 Years |
| Price | Because of their rarity, they can fetch anywhere between $500 and $1500 for a well-bred pup. |
Pros
Extremely friendly
Pocket Beagles will get along well with anyone. They are extremely loving and enjoy nothing else as much as getting attention. They’ll want to play or snuggle all day.
Adorable
Small, cute and overwhelmingly loving, it’s almost impossible not to fall in love with these adorable little critters from the first time you see them. Look at Yoda and Anakin and see for yourself!
Adaptable
Being hounds, they are at home in the outdoors, but being the size of a child’s toy, they fit in just as well with apartment life. So as long as you can give it the attention and exercise it needs, it will be happy with any living arrangement.
On top of that, they aren’t loud or sloppy, so they make perfectly pleasant housemates.
Easy to groom
Pocket Beagles don’t shed much and require minimal grooming. Brushing their coats about once a week will be more than sufficient and they only need to be bathed when they are visibly dirty. Apart from that you only need to clean their ears sporadically and make sure that their nails don’t grow too long.
Cons
Rare and expensive
Even though they are extremely popular, actually finding one could prove to be more difficult than you’d think and when you finally do, you’d better be ready to pay top bucks.
That said, they won’t cost you much to groom and as long as they don’t develop any major medical conditions, they should be rather inexpensive to keep.
As with anything rare and expensive, their value also makes them a target for criminals.
Not an officially recognized breed
Though Pocket Beagles do not qualify as a breed according to the American Kennel Club, they are regulated by the same standards as “regular” Beagles, so not being an official breed isn’t much of a drawback unless you were planning on competing in dog games, in which case your pup might be smaller than some of its competitors.
“The American Kennel Club does not recognize a variety called the Pocket Beagle. Technically, the Pocket Beagle qualifies as a 13-inch Beagle, which is defined by the Beagle breed standard as any Beagle that doesn’t exceed 13 inches in height at the shoulder and typically weighs 15 to 18 pounds.” according to Dogtime.com.
Potential health issues
While you might have a perfectly healthy Beagle who lives a full, natural life, but we’d be remiss not to mention that this breed has been known to suffer from certain conditions. Of these, dwarfism and eye problems are the most common.
Can be naughty
Because of their high intelligence and energy levels, they do need a lot of stimulation. They are sometimes thought to be naughty or difficult to train, but this is because of human error and no fault of their own.
Make sure you can invest enough time and energy into properly training and socializing a Pocket Beagle before deciding on adopting or buying one.
Tips for raising a Pocket Beagle
The most important thing to remember when housing a Pocket Beagle is that despite its miniature size, it’s every bit as much of a Beagle, therefore also, a hound, as a regular Beagle.
That means they’ve got endless energy and a set of very specific skills. They need to be active and have an opportunity to explore and sniff out the great big world.
As with any dog, early socialization is key, but because they are pack animals, they tend to make friends with ease and because they are so small, they rarely pose a threat to other dogs.
Because of their size, they shouldn’t be left unattended with small children. An unintentional heavy hand could really hurt them and we don’t want that! Apart from that, they are excellent with kids as they are gentle yet playful and energetic. They’ll make the perfect buddy for any kid or adult.
Contrary to what you might think when you see how tiny a Pocket Beagle is, they love eating. They will steal any food left unattended and within reach. They also won’t have their progress slowed by something as trivial as having satisfied their hunger, they are known to overeat.
So in addition to making sure that they can’t help themselves to any extra meals, you will also have to monitor their weight and adjust their diet accordingly.
One last thing that should be kept in mind is that they are scenthounds, this means they might wander off if they smell anything interesting, so you need to make sure that they are either supervised or left in a safe, enclosed area.
Interesting facts about Pocket Beagles
As mentioned in the introduction, the Beagle’s features have been famous for centuries, from the “Glove Beagles” popular in the 14th century, up to Snoopy, on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Everyone has seen a Beagle in one form or another.
These ancestors of the Beagle that were used during hunting trips might have been even smaller than the Pocket Beagle we know today, so you might think they make an odd hunting companion, yet, they were absolutely loved by hunters and they would often literally be kept in the pockets of men on horseback during hunting trips.
“The Glove Beagle was said to be so small that it could fit into a glove and while it was the inspiration for today’s Pocket Beagle, they are not the same dog. In fact, the Glove Beagle otherwise, known as the Olde English Pocket Beagle stood shorter than the Pocket Beagle of today” – Innovet
The reason they made such successful hunting partners were their incredible sense of smell. Beagles have around 220 million scent receptors, whereas we have a measly 5 million!
Conclusion
To conclude, Pocket Beagles are great! That should pretty much sum it up. These little guys can fill a big space in your heart with their adorable faces and loving nature.
They are some of the friendliest dogs you’ll ever meet and they ask for almost nothing in return, only love and attention.
Small enough to live in apartments, but with enough animal instincts to survive on a farm, these little critters really do offer you the best of both worlds.
They are smart, energetic and easy to groom. What else can you possibly want in a furry friend?
So as long as you are willing and able to give them the love, training, attention and exercise that they need and deserve, you simply can’t go wrong by adding a Pocket Beagle to your family.
