So, what are beagles really like?

It´s early to say, since Lucy is only 10 months old, but some aspects of her are coming into focus.

Housetraining is a struggle with Beagles. Life becomes tolerable after 6 months; before that, it´s a life with kitchen roll, bleach and  detergents. And frequent trips outdoors. So just prepare yourself, and don´t expect anything magical to happen..

Now Lucy is about 10 months, and she still has “accidents”. Just the other day she made two large accidents in our bedroom, so… But there has been a definite improvement, from total disaster to quite good, really.

Then there is beagles and kids. Great, so far. Mentally and physically strong, Lucy is not freaked out by loud noise levels, tail-tugging and being used as a cushion. She takes it all in her stride. She rarely barks and rarely howls, so when she does howl, it´s just charming. Like when someone is practising the saxophone, she will start to howl.

Lucy is not a lap dog, though she will curl up for a nap with you, but only when the day is done and nothing exciting is happening or smelling.

I had a revelation when I met the neighbour and his rottweiler. The rottweiler kept looking at its owner as if to say “am I doing well now?”, while Lucy was off chasing some scent in a field. The difference in outlook on life was incredible, and I realised what an independent spirit the Beagle is. In fact, she is not easy to train, and so mostly we don´t bother, but I can see that she has spotted some patterns in our life together. For instance, when I put on my skiing gear, she responds, since she knows what´s coming. She also takes a few commands, like “sit”, especially if accompanied by food, and sometimes even “come”, if she´s in the mood. It´s really rewarding when she does, especially if she has just run off and we are worried that she will go dancing and prancing onto the road that runs below our house, and get squashed. Good dog, Lucy!

She is also excellent at stealing food, and if you leave a jacket on the floor with some chocolate in it, well …. she will find it. Her sense of smell is pretty good.

Summing up she is fun, but also a handful. She is also very very pretty, and so she gets away with murder.

But I realise now that I live with a dog, that dogs aren´t humans.