Size
(when grown) Small 25 lbs (11 kg) or less
Details
Good with kids,
Good with dogs,
Not good with cats,
Needs special attention,
Needs experienced adopter,
House-trained,
Spayed or Neutered,
Shots are up-to-date,
Story
Bessie is a beautiful beagle who is seven or eight years old and weighs twenty pounds. She was found in a rural area by a good samaritan, and brought to a Houston area shelter. She was in rough condition so the shelter contacted beagle rescue to take her into our program. She had multiple parasites, yeast infection in ears and on the skin, required dental cleaning and extraction, and a benign lump removed. She is currently on a prescription diet and a prescription shampoo and ear flush, and has regained good health. It seems that she might have had a good home at one point because she was previously spayed, was heartworm negative, and she seemed to have learned some basic commands. She sits for a treat and she can catch them in the air without missing. She responds to "leave it," and will come running in from the yard when called, if she's not totally occupied with something too good to leave! She loves riding in the car.
Bessie is a very high energy dog and is quite athletic, able to jump up on furniture, and has even been known to get up on the desk chair and open up a drawer with the Lindor truffles inside -- and has helped herself to a couple of them! She would not be suitable in a home with small children or fragile dogs because she just barrels through life at top speed.
There are a couple of bad habits that need to be disclosed. One is that she is super strong on leash and pulls very hard, to the point that she needs someone with good balance to keep up with her even though her foster mom has a lot of training experience and has worked with her for nearly six months, but without much success at the excessive pulling.. She gets so excited out in the world and just can't contain her enthusiasm, plus she is very strong for such a small beagle. She is highly food motivated, and has had a couple of scuffleswith other dogs over food.
Another bad habit is poop eating, and that too has been difficult to control. She is given a deterrent chewie with her meals but nonetheless it is still occurring, and the best plan is to follow her with a poop bag. And lastly, even as a senior dog she still will get ahold of something that does not belong to her, and will chew it, especially if it comes from the trash! She is normally not one to sneak off into a closet for example though, to find something interesting to chew, because she mostly just wants to be wherever the humans are; therefore will only chew things if she gets left in boredom on the other side of a baby gate. Like all beagles, she will require a securely fenced yard.
So now that we've covered the bad habits, here Is the good news. She is excellent on house training, sleeps quietly in a crate all night and waits patiently to be let out in the morning. She knows the commands of sit, wait, and leave it, and does it fairly consistently. And unlike many beagles, she will actually come when she's called and will run in from the backyard to the house most of the time!
Teenagers like her because of her energy and her fun loving personality. People who want a walking companion would get a lot of exercise with Bessie as a companion. Someone who enjoys taking a dog on car rides and out for errands would love having Bessie because she's always up for an adventure and she behaves well in the back seat of the van. She loves going to the park, and her idea of a really fun time is to go to Galveston for the day.
She gets along o k with other dogs after an initial period of adjustment, but she's not really a player, so she can be an only dog. Her current foster home is a townhome with one shared wall, and she does not seem to be bothered by noise next door unless they let their barking terrier outside -- and then she can't resist joining in. She is very loyal and loves following the humans all around the house.
Bottom line, if you can handle an adult dog that still acts like a puppy, is strong enough to pull you on a bike without having to peddle, will clean up the table if you leave anything unattended, and if you do not have small kids or small pets, then you can have a really fun and beautiful friend in Bessie!
