He
has an energy that can cheer the most depressed person. He is always happy,
ready for any activity which may require resistence, in sports or in long car
trips.You will be amazed to find out the numerous varieties of colors the Beagle may present, as well as variations in size.
He
has an energy that can cheer the most depressed person. He is always happy,
ready for any activity which may require resistence, in sports or in long car
trips.
Characteristis such as personality, size, appropriate for small or ample spaces, the short hair which demands no special care, all this makes the Beagle a very popular breed. In Japan, it is the 11th most registered. Last year, in the United States there were more than 50.000 registrations, making the Beagle the 7th most popular dog among 180 breeds.
The presence of this sympathetic hare hunter on TV comercials also played a part in its great success. The most frequently chosen are the tricolors, with a black coat on the back, in the shape of a saddle. In a way, this marking fixed by American breeders, has become a trademark of the Beagle, which can, in fact have all the colors common to the Hounds, that is, black, white and any brown tonality.
Many people don't know that these colors can be distributed in several different ways. The only thing theStandard demands is that the tip of the tail be white. "Even though this is not written in the Standard, white paws are a characteristic of the Beagle," says Marcelo Tuck Shcneider, from Kennel Bangor, São Paulo. In England, where the breed originated, the tricolors with markings completely different from the typical American are very common. There are individuals with lots of white and very little black and brown spots; others are dappled, and so on. There is also a bicolor, with no black, and not very popular though it is born in many broods. Shirley Valadão de Souza, from Kennel World of Beagles and Chnayas's, São Paulo, says that many people who look for a tricolor, choose a bicolor when they see one. The bicolors can be brown, orange or lemmon, according to brown tonality, usually lighter than in the tricolors. The eye color agrees with the coat color (they can never be of a lighter tone than coat), so the eyes in the bicolor seem to have a lighter color than in the tricolors, but they are always brown in both types.
The tricolors have dominant genes, so they are born in more quantity. Bicolors have recessive genes, and shouldn't be bred among themselves, to avoid problems like no pigmentation in the eyes, nose and mouth. Curiously, the black coat in the tricolors is brown inside. When the tip of the hair gets "sun-burnt", the brown surfaces, changing their appearance temporarily. Other than that, there are no differences in the varieties, and there are excellent individuals in both of them.
As for size, the Beagle may vary a lot in height, between 33cm and 40cm - 15 inches (the current CBKC Standard - the previous one was 40,5cm), which makes it a medium size dog. Americans accept smaller Beagles, and have created an additional category in expositions, for dogs up to 13 inches.
Purchase of Puppies: "Eyelids, nose and
lips have to be pigmented. They should be preferrably black, but a less intense
color is admited in the ones with light coat color. Scissors bite," states
Denis Nogueira Pinto, from Kennel First Dog, Juiz de Fora, MG. "Tricolors
are born practically black and white, and later part of the black turns brown.
Some bicolors are born with very light tones of coat, sometimes they even look
as if they were white. But after 15 days, the colors start emerging, both in the
tricolor and bicolor, though total definition only comes around at 4 months of
age," says Silvia Pagotto, from Kennel Dream's Bloom, Piracicaba, SP.
Environment:
In case the dog lives in small house or apartment, daily walks will be
necessary so he can wear out some of his energy.
We would like to thank the people interviewed for the
information, and for the text review. We also thank Maria da Glória
Romero, tecnical coordinator of the Federação Cinológica
Paulista, for further editing.
Research and text: Flávia C. Soares.
Text editor: Marcos Pennacchi
Picture: Luiz Henrique Mendes
Owner: World of Beagle's
and Chinayas
