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26 May, 2021 By : Staff Writer Post Comments

History of The Beagle

The Beagle is a breed of small hound developed primarily for hunting hare. They are even known as scent hounds due to their great sense of smell and tracking instincts.

The origin of the beagle is somewhat of a mystery. By the 1500s, most English gentlemen had packs of large hounds that tracked deer, and smaller hounds that tracked hares. The smaller, more compact hounds were ancestors of our modern Beagle.

According to some experts, the name Beagle derives from the Gaelic word “beag” meaning “little”, while others say it was derived from the French word “begueule”. The phrase “foot hound” is vital to understanding the Beagle’s broad appeal for hunters in England, the Continent, and North America. The hunters rode horses and would use Foxhound or Harriers for their hunting. Those who couldn’t afford to use a horse used Beagle for the hunt as it was easy to keep up with a pack of Beagles on foot.

Beagles were imported to America in the years after the Civil War, and their popularity among U.S. rabbit hunters grew immediately. To this day, Beagles are still used for rabbit hunting in the woodsy areas of North America because of their scent tracking abilities.