Beagle Firstly Named After Its Petite Size,

Beagle Firstly named after its petite size, beagle was proven a sharp and swift hound, which was popular during rabbit hunting trend in Britain in the 1700s. Farmers and hunters in Europe adored the beagle's performance, and started raising it in their farms and ranch (Parr & Reid, 1998). Middle age breeder started to concentrate on polishing its hunting skills and used them to protect their properties. A British named Thomas Johnson then noticed the overlooked charm of beagle's shape and colors in the later date.

Later on, European accepted beagle more than its hunting function and send the facts overseas. Beagle began the journey in America in the late 1800s. For a domesticated hound, beagle has become adorable and reliable pet with the beautiful muscles and shape, its ability to be a hunting partner and to develop close relationship with the owner. Beagle nowadays is a long way result of domestication in the history. The typical canine had been documented in historical record in Greece and Britain in 400 to 200 A.D.

Afterwards, human knew it as lovable pet of British royal family as a hound. Shaped little, beagle's name derived from "beag" (Celtic) and "begle" (French), both mean "little" and "little value." In fact, beagle's value is not little at all. It existed in Europe in the first century as Talbot Hounds, which was the first generation of Beagle, Foxhound, and Southern Hound (Parr & Reid, 1998). Scent hounds commonly use "scenting endowment, memories, and reasoning abilities to solve retrieving and tracking problems" (Rice, 2000. p. 4). Beagle loves hunting.

Naturally they detect their target with the receptive sense and tend to dig and hide their stuff. This is why organizations like USDA in the airport uses them for inspecting export and import stuffs. Beagles are also used as therapy dog and in field trials. Beagles are good candidate for the job for its "accurate nose" (Dupris, A History of Beagle). Moreover, beagle's size is unobtrusive and it has pleasant personality to get along with human in crowds at public place.

It is said, "loyalty is a canine instinct," which naturally present in dog's behavior (Rice, 2000. p. 4). Dogs develop strong bound with the owner and able to protect, save human life by taking him/her out of danger, or remind the owner of schedule. Canine can develop this trait without certain training. However, a research result showed that this behavior could be nurtured.

Increased stimulus on beagle puppies, by petting within certain frequency everyday (the research applied additional 30 second each 20 minute petting), increased its interest for human contact when the puppies grew up to the second year (Hubrecht, 1995). Its ability to get along well with the owner has particularly developed from the inherited trait of dog's fundamental character to be human's good companion. Along with the hunting skill specialty, beagle is also a beautifully built canine and intellectual trainee for home chum and stage performance.

They could be cooperative in training sessions, and supportive in contests. The American Kennel Club picks the popular breed each year. Beagles, when in 2001 made on fifth position climbed slightly into fourth most popular pick, with 44,610 registrations. Beagle was also registered as the most popular in hound category (Lieber, 2002. pars. 2-5). American Kennel Club set two major varieties for good beagle breed: the 13-inch and 13-15 inches height. Beagles exceeding the number will not be qualified for ranking.

In England, beagles are categorized in one class of maximum height of 16 inches. Basically, beagles are short, weighing between 18 to 30 pounds, with ears on the sides of the head (Dawn, 2002). They come in various assorted colors, from white, brown to black, and shorthaired coat with convenience in daily care. A beagle breed quality is justified upon several factors, based on the American Kennel Club standard: a. Head: Good beagle has elongated head, large and full cranium.

The ears should be large, low, long as reaching the nose, skull is flat, nose turning up and open, eyes sharp and lovable, the front part of ears turns into cheeks, no flews. b. Body: Neck straight up, clean, no folds of skin, some additional wrinkles at the jaws, short and thick neck. Shoulders should be muscular, not too fatty and not too much bones, chest broad but should not mixed up with shoulder broadness.

Back should also look strong; body slightly curved backward with adequate lungs room and flat ribs. c. Feet: Feet should be proportional to the body, with strong and firm pad, strong muscles. d. Coat: medium length, hard coat like common hound. Soft coat and thin hair are not accepted. e. Tail: Should be high, little arched. Long tail is not accepted. Beagle is potential for pure breeding business, as long as the breeder always keeps the original.