15 Undiscovered Facts about Beagle Dogs

Beagles are a popular breed! So what Beagle facts do you know? These dogs are intelligent, excitable, and determined. They are a small hound breed packed with personality and energy. If you love Beagles you’ll love these Beagle facts and info! Here’s a whole pack of howling-good Beagle dog facts put together by iSafeCare that will amuse and amaze you. Which is your favorite?

1. Beagle dogs’ life expectancy.

The average life expectancy of the adorable beagles is 12 to 15 years.

2. The lemon beagles are rare.

Lemon beagles are a specific breed of beagle dogs with a stereotypical hound-look. They demonstrate a beautiful mix of lemon and white-colored fur and stunning brown eyes. The lack of pigmentation in lemon beagles makes them a sought-after breed. 

3. The Cheagle is a cross between a chihuahua and a beagle.

The Cheagle is a hybrid of the chihuahua and the beagle. Arguably one of the “cutest” crossbreeds of beagles, they have floppy ears with markings of a beagle but the body of a chihuahua. Definitely one of the neater beagle facts.

4. Beagles see other animals as "friends".

Beagles are generally curious and born with a playful nature. They are not defensive nor territorial. Beagles are fond of socializing with other dogs and would always get along with other animals since they treat them as “friends” rather than a threat.

5. Beagles’ body odor is unignorable.

Beagles' sweat glands are not as developed as other dog breeds, so infrequent bathing can easily cause bad odor. Keep bathing your beagles hoomans!

6. The white tails are beagles’ exclusive signatures.

Beagles are known for their distinctive white tails, but their tails tell more stories than people generally know. The purpose of the white tail is actually practical. Back in the days when they were used more for hunting, the white tails helped the dogs become more visible to people when the beagles had their noses in the ground while sniffing away during a hunt. Supposedly, breeders bred the white-tip tails into beagles for this very reason. A beagle’s tail is also an indication of whether the dog is a purebred or not. All beagles will have some white hairs on their tails. But the concentration of hair will point to the purebred dogs. Purebred beagles will have completely white-tipped tails.

7. Snoopy from ‘Peanuts’ is a beagle.

Schulz’s famous comic series “Peanuts” features a lovable dog called Snoopy. This character made his first appearances on 4th October, 1950. Schulz took his inspiration from a beagle dog he grew up with, called Spike. This cartoon version was originally to be called Sniffy. However, a comic book launched a few weeks ahead of Peanuts, featuring a dog of the same name. On his mother’s suggestion, Schulz changed the dog’s name to Snoopy.

8. Beagles’ ears help improve their sense of smell.

Don’t you just adore those beagle heavy, velvety earflaps? Our next of our beagle facts is that those long ears actually improve this dog’s ability to pick up a scent. With their nose to the ground, those long ears create micro-air currents. This slight breeze stirs up scent molecules and offers them up to the nose.

9. Beagles have some notable fans.

Former US President Lyndon Baines Johnson had several beagles, and caused an outcry when he picked up one of them by its ears (which was definitely wrong) during an official greeting on the White House lawn. Some other well-known people who adore beagles includes Queen Elizabeth I and Kings James I of England.

10. Beagles migrated from England to America.

Beagles originated in England and made it to the US in the 19th century. It was General Richard Rowett, born in England but naturalized in Illinois, who reputedly first imported beagles into the US. At the time there were other beagle-like hound dogs in the US, but those imported by Rowett were of superior quality. It was Rowett’s dogs, carefully selected for their hunting ability, that went on to form the breed standard in America. In 1884 the American Kennel Club officially recognized these hound dogs as a distinct breed.

11. Garfield’s companion Odie, is indeed a beagle.

Garfield, the large ginger cat, has a love-hate relationship with Odie the dog. But did you realize Odie was also inspired by that all-round hale and hearty hound, the Beagle?

12. Beagles have an extremely HUGE appetite.

Beagles have the natural tendency to overeat. Remember how Snoopy always worried about his food bowl? Beagles are actually like that in real life. If given the chance, they will eat way more than they actually need or can handle. Besides monitoring the food that you give them during mealtimes, you should also make sure that you put all food away where your Beagle can’t access them. Your Beagle will sniff out all the foods that it likes and it wouldn’t matter if the foods were in the refrigerator, the cupboards, or the trash bin; it will find a way to get to the food. So please lock your food away!

13. Beagles have a wide vocal range.

Beagles have a voice and they’re not afraid to use it. Indeed, just as people communicate with their voices, so do beagles. Beagles have a repertoire of sounds, which help other dogs understand their mood. For starters there’s the standard bark, with the aim of alerting their owner to the mailman at the door. They have a special yodelling howl for those super-exciting moments, such as picking up an interesting scent trail. This tells their pals to come-join in the party. And last but not least, is the mournful howl, when they feed bored or sad… just because they can and it makes them feel a bit better about life.

14. Beagles' sense of smell is 44 times better than a human.

Compared to a human that has around five million scent receptors, a beagle has two hundred twenty million scent receptors which makes them about 44 times better than the human’s scent receptors.

15. A Beagle named Elvis can smell pregnancy.

“Polar bear pregnancy detector” is a much less common beagle job, but it does exist. A two-year-old beagle named Elvis was actually trained to determine whether a polar bear is pregnant by smelling her poop. Elvis is a tremendous help to zookeepers who can't tell whether their polar bears are actually pregnant or exhibiting pseudopregnancy. Elvis can identity samples from pregnant females with 97 percent accuracy.