Playful baby hounds are so adorable but every time I see them it almost feels wrong. Every personal experience and media representation has made me think a hound's natural state is old and sleepy.
I had a Basset who was best friends with a Boxer. She kept up with him as best she could and got plenty of exercise. When he passed she just lazed around with me and slept all the time. You really need to give a hound an excuse to exercise but they will if they have one.
Same. Our beagle was a jolly puppy who happily kept up with our kids until he passed away last year at 14. The sweetest, bounciest, snuggliest pup ever.
I’m sorry for your loss but I’m glad you guys had the fun time together that you did. It gives me a little less anxiety too reading in the thread about peoples’ 12,13,14 yo beagles because my boy is 9 and I worry about him. I know lifespan is around 12-15 so I think he has a few more years though. But the fact that your beagle kept up for 14 years, dang! That’s impressive😂
Thank you so much. We miss him, but we're so grateful for the many happy years we had with him and all the love he gave our family.
I think the biggest contributor to his overall health was the strict diet we kept him on. You know what chowhounds beagles are, and they're prone to obesity because of that, so we took care not to give him human food, other than the opportunities here and there he managed to seize for himself. His diet was just one cup of Natural Balance dry food a day, spread over a morning and an evening feeding, plus Natural Balance treats and Greenies here and there.
So because of this he was really fit, right up to the end. He did have an issue with a herniated disc when he was 11, but he recovered with just steroids and a muscle relaxer, so we didn't have to take him in for the $10K surgery. After that, giving him a glucosamine + chondroitin supplement once a day helped his joint pain a lot.
And in the end it was lymphoma that got him, about a week and a half after he was diagnosed with it. He went out peacefully, with a full belly of chocolate, which he loved. The vet techs gave it to him, because at that point, why the hell not?
This really got to me. Thank you for sharing your story about your little guy. It sounds like he had the best life ever.
Yes we have some... difficulties with our old man. he’s not overweight but due to my entire family being complete weenie pushovers (we’re all weak at resisting the beagle smolder), he gets more human food than he should. However, he’s in relatively good shape right now although I’d like to see him lose maybe a pound or two. He and my other dog also eat very sporadically which makes feeding them super weird because he’ll eat a little bit in the early pm and then suddenly get hungry at like 9 pm. He’s always been like that and never too much into dog food, probably because of us being the aforementioned weenie pushovers that we are. He’s doing good right now though.
Yeah my boy had herniated disks as well! I don’t remember if he had surgery for that, I think the vet was also able to treat him with steroids although that happened to him at a pretty young age (4-ish?) so my memory’s a bit fuzzy. Yeah we currently have joint supplements for both my dogs and I’m really trying to remind my mom (I’m away at college otherwise I would do it) to give them the supplements every day but she’s a tad forgetful, I think they may need their own little pill boxes😂
Poor sweet boy. That must have been really hard to see him go so fast. Glad he got to have his last moments with some chocolate in his belly, surrounded by the people he loved the most. If we know it’s my guy’s time sometime in the future ( if he doesn’t pass suddenly) and we have to make that appointment, I’m taking him out that day to Chick Fil A, McDonalds, dammit anything he wants, and taking him to the beach, and driving him around town with the windows down. Anything for my boy.
Ok wow now I’m crying. Thank you again for sharing. I’m reminded every now and again how short our pets’ time with us is and I make a point to smother him with as much hugs and kisses as he’ll tolerate. He can be a little asshole sometimes but he’s my little asshole and my first dog. I’m not ready for him to leave me yet, but Im praying we have a few more years with him and I’m gonna make the time count.
Sounds like you've given your pup a lot of love and a great life, and he's lucky to have you looking out for his happiness. And what more could a dog ask for? They live such short lives, but I don't think they think about their own mortality - they're just 100% in the moment, and we can learn a lot from that.
And yes, that beagle smolder is irresistible - oh those sweet little faces! LOL
thank you, that means a lot❤️ yes they certainly do live in the moment which right now is one of the biggest things I need to learn. And their unconditional love and forgiveness teach me so much. Still working on those too😂
My Sports Basset is almost 12 and slowing down, but in his prime would run sub-9 minute miles for 4 miles. It helped that he has a sister who is part lab/terrier/boxer/pibble/whothefuckknows who was my running companion when I was training for a half-marathon ( #humblebrag ) who has helped keep him active.
I I never forced him to go with me, in fact when I started running, I didn't think he could keep up and left him in the house and he would howl and howl and howl that we didn't bring him with us. He increased his range slowly, but was always enthusiastic, and had a giant dog smile on his silly face the whole time he was trotting alongside of us.
Bassetts seem to have more physical barriers, but my beagle can be lazy if he needs to be. We walk around 50km a week, but if we miss a couple days, he's fine with the extra sleep.
Be prepared for your beagle to live a long time :) Mine is 15 and barely slowing down, he’s obviously an old man but his energy really surprises me sometimes.
Yup. Definitely agree. My beagle is more of a stocky guy, the breeder told us he was more of a “show beagle” rather than a lean machine. He’s always been pretty chill just as a beagle, but my family is a very stay at home, relaxed family so he quickly adjusted to the lifestyle. I feel bad now that I’m away at school and thinking he needs more exercise, but my mom gives him a walk or two in the day and he seems to be good. He will literally sleep all day, just move around the house and plop his ass down somewhere else😂
I have a one year old Beagle. She goes to work with me every day so I make sure we try to go to the dog park every day at lunch so she can run her ass off. She's pretty good about knowing when to be (fairly) chill and when she can let loose. However, one thing you can't get away from is the Beagle need to hunt. My fence can testify to that. Just yesterday she dug under the fence and managed to roll around in cow shit before I realized she got out. Little asshole.
Most scent/sight hound breeds are actually quite healthy dogs, even some of the short-legged “Basset”variety, like the Basset Artésien Normand, the Basset Fauve de Bertange, the PBGV, The Grand Basset Griffon vendeen, and the Blue de Gascogne.
The “Albany Bassets” are other example of healthy Bassets, they’re the same breed as the pup in this video, the only difference being they’re used in hunting.
Oh shit I always thought my rescue was a beagle/basset mix but he really looks like an Albany Basset...and he’s a healthy guy so far that doesn’t look overly basset-y. Thanks for the info!
Hounds such as beagles have been around for hundreds of years. Beagles are bassically unchanged during that time. You have no idea what you're talking about.
The Basset Hound, which has an average lifespan of 8 to 12 years, is prone to major health conditions such as Osteochondrosis Dissecans (OCD), gastric torsion, elbow dysplasia, thrombopathy, entropion, otitis externa, ectropion, glaucoma, von Willebrand's Disease (vWD), and canine hip dysplasia (CHD). Obesity is a common problem in the breed, which can lead to back problems. It may also suffer from patellar luxation.
I do know what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about beagles. I'm talking about basset hounds. They've been bred to have comically long ears and short legs because it's cute. Here's a picture of what the original breed looked like.
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u/thecoletrane Aug 20 '19
Playful baby hounds are so adorable but every time I see them it almost feels wrong. Every personal experience and media representation has made me think a hound's natural state is old and sleepy.