history of beagles

Where did beagles come from?

The history of beagles shows that this breed was always used for hunting, primarily hare, which makes the beagle a hound. They have always been good sniffers and have one of the most developed senses of smell, alongside the Bloodhound.

Although the actual history of beagles starts on an uncertain foot, dogs that are similar to it in size and purpose were traced back to Ancient Greece. Greek documents refer to a hare-hunting hound, and this type of dog was imported into Rome and Britain. The English Talbot, a white scent hound that was brought to Britain by William the Conqueror, was crossed with greyhounds to give them more speed. This may have been an ancestor of the beagle today. In the centuries leading up to the 18^th, any small type of hound was called a beagle, although it was still very different from the modern beagle. Royalty such as Edward II, Henry VII and Queen Elizabeth I were all known to have taken care of pocket or glove beagles, called as such because of their size. Bigger hounds were used for hare and rabbit hunting; they were called the Southern Hound and the North Country Beagle. In time, fox hunting became more popular and the hounds were cross-bred with larger dogs such as Stag Hounds, which became the modern foxhound.

During the 19^th century, Phillip Honeywood makes his fair contribution to the history of beagles by establishing a beagle pack. He bred mostly Southern Hounds and North Country Beagles for the purpose of hunting. The best of this strain were imported by the United States around the 1860s and were crossed with little hounds they called beagles in the southern states, although these beagles look more like Bassets and Dachshunds. Cross-breeding Honeywoods’ pack to the United States beagle gave way to what is now known as our modern beagle.