Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Rabbit dog?

Can a beagle be both a rabbit dog and a family pet? Over the years, I have heard that they can't but never understood why? I had a friend whose father in law raised rabbit dogs and my friend and his wife unknowingly went and played with some beagle pups that her father just got and her father claimed that they were ruined. Just curious if this is true or some wives tale that has been debunked.

Are there any other breeds that can't be both a hunting dog and a pet?

I keep my dogs in a nice pen because I am not a dog in the house person. Love them to death but I'm the only animal in my house.

I interact with my dogs everyday. If the desire to hunt is in them, petting them isn't gonna lessen it. It may make them mind better.

I always did think keeping dogs indoors was not good for their ability to take the cold. That's just my opinion.

My experience is with birds dogs, and the notion that hunting dog and pet are mutually exclusive is patently false.

Cannot attest to rabbit dogs as I have never owned one, but I know where I'd place my money if I had to bet right now.

That is the dumbest and most ridiculous wife's tale ever foisted on the innocent by those who should know better. If someone tells you something like this, run, don't walk, away from them. And never ask them any sort of advice on dogs.

Dogs are pack animals and they will do whatever asked to please the leader. That means the will be a fne family dog when asked as well as a fine hunting dog when asked. Of course, one need some of instill the proper training to achieve these results but that is no different whatever the breeding or task.

I am probably the most "dogs are a tool" person on this site but my dogs live in the house regularly. They do spend a fair an mount of time in an outside kennel but that is to acclimate them to that life as well as the weather. This applies to all the dogs I've owned including pointing dogs, retrievers, flushers, a couple of German Shepard schutzhunds, and mutts of various descriptions. The only exceptions have been a couple of ankle biters that weren't able to push through the dog doors.

All the hunting breeds have been run in hunt tests and trials and placed well. They were/are hunted hard on wild birds during the season and get a fair bit of exposure in the off season. The mutts are hunted too though to varying degree so ft effectiveness. Some are merely content to poke around and seem genuinely amazed when something gets up while others search as hard as any purebred.

The above is mostly regarding birds but I have had bird dogs learn to point or flush rabbits and the mutts love to find them. A beagle will be no different and living with you gives you more occasions to instill the basics of obedience in the dog. That is the key to a good dog whether a hunter or not.

I had a friend growing up who had a lab they used for duck hunting that was a family pet so I know this does not apply to all dogs. I had only heard that beagles had issues. On another occasion, I was taking a walk down a gravel road that had an uncut field next to it and an old black man was running his beagles. He wasn't hunting, just running them. When some of them started heading my way, he yelled out for me to throw rocks at the dogs. Luckily they did not get close enough to me because I am a dog person and I couldn't throw rocks at his dogs.

The idea of "ruining the dog" by petting it is ridiculous. One consideration is that hounds often hunt far from the hunter and are therefore more at risk of being lost or harmed in the course of their work. Such a loss might be more traumatic to the owner if the dog were a house pet. That's the only downside I can see.

They are great hunters and great pets and especially with children. I had one and he lived to be 18 years old, had a great nose. I hate keeping dogs in kennels, I bought a house with large yard so they can have plenty of space to run, they have dog houses under the porch and whole yard to roam.

Some folks just shouldn’t own dogs.

lol

I grew up in Michigan raising beagles with my grandfather & uncle. Had a few down here in the Missouri boot heel as well. Kept some in the house as pups if they needed doctoring. Think it would be fine myself. Never had one as a house pet full time though because just like Lay’s potato chips I couldn’t get by with just 1. A pair is efficient but 3 at a time is a hoot!