My niece's family got a seven week old male Beagle pup from a breeder in Southern Cal. about a year ago. They live out in the country in the San Joaquin Valley. A year later he's IMO small for the breed, kind of timid/anti social with other dogs. He's marked well, has a good voice, very smart and is a great family pet that's never tried to get out of a one acre fenced yard. This is what they wanted so no problem.

I used to have two Beagles around 50 years ago. They were probably ok pets but I didn't have them for that and didn't know anyone that would have. They were basically hounds & rabbit hunters that would sometimes wander off if I let them run loose in the yard and would dig their way out of any kennel that didn't have a concrete foundation or counter sunk chain link. I've never thought of hounds as pets. Have Beagles been bred down to be more of a pet than a hunting dog?

I’m getting out of Beagles, but it seemed to me like there were two markets… you described them. Raw bone, fence and tree climbing, digging, escaping, baying rabbit killing machines. Sweet and fun but so frustrating as pets. Then there’s the couch potatoes.

I think the breed is like a box of chocolates that way.

I can’t imagine not containing one though, they smile and wag as they’re running away! And they go for MILES!!!

I had a good one I used for deer hunting. Good cold trailer. Very mouthy on the jump, would even open up on my track coming back but a bit gun shy and if got out of the pen he was gone. As one guy said it, great little dogs but they are tramps.

I’ve had beagles all of my life.
My and my boys hunt them but they’re also part of our family too.
It is my opinion that they generally make great pets, especially if you raise them from a puppy.
I’ll get them when they are 7 or 8 weeks and I try to spend at least an hour or two a day with them just playing with em’ and holding them and spoiling them rotten.
It forms a bond that they continue to carry into adulthood.
I have one little female who won’t quit barking until I pick her up and then she doesn’t make another peep.
She had surgery at ten weeks and was real lethargic for a few days so my wife would set and hold her like a baby. Now she thinks that’s how it is supposed to be.
Also, the breeding may be a little different on the west coast than it is here in the midwest.
The best dogs I have now came out of Kentucky.
I had an old man told me years ago that the best way to make a beagle a good hunting dog was to make it one of the family.
They can be quirky though.
I have one that hunts like a champ but won’t hunt with other dogs.
Dad had one that wouldn’t hunt with anybody but him.
Go figure!

Beagles likely aren't the ideal dog for a family that lives on a rigid schedule.

Or... Maybe they are...

Every beagle owner needs a hat he can throw and stomp

Never seen anything more fun than kids with a beagle