Do beagles needs a lot of exercise?

Who doesn’t know him? Snoopy, the dog from the comics. But not only because of the comic series, the beagle enjoys great popularity. But before you get a beagle, you should inform yourself in advance about the special characteristics of the beagle. One important point is that you should be clear about how much exercise do beagles need.

Beagles need a lot of exercise and activity. Because of its original use, you should allow between 2 and 3 hours of activity per day for a Beagle. In addition to physical activity, it is important to do nose work with the Beagle. The Beagle is a running and hunting dog that was originally used for hunting. Their job was to track animals like deer and drive them to the hunter

How much exercise do Beagles need?

The Beagle is an independent hunting dog whose task was to track down game and drive it to the hunter. So they are very active dogs that use their nose in parallel.

If you want to know if a breed needs a lot of exercise, it is often enough to look at the original use.

If you can provide your Beagle with between 2 and 3 hours of exercise and activity every day, you have a good foundation. It is important that you not only train your Beagle physically, but also challenge him mentally, for example with nose work. This is in his genes and that is what he is made for and at least as important

Activities for beagles

In addition to the “normal” physical exercise through walks, jogging units or cycling, the Beagle is perfectly suited for all kinds of nose work. This is also exactly what he is made for and what he loves to do.

You can set a trail and let your beagle sniff it or simply searching for treats, for example, even on a walk are super methods to keep your Beagle mental stimulated.

You can simply throw treats in the leaves or somewhere else on your walk and let your Beagle search for them. With a little more time, you can also hide them in advance.

Alternatively, a food dummy is perfect for nose work with your Beagle,

Anything where the Beagle has to use his nose to sniff something out is ideal. The fact that the Beagle is very greedy makes this form of exercise very easy for you.

The Beagle is known to find everything. So you should not make it too easy for him. There are no limits to your creativity.

If you want to be more active with your Beagle you can also try agility or frisbee with your Beagle.

How much exercise do Beagle puppies need?

Even though a Beagle needs a lot of exercise and activity, it is also important for Beagle puppies to learn to rest as well.

If you exercise your puppy or young dog constantly from the start, you will later have a workaholic who will get used to the workload and then demand it.

Even with Beagle puppies, start with short walks. Let them explore the environment, process the new smells and situations. These are all things that will keep your Beagle puppy busy.

As a rule of thumb, a puppy needs 5 minutes of activity per month of life. This doesn’t mean that your puppy can only run for 5 minutes at a time – it’s more about the amount of time he can concentrate.

After that, your puppy will get tired and be mentally drained. Of course, this is only a rough guideline and can vary depending on your dog.

For example, if you practice walking on a leash with your 3 month (12 weeks) old puppy, don’t be surprised if after a good 15 minutes nothing works and he gets over-excited. That’s how it was with our Broholmer after the first training session with our trainer. 15 minutes up and down the street and then she was completely exhausted and asleep.

Can you run with a beagle?

If you are sporty and like running or even cycling, a Beagle is the perfect companion. With a beagle you can run, even longer sessions are possible without any problems.

The positive thing about the beagle is its relatively small size and that no one steps aside when you are running with your beagle on trails where there are also many other joggers. When I’m out and about with our Cane Corso, it sometimes looks different.

Beagle: Off Leash or not?

You can let a Beagle off the leash. However, it is a prerequisite that you have trained a safe recall from the beginning.  The Beagle is a very independent dog that is gone as soon as it has picked up a scent. This is again due to its original use.

So if you are out with your beagle and he suddenly has a smell in his nose, the probability is very high that he will follow this smell. In this case, even the short “check in” is not of much use. “Checking in” with the Beagle means that he approaches briefly to show you “I’m still here,” and then moves on again.

Many Beagle owners report that they can’t let their Beagle off leash or they will be gone for several hours.

So, if you want to let your Beagle off leash on a walk, make sure your recall is perfect or use a drag line to give your dog some freedom.

Beagle has too little exercise

If you don’t give your beagle enough exercise, he can get inventive.

In addition to the classic symptoms of excessive barking, aggressive behavior, and lethargy, if your Beagle doesn’t have enough exercise, he may also exhibit the following behaviors:

• The Beagle is considered a breakout king and will try to break out of your yard, which he usually succeeds in doing.

• Also in the apartment, opening cabinet doors or the like becomes a welcome task for the Beagle to satisfy his curiosity. It may smell very interesting behind the door and your Beagle tries to get to it.

Conclusion: Do Beagles need a lot of exercise?

Yes, Beagles need a lot of exercise as it is a very active breed. In addition to physical activity, mental exercise, preferably in the form of nose work, is at least as important.

As a starting point, you should plan on 2 to 3 hours of mental and physical activity per day so that you have a good foundation. If there is a day when there is less or no activity, that’s not so bad. It is important to meet the needs of the breed over a longer period of time.

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