Anyone have a Beagle or a Flat Coated Retriever dog?

[princessjojo]

We've had both beagles and labs among other breeds of dogs. We got our beagles, Fred and Wilma, for Christmas one year with intentions of them being primarily house dogs. So much for that... We tried to potty train them with puppy pads, paper, anything and everything...nothing worked. Before tried to crate train them and if we put anything in the crate, it was destroyed my morning. Tried to just let them be in the bathroom at night with a gate by the door. The next morning we realized we were having to replace the bathroom walls. They scratched the walls and paper destroying the bathroom. Gave them one of our extra pillows to sleep on. My mistake... I gave them a feather pillow. Do you have any idea how many feathers they put in pillows???? Let me tell you, its A LOT!!! Looked like the bathroom had been tarred and feathered. Finally we put them outside with an invisible fence. They found a way to escape thru a drain pipe that ran under the road and would go from our house to my dads under the road, bypassing the fence and the cars. Until they got brave and tried the street route and both were hit by cars.

The lab we have now, Hershey, on the same repositioned fence. He is so so so good. He is very hyper and loves to run. But we have to keep him outside most of the time because he is a bigger dog. He stays in a penned area at night and when we're away from home for long periods of time like work and especially vacations, but when we're home, he's always out. We've never had any problems with him biting anyone but he will bark. He's so funny though because he knows what he's suppose to do as far as "protecting our property." Our neighbor has dogs who would come over and up to his pen at night when they knew he couldn't get out and just bark like crazy. When we would come out, they would run far enough away so our dog couldn't cross the fence. Now when we come down our driveway, Hershey will run to the edge of the fence and bark a couple times, look at you, then come running with this look of "did I do good??" There may be nothing there, but he's going to do it... He loves to play with the kids though and whenever anyone comes over, he is always in the mix. But when he does come in, he runs for a minute, then just calms right down and follows you around. He has been the best dog, and always seems that he's missed us when we get home. He follows directions well, but again, he is always excited, thus running a lot when he first gets out. Like a kid when his mom brings home a new toy, excited. He's almost 3 so he still has some puppy in him.

Regardless though of the breed, chewing has been our biggest problem with any dog we've had when they were puppies. We've replaced decks, flower boxes, steps, furniture, and electrical wiring on our vehicles and boat. But there's going to be good and bad with every breed and I thoroughly believe a great deal of a dogs disposition is all in how you train the dog and its environment.

Good luck! Losing our lab will be like losing a member of our family when the day comes.

[DizNee143]

we have a minature beagle..and i swear we got the defective one lol..we LOVE Lucy..but shes a little off..
we have had her for now 3 years..
she does bark alot..but she never mastered the howling so we dont have to worry about that..she has her moments of massive shedding but then at other times i swear not one hair falls off her..
she is VERY lovable..and has been great with our 9 month old daughter!
she can catch a scent...at times but usually loses interest..and sometimes cant even find a bone if its sitting in front of her..thats why we joke and call her defective lol..
she can be VERY stubborn at times..but its expected of the breed..
both dogs you are thinking about..obviously both have pros and cons..whichever you end up picking...Goodluck!!

[momef3grls]

How about a basset hound? My basset has to be the most easygoing dog I have ever had. She is a little bigger boned than a beagle so if the kids get a little rough she can take it. She hardly ever barks except when she welcomes us home from school or work and then it is just a single bark to let us know she was watching for us. She sleeps pretty much when we aren't around and is always ready to play.

[BrerGnat]

How about a basset hound? My basset has to be the most easygoing dog I have ever had. She is a little bigger boned than a beagle so if the kids get a little rough she can take it. She hardly ever barks except when she welcomes us home from school or work and then it is just a single bark to let us know she was watching for us. She sleeps pretty much when we aren't around and is always ready to play.

I had a boss many years ago that had a Basset Hound. His name was Elvis. Anyway, I "dog sat" him for a long weekend once. One thing that I noticed, that really bothered me, was the "Basset Hound odor". This dog was totally clean, but he smelled very strongly, and his owner told me that it's a trademark of Basset Hounds...the "smell". I couldn't deal with it. One of my boys is VERY smell sensitive. I think this would bother him quite a bit. It's unfortunate, because I think Bassets are great dogs.

[DisneyRN]

My beagle...oh, my beagle. I can honestly say that the dog absolutely adores me and DD!

But, on the other hand, I believe that the breeder drugged her when I went to look at her. Two days later, she woke up. She has been on the move ever since...4 yrs. later.

She is very sweet, but loves attention. When people come over, she won't leave them alone. She "talks" by whining. She kind of sounds like Wheezy from Toy Story. She jumps, and loves to sleep in bed with me. No couch for her. I have tried her on Clomi-calm, and it does seem to work.

As far as shedding...she is a lemon-drop beagle, so she is primarily white. The Pledge thingie for pet hair works wonders on couch and comforter (both dark).

She is house trained/crate-trained, but has separation anxiety when I go to work now following a recent move. The clomi-calm/benadryl help that. Very social dogs, beagles.

She lets DD (and has always been so) love all over her, along with our tempermental cat.

Hope this helps!

[jrkcr]

Hi! I went to the pound to get a small dog, and came home with Baby-an 80 pd, black, flat coat retriever. She is now about 14 years old, we got her at the humane society about 4 years ago. So she came pre-trained and older. Perfect!!

She is super mellow, except when she goes in the car or when a thunderstorm comes. She hates the thunder and can "feel" a storm coming, so we give her one or two melatonin pills and they work wonderfully!! Otherwise, she will try to sit on my lap and pant/sweat/pee. Ick. In the car, she is just hyper from excitement(getting in the car may mean going to the park!) On long road trips, she gets a melatonin. You can find this in the vitamin aisle, it is a sleep aid. I wouldn't give them to a small dog-but Baby is 80+ pounds.

I have been in bed for about 5 days with a monster cold, and she has stayed right by my bed, only going down to "go" outside. But then she is MY dog and follows me around like a shadow, whines and cries when I leave her home. But also, she can NOT stay home alone, or she eats things-chocolate, soap, boxes of cereal(and the box), etc.
BAby lives with 5 cats, and one cat slaps her almost every day and Baby just puts up with it-so she is very tolerant.

When someone comes to our door, she barks one HUGE "woof", and thats all. When I talk to her in my high pitched mommy voice, she responds, trying to talk too. She can almost say "i love you". But it mostly sounds like something scooby doo would say.
Baby has very bad cataracts and can't see much below mid-eye. She accidentally bite me a few months ago. I was cutting up a tomato and she was begging, and I held out the core and said "you don't want this" and she took most of my hand in her mouth. I yelped, and she cowered-but it didn't hurt much-mostly scared me! But she couldn't see it was my hand-so now we all throw her food UP into the air and she catches it.
She also is getting bad hip joints, which is normal for many big dogs of her age. I give her one advil at night if she has had an active day. And by morning she is usually OK. Some days she stays in bed till almost noon before I force her up(i lift the dog bed/dump her out of her bed to help get her weight over her hips).
Sorry this was so long, but Baby is the absolute best dog I have ever had. Hope this helps you decide-