Lanyon Beagle

1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59378-872-8
Verlag: CompanionHouse Books
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 158 Seiten

Reihe: Comprehensive Owner's Guide

The experts at Kennel Club Books present the world's largest series of breed-specific canine care books. Each critically acclaimed Comprehensive Owner's Guide covers everything from breed standards to behavior, from training to health and nutrition. With nearly 200 titles in print, this series is sure to please the fancier of even the rarest breed!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lanyon, Evelyn Elizabeth

Leseproben

HISTORY OF THE BEAGLE

The origin of the Beagle, like that of most other hound breeds, cannot be positively traced; it appears buried in antiquity. In the second century AD, Onomasticon, a Greek dictionary in ten books by Iulius Pollux, mentions the dog being used by man for hunting purposes about 1300 BC. The ancient Greek author Xenophon made references in his writings of about 450 BC to small hounds used to hunt hare on foot. While no formal name was given to these small hounds, they were undoubtedly the prognosticators of the dog we have come to know today as the Beagle.

Early man hunted animals for survival itself but, through the centuries, hunting evolved from a means to sustain life into a sport. The landed gentry and nobility of England, as early as the fourteenth century, participated in blood sports as a social activity. They used horses and large and small hounds, along with small terriers, in the pursuit of deer, fox, badger and hare.

Alert, compact and lively, with exceptional scenting skills, the Beagle was a favored hunting companion of royalty and now is a familiar face to dog lovers everywhere.

Evolutionists agree that all breeds of domestic dog have developed from the wolf.

CLUB OBJECTIVES

England’s Beagle Club’s objectives and aims were published in 1899 and they still remain unchanged: “It keeps wide open its doors and welcomes alike to the fold the Master of Beagles who wishes to maintain or form his Pack on ancient lines; the shooting man who keeps a few couples for driving out the rabbits, or putting up the pheasant; the drag hunter who gets an afternoon’s healthy exercise with the pleasure of seeing hounds work and hearing hound music; the exhibitor who finds pleasure in breeding for perfection, so far as looks go, and performs most useful work by making the beauty of the breed more generally known; the lady who finds the Beagle the most intelligent and interesting of pets; last, but certainly not the least, the old sportsman whose sporting days are over, who has a keen remembrance of what has been and joins in, whilst his recollections and experiences are of inestimable value to a younger generation. All these are now united in the same effort.”

Selection for desired physical characteristics and mental traits to suit a purpose is how the various purebred dog breeds came into being. In prehistoric times, the breeder was the caveman looking for a dog whose basic instincts were strong, and he used the best of these dogs to assist him in finding and catching food. Later, the breeder was the farmer, who found that keeping a hardy and energetic dog around helped keep meat on the family’s table. The caveman and, much later, the farmer both followed the dogs on foot.

Later, when the Beagle was kept by the British aristocracy, stockmen were employed and it was their job to make the selection of stock. The aristocracy, having the wealth to do so, kept large numbers of hounds together in packs; the evenness of type in these packs was highly regarded. The terrain varied from county to county throughout England and so the desired type varied from pack to pack to serve the challenges of the local hunt. The groups of wealthy sportsmen usually followed the hounds on horseback.

By repeatedly selecting desirable characteristics and traits to suit the purpose at hand, the breeder, whether the caveman, the farmer, the stockman, etc., fixed type within the dogs and these small hounds eventually were refined and bred with some consistency.

During the Middle Ages in England, there were two varieties of hound said to be quite numerous, known as Northern Hounds and Southern Hounds. There also were hounds of a larger type used for trailing deer, probably the Foxhound, and others of a smaller type used for trailing hare, thought to be Harriers and Beagles.

The Belvoir pack, with both Beagles and English Foxhounds, was one of the most important packs in England. It is seen in this historic photo, moving off after the Meet at Croxton Park, near Grantham. In the background is the noteworthy edifice known as the Olde Croxton Abbey.

Little has been written to describe the Northern Hound but William Youatt, in his book The Dog, published in 1846, mentions “the shallow-flewed, more contracted lip of the Northern dogs” and claimed that this type was the swiftest. There is also mention of North-Country Beagles by seventeenth-century writers, including William Somerville (1675–1742), who refer to this dog as being fast and more slender than the Cotswold Beagle. Perhaps the Northern Hound and the North-Country Beagle are one and the same; it would seem so.

The Foxhound, though much larger than the Beagle, seems to figure in the background of the Beagle. The American breed is lankier than the English.

So what breeds of dog were put together to produce the Beagle? Some believe that the breed resulted from a crossing of the Harrier with the old South of England or Southern Hound. In some instances, they were referred to as “little Harriers.”

TYPE AND STANDARD

“Type” refers to those characteristic qualities distinguishing a breed, the embodiment of a breed standard’s essentials. The standard is a written description of the ideal dog of each recognized breed, written to serve as a word pattern by which dogs are judged at shows.

Foxhounds and Beagles are similar in many traits and abilities as well as looks, despite the large difference in size.

Most scholars seem to support the theory that the modern Beagle came down for the most part from the Harrier. Selection for the smaller dog, litter after litter, over and over again, fixed the size—what was once called a small Foxhound or a small Harrier is known today as the Beagle.

During the seventeenth century, Beagles were mentioned by many different but similar names: Northern Hounds and Southern Hounds; Rough-Coated and Smooth-Coated Beagles. The Southern Hound was described by Gervase Markham as having “a longer nose, ears and flews more shallow, his general appearance slender and greyhound-like. They had good noses and were fast but in respect of mouth they were a little sharp, with no real depth of tone or music.” William Youatt, in his book The Dog, agreed with Stonehenge (J. H. Walsh, a noted dog authority of the Victorian era) and felt that the Harrier crossed with the old Southern Hound was the combination that produced the Beagle.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

The origin of the name Beagle is not certain, but there are a number of theories. Squire of Low Degree, first published in 1475, is the first mention of the Beagle (by name) in English literature. “With theyr beagles in that place and seven score raches at his rechase.” Some people believe the word to be derived from the Old English word begle. The French beigh and the Celtic beag are also possibilities—all mean “small.”

In Cynographia Britannica, published about 1800, there are descriptions of Southern Beagles and Northern Beagles. The small hounds were described as varieties generally distinguished by the parts of the country in which they were bred, which lends support to the quote credited to William Somerville at about the same time, “A different Hound for every different chase; select with judgement.”

Northern Beagles were commonly wire-haired, straightlimbed and better formed in their shoulders and haunches, and endured bad weather and lengthy exercise better than the Southern Beagle. William Somerville described the Cotswold Beagle, whom he credited as producing some of his best Harriers when crossed with the old Southern Hound.

The author Beckford wrote in about 1750 of Fox-Beagles and described them as being exceptionally lively in temperament as well as fleet of foot. He records that he crossed his Harriers with them to give more dash and drive. Also mentioned are Rough-Coated Beagles and Wire-Haired Beagles, who almost certainly are the same, since both were found mainly in Devon in the South of England and in nearby Wales. William Youatt claimed the Wire-Haired Beagle was the stronger, stouter and better variety. Those familiar with both Fox Terriers and Beagles realize that there is cause to believe that Fox Terrier blood exists in present-day Beagles, perhaps the source of the Beagle’s legendary stubbornness.

THE HARRIER

The Harrier is a small edition of the Foxhound but some authorities believe he is a cross between the Beagle and the St. Hubert Hound (a Bloodhound-like dog of smaller stature.) Stonehenge thought the Harrier came from the Southern Hound with a little Greyhound thrown in.

This historic illustration was originally captioned: “Apparently the hare has passed through a wood and the scent has been lost, the Beagles not knowing which way to go.”

Some believe the Harrier (shown here) to be the Beagle’s direct ancestor—the “small Harriers” of yesteryear are today’s Beagle.

This Dennis Moss photo from the early 1900s was captioned: “The Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester has one of the best packs of Beagles in England. The pack is here seen moving off after a Meet outside the College...”

WHAT A DRAG!

Since the modern-day enthusiast is neither likely to...