Dang. 16 years is a long time. I bet you took good care of him. He sleep inside a lot? I've always liked beagles. They're so cute. Are you about ready for another one? I always feel guilty "replacing" one- though they can never REALLY be replaced- but after getting another dog they fill your day with laughter so quickly. It really helps the healing process imo.
Sorry to hear that Mr Red.....I dread the day my precious one goes Bedford, his name? Or type of beagle?
Beagles are great dogs. My brother had one for years. He'd take it on walks and never attach the leash to the collar. He'd just hold the end of the leash out, and the dog would take it in her mouth, and that's how they'd walk.
This is Maisy. We decided to leave her with friends when we moved in 2010. Remarkably tough decision, but we think we made the right call.
It's about right for a healthy beagle. They don't have a lot of congenital defects like hip displacement and such. Yeah, when I was at home, he liked to be where I was. He had a sleeping pad in the living room and another in my bedroom. They do get a lot of attention on the dog-walking circuit. I'm not getting another dog for a while. I officially retired October 1st (although I've already taken a part-time appointment at LSU) so I plan to do a lot more traveling while I'm still relatively young and can get around easily. Pets can be an anchor to a traveler because you can't take them everywhere, you hate leaving them, and you have to find someone to take care of them. My elderly beagle was too fragile to board at the kennel for the last two years (he would catch respiratory infections) and it kind of grounded me from spontaneous travel. So, I'm going it without a dog for a while and indulge myself in a lot of bucket list activities out of town and overseas. When I get a bit older and more sedentary I will surely re-dog myself.
I had a German Shepard as a teenager. A big one. I've been around a lot of dogs in my life, but the German Shepard was the smartest dog I've ever seen. He had a vocabulary of about 60 English words that he understood completely. He figured things out and was impossible to trick into anything. And he was a complete showoff. When a car would come down the long driveway from the road to the house he would go running full tilt at an imaginary squirrel, making great athletic leaps and then stand majestically looking at the imaginary treed squirrel . . . and then look over his shoulder to see if you were paying attention.
GSDs are excellent dogs in the right environment, no doubt. Sounds like your was a great one Red. We had a 100 lb male before Maisy. We're definitely sold on the breed. Sorry about your beagle, but I do hope you enjoy your spontaneous travel.
I can definitely relate, while it is doable, traveling with pets is a chore. My last dog spent over half her life with me on the road. She was excellent at sneaking into motels with no-pet policies. She had no problem spending hours alone in my vehicle sleeping as long as it was at night or cool and in the shade. This severely limited my daytime activities to almost always include her in them or make them short without her.
Travel was harder for me. Beagles can be kind of noisy, there is no sneaking one into a campground or a hotel covertly. He was a good road tripper, never got sick or anything, but I always thought that subjecting him to long hours in the vehicle was not good for him and he was definitely intolerant of staying in a vehicle if I wasn't in there too, . . . with the A/C running.
