Your Beagle Puppy: Everything You Need To Know

Where to get a Beagle puppy

It’s important to buy a puppy from a responsible and experienced breeder. Getting the right breeder removes a great deal of risk from the puppy buying process. And increases your chances of ending up with a healthy, good tempered dog.

A dog breeder does not have to mean a commercial kennels. In fact it is crucial that you avoid puppy mills, where puppies are churned out for money alone. Home bred puppies responsibly bred and raised can make wonderful pets.

You can find Beagle breeders through regional breed clubs. There are national and local clubs in many regions around the world. We’ve listed some of them at the foot of this page

They will be happy to advise you and welcome you to the wonderful world of Beagles. Email the club secretary as your starting point and ask for details of reputable breeders in your area.

How much does a beagle puppy cost?

Remember that a well bred, health tested and well cared for Beagle puppy will cost the best part of $1000 dollars. That is just the initial cost of bringing the puppy home.

The biggest expenses are yet to come and the main cost you need to budget for is pet health insurance. It’s a good idea to shop around as price vary, but will be several hundred dollars per year. Make sure you get enough cover. Cheap insurance is often very limited and veterinary bills can be eye wateringly expensive.

What does a Beagle Puppy Need?

A new Beagle puppy needs a safe, secure place to sleep, and rest. A crate or small puppy safe room with a washable floor. Some washable tough bedding, puppy food appropriate for their age, and your time and attention.

Your top priorities for the first few weeks with your new Beagle puppy are socializing, and vaccinating your pup and that all important potty training. Followed by puppy obedience training.

Socializing your Beagle Puppy

You’ve probably heard that puppy socialization is very important. We’ll set you off on the right track.

Socialization is all about exposing a young puppy to new experiences. This needs to be done before your puppy starts to become shy of stranger people, and places.

Shyness kicks in at an early age and pups should be well socialized before they are 13 weeks old.

This means new Beagle pups need to be getting out and about from the very first days at home!

A properly socialized puppy will meet a great variety of people, male and female, of different ages. And will meet those people in a variety of locations.

Your pup will need to be carried in your arms at first to avoid infection.

Puppy socialization takes place before your pup has reached the grand old age of 4 months! And is vital to prevent dogs becoming aggressive.

It’s also a great way to ensure that puppies remain with their families and are not relinquished to animal shelters before they are full grown.

Potty training your new puppy

At 8 weeks old, a new puppy can’t ‘hold on’ for very long at all when they need to pee. They just ‘go’ wherever they happen to be. You’ll need to protect any carpeted areas in your home for the first few weeks.

TIP: Use a baby gate for the first few weeks to keep your pup on washable floors

Once your pup gets to around 8 months, life will look very different. A puppy this age can wait much longer for a pee – usually several hours. And of course they will have learned which places should be used for elimination and which places definitely should not!

Your job is to make that journey from 8 weeks to 8 months as smoothly as you can. And you’ll find plenty of tips, and advice here on The Happy Puppy Site to help you.

There are two important keys to success

• Frequent trips outside
• Close supervision inside

Your main priority in the first two weeks is to go outside with your puppy outside very frequently, and wait with them their until they pee or poop.

You’ll need to take your puppy out after meals, every time they wake up from a nap, and after playing or getting excited too.

Indoors, you will need to watch your puppy like a hawk for at least the first week.

When you need to leave pup alone for a minute or two, a small crate will help them hold on – puppies will always try to keep their own bed clean.

Crates can be a great training aid and support you in potty training your puppy fast.

Help with biting puppies

Puppies bite and they bite hard. Beagle pups are no exception. Biting is a part of teething, but it’s also linked to play.

When puppies and dog play together biting is part of the game.

Of course, other dogs have fur to protect them. But when a puppy bites on your soft skin it really does hurt.

You’ll need to help your puppy to learn not to do this.

Puppies often snarl, bark and growl fiercely when they play. And this is often mistaken for aggression.

So concerned new puppy parents often seek help. At the foot of this page you’ll find links to a range of important puppy topics and answers to the common questions that new puppy parents ask.

Puppy shots and veterinary care

Most puppy parents choose to have their little one vaccinated. It is true that vaccination carries a small risk.

However, the risk of serious disease for puppies that do not benefit from puppy shots is considered by veterinary experts to be a much bigger risk overall.

As a new puppy parent you will need to know which shots your puppy needs, when your puppy can go outside safely, and you may want to know what could happen if you decide not to vaccinate your puppy.

You’ll find this information in the links below

• Does it matter if my dog is not vaccinated

There is also a wealth of information in our health and care section pages

Raising a puppy when you work

Most people have to work for most of their lives. And it is sensible to consider how your working arrangements might affect your puppy.

We are often asked “how long can I leave my dog alone”.

Taking some time off work when you first bring your puppy home is important. But the issue of what to do when you return to work in just a few weeks is important too.

Some new puppy parents hope that they will be able to leave their puppy alone in the house throughout the day when they go back to work.

This tends to cause problems. Young dogs left alone for long stretches of time may become very distressed, and destructive.

And potty training a puppy poses some challenges if there are no humans to let the puppy out into the yard.

This doesn’t mean that its impossible to raise a puppy and hold down a full time job. But it does mean you’ll need some help.

It isn’t okay to crate a puppy all day.

So your options include paying for doggy day care, or persuading a good friend or family member to look after your little one for a few hours each day until they are older.

When you do leave your puppy alone for more than a couple of hours you’ll need a puppy playpen with some puppy pads in one corner for the puppy to pee or poop on.

We also have a friendly forum where you can chat to other new puppy parents that have managed to balance work and puppy care successfully.

Training advice

All dogs vary in the speed with which they progress through training, but the principles and teaching stages are the same.

Beagle puppies are not difficult to train but you’ll need to be patient and prepared to dedicate a few minutes every day of regular training.

We have a collection of helpful guides here on this website.

The Happy Puppy site was created by dog expert Pippa Mattinson and many of her puppy training articles can be found in our training section. Together with a range of guides by our team of qualified professional dog trainers from around the world,

Here are a few to get you started!

• Puppy training stages
• The right way to train your puppy
• Train your puppy to sit

You’ll find heaps of training tips and advice in these guides, and many links to other related resources. Don’t miss our our puppy training library for more information and support.

Beagle puppy feeding schedule

Young puppies thrive best on frequent small portions. Here’s a rough guide to the number of meals a day a Beagle puppy needs

• Up to 3 months: Four meals
• 3 to 6 months: Three meals
• Up to 1 year: Two meals

General puppy feeding guides are very helpful, but there are differences between breeds. Some little dogs need frequent small meals throughout their lives for example, while some dogs are prone to digestive disorder such as bloat.

Beagle puppy growth

Just as different breeds have different feeding needs, they have different growth rates too. Large breeds mature more slowly and grow for longer than small dog.

As one of the smaller medium sized breeds, Beagles have completed most of their growth by their first birthday

You can find out more about puppy development the stages of puppy growth in our guide:

• Week-by-week Puppy Development Stages with Growth Chart

It’s full of surprises and fun facts

Male Beagle puppies

It can be tricky deciding between a male and a female puppy. There are a some differences when it comes to their needs and development care.

But actually on the whole they are minor ones.

In a few dog breeds a slightly greater tendency to aggression in males has been recorded.

However most male dogs are peaceful and affectionate as their sisters. And in some ways, easier to care for.

Female Beagle puppies

Female puppies slightly different needs from males from about five to six months of age until and unless they are spayed.

Your female puppy will come into season usually before she is nine months old, and then every six months or so thereafter for the rest of her life.

She will need protection from male dogs to make sure she does not become pregnant and present you with a litter of puppies to take care of and find homes for.

Neutering is one solution and used to be universally recommended for all dogshowever, the procedure has now been linked with a number of different types of cancer, and with joint problems and behavioral issues, in several dog breeds.

So it isn’t a cut and dried issue

If you not to have your female Beagle puppy neutered, keep a careful eye on her health for the weeks immediately after the end of each of her heats.

This is prime time for infections of the uterus (womb) to set in and these infections can be very serious.

If you decide that you do want to have your girl spayed – this is a legal obligation in some regions – then you’ll need to arrange for your vet to carry out the procedure.

It’s a more expensive operation with a longer recovery time than neutering a male puppy.