Today, numerous people use service dogs to help them through their daily lives. It’s not uncommon to see service dogs in restaurants, hospitals, or even movie theaters.
Service dogs are beneficial for emotional support, mental health issues, and people struggling with a physical disability. Several breeds are used as service dogs, but what about beagles?
The answer is Yes, beagles can make excellent service dogs.
However, they are only helpful in certain situations.
Beagles are incredibly compassionate, loving, loyal, and intelligent. Military forces have used beagles in the battle to help sniff out bombs and find lost soldiers.
In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about beagles and how they can be helpful as service dogs..
Beagles Overview
To better understand how beagles can make good service dogs, let’s take a closer look at the breed’s characteristics.
Beagle Temperament
Temperament is one of the first aspects of a breed you need to consider when choosing a service dog.
A canine’s temperament is their permanent nature in how they behave. Humans also have temperaments.
You may notice that some babies cry more than others, a trait related to their temperament.
Beagles have a relatively good temperament.
While they can be full of energy, they’re generally caring and friendly with humans and other dogs. A beagle may be quick to defend its owner, but they tend to be incredibly passive and are never one to start a fight.
That said, beagle owners need to ensure their dog gets plenty of exercises to help reduce their energy levels.
Daily walks and playtime are essential to keep your beagle from bouncing off the walls.
Due to their calmer temperament, beagles make excellent family dogs. They work great with kids and are welcoming to house guests.
With their loyal, protective nature, many families use their beagle as a guard dog.
The breed may not be the most robust out there, but they sure know how to protect their loved ones.
Beagle Personality
The beagle’s temperament plays a lot into their personality. Anyone who’s ever had a beagle will tell you that they are exceptionally compassionate and provide their owners with lots of love and dedication.
Beagles seldom show aggressive or hostile behavior.
However, beagles can be vocal.
They love to let out a loud bark or howl whenever they get excited. While some dog owners see this as a problem, others notice it as a strong and powerful characteristic.
What’s more, beagles are highly intelligent.
That said, sometimes their intelligence can get the best of them. You’ll find that beagles are always looking for ways to stimulate themselves.
If you have a busy lifestyle and don’t have enough time to give your pup adequate exercise, you’ll quickly see that beagles love to chew on shoes and furniture.
Beagles Trainability
Like most dogs, beagles are much harder to train as adults.
If you adopt a beagle as a puppy, you must start training them right away. The good thing about beagle puppies is that they are extremely curious and love to learn new tricks.
However, they can be a bit stubborn during lessons.
Beagles As Service Dogs
Since beagles make excellent family dogs, they should perform well in service roles, right? What’s fantastic about beagles is that they are relatively small, so they can fit easily inside venues.
However, we’ll need to explain what goes into the service dog role to better understand if a beagle is suitable for the job.
Different Types of Service Dogs Explained
Before we dive into whether a beagle would be a good choice for a service dog, let’s break down the different types of service dogs.
Therapy Service Dogs
Emotional support dogs are becoming increasingly popular for helping people deal with stress, depression, and trauma.
There’s no doubt that dogs can bring us a sense of joy, and this is especially true for those struggling with mental health problems.
Humans can cuddle close with a canine to get a sense of comfort and safety during difficult times.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, dogs can bring therapeutic benefits for those living with depression, anxiety, and a wide range of phobias.
For that reason, many people bring emotional support dogs on airplanes, to funerals, or any other settings that may cause a mental health issue to arise.
Work Service Dogs
Humans have been using dogs in the workplace for hundreds of years. One of the most common instances is K9 police dogs, bomb dogs, and hunting dogs. However, dogs are helpful for a wide range of tasks beyond finding bombs and catching criminals.
People also use dogs in search and rescue missions. If someone gets lost hiking, a dog can trace their scent and find the lost person and help get them back to safety.
Dogs can also be of use for smelling insects, so homeowners and businesses can remove them from the property.
Disability Service Dogs
Disability service dogs are highly trained and specialize in assisting people with a specific physical disability. These canines help those living with disabilities or chronic illness get through daily life with less pain or struggles.
They can also alert nearby people if their owner has an accident or needs emergency help.
Some common disabilities these service dogs help with are deafness, blindness, autism, and physical mobility issues. Not only do disability service dogs keep their owners away from harm, but they are also loyal companions that can form a special bond with their humans.
Beagles in the Workplace
Since beagles have an outstanding sense of smell, they are extremely useful as work service dogs.
Humans have been partnering with this breed for hunting trips for decades. You can train a Beagle to sniff out practically anything, and they love this type of work.
You’ll likely spot a beagle or two in an airport sniffing out bombs or drugs. Farmers can also use beagles to sniff out insects and other pests that may harm their crops.
One reason why beagles make excellent work service dogs is that they are incredibly compact and easy to transport. You essentially get the intelligence of a Great Dane packed down into a lap dog.
Beagles for Emotional Support
Let’s face it, beagles are absolutely adorable. What’s more, is they love to cuddle up with a human from time to time.
Mix that in with their compassionate and loyal nature, and you’ve got yourself an excellent emotional support dog. Furthermore, beagles mix well with children. Beagles can cope with a child who’s recently gone through a traumatic experience.
One excellent characteristic about beagles is that they are highly sociable. They do well in large crowds, especially if they’re well trained.
Several breeds make amazing emotional support dogs, but beagles seem to have a natural gift for making someone feel calmer and more at ease.
Since they are smaller, they’re much easier to take care of and travel with. They’re chock-full of energy and entertainment, allowing themselves to distract their owners from life’s many stresses.
Due to their high intelligence and sense of awareness, beagles can detect when their owner is feeling down.
Additional Tips for Choosing a Service Dog
If you or someone you know needs a service dog, choosing the right breed is everything. While beagles make excellent service animals, you’ll need to be sure you find a dog that can handle all your needs.
Although it may be tempting to get your hands on the cutest puppy available, you’ll need to be sure you find one that’s reliable and capable of performing the role.
Here are a few factors to consider when choosing a service dog:
- Make sure the dog has a good temperament to work in service. Dogs with the wrong temperament are challenging to train into service animals.
- Find a dog that’s the right size for your living situation. If you live in a condo or apartment, you’ll want to find a more compact dog.
- If you have other pets, be sure you choose a breed that works well with other animals.
- Make sure your dog is suitable for your climate. Dogs with thicker coats may not be comfortable in warm weather, and thin coats may not cope with colder climates.
- When choosing a service dog, make sure you fully understand their energy level and determine if you can keep up.
- Always remember that a service dog isn’t only there for its job. They’ll also need a loving owner who can make them feel right at home.
Conclusion
No doubt, beagles make fantastic service dogs and can help countless people improve their daily lives.
Not only are they extremely loving and compassionate, but they’re also loyal and commit a lot of their attention to their owners.
Remember, beagles are full of energy and require a lot of exercises to stay stimulated.
If you don’t have the time or energy to provide them with daily exercise, then maybe a beagle isn’t the right breed as your service dog.
We hope this article was helpful and you now have all the information you need about beagles in the service industry. If you know anyone looking for a service dog, feel free to share this post with them.
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