The Beagle is a British hunting dog breed with a rich history. These four-legged are distinguished by speed, courage and energy. They are not always easy to train because of injustice, but because of their keen sense of smell, they are used as official around the world.
The name of the breed comes from ancient English, where Begle means "small."
Varieties of breed
Beagles are divided into two subspecies:
"Europeans" are smaller than "Americans." They are short, active and cheerful.
Other subspecies of the breed in question are the French Beagle Harrier, the English Beagle and the Irish Kerry. Next, consider what colors exist in Beagle dogs. Photos will help to form an opinion about these beauties if you are unfamiliar with representatives of this family.
French beagle hare
This is a hound dog from France. It appeared in the 19th century and was created specifically for hunting.
Such beagles have a strong skeleton, weight up to 20 kg, height - up to 48 cm at the withers.
Color can be different, but always registered for hounds. A tricolor representing a composition of black, white and red is considered to be a reference. Standards also allow less vivid representatives, with gray and dull tones. Experts do not disqualify such dogs at exhibitions.
Wool fits snugly to the body, which provides easy care for it.
These dogs are friendly, affable. They do not often participate in exhibitions, but are great for living at home.
English beagle
This species of breed was bred in Britain. Mention of such dogs found in the IV century BC. e. They hunted hares at the court of Edward II and Henry VIII.
Today, dogs of this breed are bred as companions and friendly pets.
Among the colors of the English hounds there are "bicolors" and "tricolors." Their main color is white, combined with red and black. Dogs weigh 14 kg; their height at the withers is up to 40 cm.
Irish carry
The breed was bred in the 16th century in Ireland to hunt hares. The dog reaches a height of 55 cm and a weight of 27 kg.
Black color is considered a typical color, but spotted and tricolor are found.
Kerry perfectly tolerate physical activity, they are fast and agile. They have excellent hunting skills, but easily fulfill the role of pets.
American beagle
In 1870, the beagles were brought to America. Local breeders tried to change the appearance of the dogs, but not too well.
Later, General Richard Rowett assembled his pack of beagles, consisting mainly of "British". Gradually, hounds spread throughout America. They have a more impressive size than the "Europeans".
Let us dwell on the possible colors of the beagle.
Accepted Color Standards
According to the FCI standard, for beagles, any color of the hounds, with the exception of “liver”, that is, chocolate, is acceptable. The British “Kennel Club” was of the same opinion, allowing beagles any color of beagles, but without removing “liver” (brown) from this list. Beagles of all countries of the world often ask themselves what exactly is the permissible color of the hounds.
Some dog breeders mean by this expression the color found in pack hounds, for example, in English and American Foxhounds, bassets, and harriers. However, such pack hounds as kunhounds have completely different colors - tiger. But for coarse-haired hounds such as the Oterhound, the Vendee basset-griffon, the wool is often gray-haired, and this option does not at all look like beagle wool.
To clarify, the British "Kennel Club" adopted a new version of the standard in 2010, which listed all the colors that are possible for a beagle, with the proviso that all other options are unacceptable.
Imagine the colors that beagles have. Some of them are rare, nevertheless permitted by the breed standard.
Most dog lovers, imagining a beagle, imagines a three-color black-red-white dog. This option is really the most common in the breed and is a classic. Such a dog has a black back, a head of red color, and the body, muzzle, chest, legs and tip of the tail are white.
But this classic beagle color is not the only one possessed by dogs. There are many other options. It is not possible to distinguish among them a more or less correct beagle color, since all breeders are of the opinion that all color options for hounds are good in their own way.
Specialists distinguish several basic colors:
- two-tone, otherwise called bicolor;
- tricolor - tricolor;
- weakened - muffled;
- spotted - motley.
Bicolor
The color can also be called red-white. Two-tone color is expressed by red shades of pigment and white. In turn, red tones, depending on saturation, can be called red, red or lemon. At birth, beagle puppies show cream or fawn marks in color, they darken as they grow. Lemongrasses are almost white, their nose is dark.
Light red-white color - lighter than true red-white. Often these puppies darken with age. Bicolors can grow red-white, or they can grow lemon-white.
The pigment of the nose is usually darker in fair dogs. Initially light, the lobe may darken with age, and its color in females changes depending on the hormonal period.
Tricolor
More often than other colors, black-red-white beagles are found. Their puppies are black and white at birth (there may be brown marks around the ears and eyes), a redhead appears as the puppies grow. Black can be bright throughout life, and can fade and become paler. The redhead ranges from red to fawn. White is always pure white, although in mottled dogs it is closer to cream. The tip of the nose and the stroke of the eyelids are black.
Sometimes in puppies of this color variety, after reaching 6-8 weeks, white hairs appear on the black back - “through the hair”. Usually they disappear after a while.
Blue tricolor
There is also a different version of the tricolor color, the so-called weakened tricolor. The color weakening gene is responsible for the appearance of a blue hue - it looks rather gray, and also brightens the reddish to a light brown tone. At birth, puppies are gray-white.
Beagle's eyes are light blue in color, almost yellow, and the nose is dark gray, slate. At a young age, this is sometimes the only sign by which they are distinguished from representatives of the classic tricolor.
Chocolate tricolor
Among the “liver” tricolor colors, the black gene will give a brown color. Chocolate beagles have gray-green eyes, and their nose, lips and eyelids are brown, and their shades can be different: dark chocolate, light brown, liver, purple.
This color was not recognized by the British Kennel Club and FCI. If such puppies are born, they are classified as tribal. But, for example, in the USA, chocolate beagles are officially registered and show the highest results in the rings.
Chocolate-colored puppies with gray-green eyes can become darker with age, and their eyes become hazel. It also happens that a purple dog, in addition to a weakening brown, has blue, and then the coat acquires a bluish tint.
Spotted color
In beagle dogs of this color variety, the main one is white, which “tears” the classic black on the back. Sometimes only black and red spots remain from other tones.
Speckled color
Both 2-color and 3-color beagles often have small black or red spots on a white background, they can be located far or close to each other. Krap appears at 6-8 weeks of a puppy’s life and gradually becomes denser. Truly mottled puppies acquire this color already four days old, this can be determined by the pigmentation on the pads of the paws - they are not pink, like other beagles.
Speckled dogs appear infrequently in show rings. A similar coloring is inherent in working beagles, and they do not take it for a lack of breed.
Motley color
This is the most controversial version of the color of the beagles. There are three options:
- rabbit-motley;
- badger-motley - the darkest;
- lemon-motley - the lightest.
The area of distribution of "variegation" can be limited to a dark strip on the back or spread throughout the painted part of the body.
More often, dogs of this color variety are found in the UK. Only in this country is a similar beagle color a breed standard. But motley dogs come across in other countries. Some of the “faded” tricolors, upon careful examination, may well be motley.
Breeders still have no consensus on what kind of beagle breed color is considered variegated. Some consider partial dyeing of black or red hairs as such, in which the tips turn black and the rest is red. Others are of the opinion that the motley color is one in which black and red hairs are mixed in the hairline of the animal.
The main difference between such beagle colors from others is that the white color in this case is never pure white, but rather creamy, light cream. Colored spots are formed by mixing black, red and gray. Moreover, badger-motley dogs have more black hairs, and hare-motley dogs have less black, but more red. There are no clear boundaries between the white and color zones, the color flows smoothly into white and mixes with it.
Hare-motley comes across more often than others. It has a creamy background, and the shades gently mix with each other. This is the difference between the hare-motley and the blue and any “faded” tricolor.
In the lemon-motley version, a red and light cream background are mixed. The beagle of this color may seem monotonous and almost white.
The mottled beagle is recognized by its typical nose color - it has dark edges and a bright center, it is called the “butterfly”.
Variegated puppies, when perceived, are red-white, sometimes with a belt of a darker shade on the ridge, dark eyeliner is required.
Are there beagles in black?
This question is often asked by lovers of these beautiful dogs. Beagle hair can be black, but be sure to combine with other colors - for example, white or red. Purely black representatives of the breed, unlike whites, do not exist.
Black and white puppies are born infrequently. At birth, they have brown spots around the ears and eyes. White shade closer to cream. Black may remain so throughout life, and may fade with time.
The color scheme of the beagles is really diverse. In newborn puppies, the color can not always be determined accurately, and in adult dogs it often changes throughout life. Therefore, in order not to get confused, they accepted the official division into two-color and three-color. That is how the color of beagle dogs is recorded in the pedigree.
All varieties of the considered breed are united by the same qualities - excellent hunting instincts, friendliness, cheerfulness, conflict-free. When choosing a puppy, you should pay attention and compare it with the breed standards. After all, if you buy a dog that does not meet the prescribed parameters, such four-legged animals may lack hunting abilities and other qualities inherent in true beagles.