In our opinion, beagles win the award, paws down, for most stubborn dogs. Whenever we meet other beagle parents, we almost always ask them how stubborn their hound dog is. And invariably, the answer is “very stubborn!”

Some of the best examples to convey Harley and Scooter’s stubbornness?

For starters, they won’t come when they are called unless they think they’ll get a treat.  We can be sitting on the couch, all comfy and cozy, and call them over, and sometimes they just look at us. Especially if they are on the recliner.  “Why should we move over there?  We don’t see any treats in your hands.”

Another example is taking them for walks.  They can be slow walkers due to all the sniffing they want to do.  And if there is something they really want to sniff or see, they plant their paws and throw their weight down and won’t budge.  Scooter is especially good at this.  And given that she’s heavier than Harley she can be hard to move.  Harley at least is skinny and has ADD and can be distracted easily; Scooter, not so much.  She’ll give us a look that says “Hey, I’m not moving yet, I’m sniffing here.”  We either let her sniff or have to drag her away.

These are some reasons why beagles are usually on leash.  They know when they are being called to come, but they have other things on their minds and will ignore you.  So unless treats are involved, they rarely come when called.  Priorities, right?

In the beagle world, however, “S” is also for sweet, squirrel, and sniffing. Especially sweet – Harley and Scooter are the sweetest beagles!