Oh boy, what to do?

[silhouettestable]

My DH has been away deer hunting for the last week and a half. Tonight he came out of the camp to play hockey, but has now returned to the camp. During the 10 minutes or so that he spent in the house, he dropped the lovely little bomb that he might be bringing another dog home with him. A hunting beagle. In my opinion this would be so wrong for so many reasons. I feel that with 6 dogs we are really at our limit, both financially and for space. Before deciding to add our latest 2 adopted puppies I did a lot of thinking and planning to make sure it could work. They're all my dogs (as are all of our pet/livestock). I do all the feeding, watering, cleaning, training, playing, sorting out finances for feed/vet bills etc. But, in his eyes I have 6 dogs (which he easily acquiesced to/supported me getting) and he has none (and probably resents me not wanting him to get this one). The thing is, I know the kind of schedule he keeps, and I know his history with dogs. He has no spare time (really, absolutely zero - he works a full time job, plus a part time, and he's also a volunteer firefighter and always on call) and with dogs he's had in the past his kind of care is borderline neglect, I always end up nagging him to walk the dog, feed the dog, clean up after the dog, take the dog to the vet if needed etc. Because I can't stand by and see a dog cared for like that, the care of his dogs shifted to become my responsibility. Now if money and space for one more dog weren't part of the problem it might not be so bad, but on top of all that is the fact that we're talking about a beagle that would be housed outside tied on a chain. I hate that. The dog is a hunter so cannot be offleash (except in the fenced backyard). My 6 dogs run freely through the fields with me when I'm out doing chores, this poor dog would have to be left behind and left out and I'd feel so bad. How much fun can it be to stay tied or fenced all the time when everyone else is running around playing? On top of that I don't know anything about it's age, sex, disposition or anything (or current health and vet care). I've always adopted puppies so that they could grow up and fit easily in with our family and the existing dog pack. When I asked him where the dog came from, he said that they guy who runs the hunt camp got it today, but he can't keep it because he already has too many dogs. I suspect that they've found the dog running in the bush, which leads to another point. It could very well already belong to some other hunter who does in fact want the dog back (that is actually my hope, that the owner is found and takes the dog back before it shows up here). I'm afraid that DH will just show up after hunting on Saturday with this extra dog in tow and expect to dump it off before we're all going to be away for the rest of the day. My daughter and I are signed up for a disc trial that evening and DH is supposed to come with us to watch (and help drive, I get very tired driving after dark). If the weather's not too cold I was going to leave my dogs out in my backyard, or otherwise in the house with the puppies crated and ask my neighbour to let them outside to pee while I'm gone. Now if he brings a dog home that day I'll be worrying, what if this happens, what if that happens. I don't like to leave it all on my neighbour to deal with if there are any problems. Oh man, what a mess

[WyoBC]

It sounds like he really wants a dog for himself (I totaly understand) but with his schedule I don't think it would be good for the dog. Even if you only had one other dog. That's a tough spot to put you in. I guess you and DH should ask "what's best for the dog?" I hope you can figure something out.

 

I was kind of in the same spot when I wanted Black Jack. We had two already and really didn't have room for another, but it worked out ok. Now we only have two with Black Jack so it's better. If he wants him/her bad enough he might be able to make time for him/her.

[mbc1963]

I like the Dr. Phil advice about having a baby: it should take two YES votes to agree to have one - but it should only take one NO vote to prevent it. It's only fair to the child (dog) to be sure the people who have to care for it actually WANT it.

 

Beagles are right up there with border collies for difficulty of care and need for exercise/stimulation - but getting a recall on a beagle is supposed to be REALLY hard. (A great book is "What the Dog Did.")

 

Mary

[donna frankland (uk)]

aw hun, i have no useful advice at all to offer, but i will share a little past experience.

beagly may not pose a huge problem being a hunting dog, but you wont know till s/he comes home!

i used to have an ex hunting foxhound, and i swear he was more interested in the rayburn and the sofa than he was chasing beasties.

from the day he came home he never chased/hunted anything. he was a bit of a bugger if his nose picked up a scent but creamed coconut was apparently the best smell in the entire universe!

that dog would do anything for a bit of creamed coconut!

good luck!

[rosefarm]

I have 2 beagles that yes find the sofa much more appealing then most other things, other then food that is. That being said their demeanor is almost saintlike, well my boy is anyway.

 

Recall is really not easy with them, when they catch a smell, their brains turned off. However now that they have the invisible fence, their recall is excellent and stay with me. much like Lily. Without the fence, Lily might dart off but she always circled back almost immediately. The beagles have gotten 45 minutes up the creek and were two exhausted to make their way back.

 

They eat a third as much as Lily in food to keep a good weight, however they steal food like the dickens, so they are overweight.

 

If you leave them in the fenced in area while you are out playing with the others, they will howl endlessly and mounfully.

 

I love my beagles, I prefer border collies, but I love my beagles. I just thought I'd add my experience.

 

--Denise

[MaggieDog]

If you do end up w/ this dog, do your research on how they are kept - there are a ton of opinions out there ranging from "isolate them from everything except when hunting" and "treat them like any other pet, but be sure they are kept in proper condition". I would say though that if your husband wants him outside, you all should consider getting a kennel rather than chaining since chaining can have all sorts of nasty side effects and at least a kennel run would keep other animals away from the beagle (they aren't big or tough enough to fight off wildlife imo).

 

Is your husband getting the dog for hunting or just "because"? If it's not for hunting, I don't see why he couldn't become one of the family dogs in the house...

 

Tough situation for sure. Might you be able to set up a "trial period" rather than saying yes or no and then during that period find a good home if it doesn't work out? Sounds like you and DH really need to sit down and discuss both of your feelings on the issue. Perhaps he truly does not understand what all it takes for you to have the current six dogs and how much adding a 7th will impact you and the finances/schedule.

[OurBoys]

I've never had a beagle so I don't have much in the advice dept but 2 questions came to mind.

 

1-Is the dog running loose because of poor recall?

 

or

 

2-Is the dog running loose because the owner realized he wasn't a good hunting dog?

 

In any case, is that the kind of dog your husband wants? (ok, so I had 3 questions.) If it's poor recall, even chained up, he'll probably lose him the first time he takes him out. And being chained up is not going to help train him to have a good recall. Why would the dog want to come back to someone who imprisons them like that?? Dogs aren't stupid.

[Nik]

My DH had a beagle when he was younger, and from what I've heard about beagles from other people who've had them also agree: They are escape artists so you're right about if he's an outside dog to have him on some sort of tie out. But, (and this is where my own opinion comes in) if you have a dog that you HAVE to keep on a chain/tie out all the time(no matter what the reason) then you don't NEED to have that dog.

 

I do agree w/ getting him a kennel run if you & DH decide to keep him. I do 100% understand where you are coming from because my DH is the same way when it comes to not being the primary caretaker of his dog. Ultimately it will end up on your shoulders again, so I think you should definitely have some say in this. It just all depends on what YOU are capable of taking on whether you should keep the dog or not. Another suggestion is, if he wants his own dog so much, could/would he settle for another type of dog that isn't quite so hard to train/contain? That way if you still ended up doing the primary caretaking it wouldn't be quite as hard on you too?

 

Good luck w/ whatever decision you make.

[Meg's mum]

Print out your post. Hand it to him and say: "I need you to address in writing every one of these concerns with a loving, compassionate heart and a keen mind with at least a possible solution to each on of my points. I know you will do this because you love me."

 

Is it possible to 'give' him one of your existing dogs? Give means hand over responsibility. That needs to be clear.

[Meg's mum]

Print out your post. Hand it to him and say: "I need you to address in writing every one of these concerns with a loving, compassionate heart and a keen mind with at least a possible solution to each on of my points. I know you will do this because you love me."

 

Is it possible to 'give' him one of your existing dogs? Give means hand over responsibility. That needs to be clear.

 

 

I have always said I thought I was a 15" beagle in another life. I don't have one for the simple reason that they tend to adore me, and that won't do with Meg.

[silhouettestable]

If he does this, he would be bringing the dog home because he wants a hunting dog. But, deer season is only 2 weeks out of 52 and I'm afraid he's one of those people who thinks it's okay to just chain the dog up the rest of the time and just feed and water it. It's the way he was raised and much as I try to re-educate him that there's more to life than that for a dog, he just doesn't really get it. Years ago he had a hound and more recently a great dane. I became the primary caregiver for both of them and they in turn acted like my dogs. All of my dogs are spoiled rotten, sleep on the couches, beds, follow me everywhere, get tons of playtime and exercise etc. I work seasonally from home so I'm here about 99% of the time. My concern is not about the number actually going from 6 to 7 (finances aside), it's about the impact it would have on our current dogs, our finances and yes, my life since I'd end up taking care of it. He says the dog is already a good hunting dog so that would rule out taking it along off leash out in the fields where the other dogs run and play. Mine all accompany me wherever/whatever I'm doing outside. Feeding the horses, into the chicken coop, hiking, breaking trail for dogsledding etc. I would hate to see one dog left kenneled or chained while the others all get to have fun. If we attempted to make the dog an inside dog (which isn't really what DH would want), I have no idea where we could put it. Our house is totally crammed and around the bed there are 3 dog beds and 2 crates that are double deckered. I have to squeeze between the bed and the crates to get to my dresser and closet, and as long as the crates are there I can't even get into another dresser. There is just no more room for another crate in our house and I think we'd need one, have no idea if the dog is housebroken but I really doubt it if it's an outside dog. Also I don't know anything about it's temperament, if it would get along with ours or not (plus we have a couple of cats and 3 rabbits). I know beagles are generally good natured, but there's also our daughter to consider. Is the dog good with kids? No idea. One other thing is if it's in with the other dogs, that means that every single time I go to go out the door with mine (anywhere other than the fenced backyard), I would have to crate or pen the other one so it didn't run away. Normally I just open the front door and they all fly out and run straight out into the field. Sorry if it seems like I'm making too much of this, I know many people on the boards here have lots of dogs and maybe one more doesn't seem like a big deal. If I knew more about this dog and if it could just fit in with the others and our lifestyle and we can afford to feed it it might not be a big deal (what's one more if they're just part of the pack and fit right in?) But I'm afraid that this dog won't be able to fit right in and "run with the pack". I did a lot of hard thinking before becoming a 6 dog household and made some changes to stretch the budget to accomodate adopting our pups. It wasn't done on a whim and I didn't expect anyone else to do the work. DH says he'd do everything for this new dog, but I know it will never happen, he simply doesn't spend enough time at home.

ETA: it's not so much about me having to do the work of caring for one more dog, it's about taking on another dog with a whole separate set of requirements. DH tends to want to do things like this on a whim. When I adopted 2 puppies he said why not get 3? When there was another rescue dog I was spreading the word about, trying to help find him a home, he said go get it. He thought because I'd mentioned the dog that I wanted it. He just doesn't think through the logistics.

 

After doing some thinking last night about the whole situation I remembered that there was a registry for lost and found hunting dogs in our area. I called the vets office this morning to see if they knew if it was still in existence. They gave me some names and numbers where there are actually drop off points for found dogs. I left a message on DH's cell phone with the info, suggesting that if the dog was found running in the bush that somebody may be looking for it and he should get it to a drop off. Whether he does or not remains to be seen.

[kelpiegirl]

Hmm. It sounds like this dog might do well in another house hold, but one which would agree that your hubby could take it hunting. Hunting dogs pretty much live to hunt, and he will need another outlet if he can't. One thing that we have near us is a group called "Deer search". http://www.deersearch.org/introduc.htm

 

The dogs are employed to scent trail wounded deer for the hunter- Dachshunds started the business for the guy. Every year my brother goes along and the dogs are busy the entire season. I don't know about where you are, but bow season starts before rifle season and lasts longer near me, so it is, I believe more like 2 months. Perhaps your hubby could start a group like that, and/or work with one, and be a handler. All of this means he doesn't have to have his own dog.