It is a common misconception that a Beagle is a Beagle is a Beagle
and the fact remains there are a few different types of Beagle,
including one dating back to the days of Queen Elizabeth I, known
as a pocket Beagle.
They typically grew to about nine inches at the shoulder with
shorter legs and pointed snouts, according to paintings of this
era that included pets. During the days of Henry VIII, even smaller
types of Beagle, called a glove Beagle grew to about the size
of a gauntlet, the metal hand covering of a suit of armor. This
breed was very popular with the Royal families of the time.
Today there are very few Beagles that stop growing at about 10
inches, but dogs of this size are not recognized by the American
Kennel Club as a breed. This shortness of these types of Beagle
is considered to be caused by poor breeding or shortened legs,
or dwarfing caused by chondodystrophy.
Another of the types of Beagle is called a patch Beagle, mainly
due to its coloring, which began in a breeding in about 1880.
Today, many people refer to a Beagle with lemon and white, or
red and white coloring as patch Beagles. They were primarily bred
to be extremely fast runners to be used in hunting. With a white-colored
background with very large tri-color areas, these patch Beagles
were known for their running skills.
Colors Vary Among Same Breed Animals
The color combination most people think of when thinking of the
different types of Beagle is black, tan and white. Typically they
will also have a black saddle marking with a spotting pattern
on the legs, face neck and on the tip of its tail. Blue tick,
or Red tick hounds have heavy speckling of its colors, referred
to as ticking, with the ticking running throughout its coat, sometimes
called mottled.
The American Kennel Club will accept any hound color as acceptable,
which includes all shade and combinations of colors of white,
or cream, black, tan, lemon, brown, blue or red. Different colors
do not determine the breed or the different types of Beagle.
There are two main breeds recognized today as the 13 inch, which
includes Beagles up to 131 inches at the shoulder. The 15-inch
breed, which are Beagles between 13 and 15 inches at the shoulder.
It is rare for a Beagle to grow over 15 inches tall and no breeder
can guarantee the maximum size of a Beagle puppy, but by about
nine months they will have reached their adult size.
