A lot of beagle books and sites recommend the use of a “crate” – basically a wire cage – for beagle pups. At first the idea of putting a little puppy behind bars might seem cruel, but as it turns out it can be a useful tool in getting the little fella to feel secure in his new home and get him house trained more quickly.

From what I’ve read, the crate soon becomes the dog’s private den. He feels safe and in control in there, and instinctively wants to keep it clean. A smart and attentive owner can use that natural desire to keep the den free from puddles and “bottom sausages” to establish the routine of only going to the toilet outdoors. The key, apparently, is to make such regular toilet trips outside that the call of nature never overpowers the pup’s limited bowel and bladder control. If that is allowed to happen then the pup might think that, contrary to his initial misgivings, it’s really OK to do his business in his den. That would be a big setback for house training! Unfortunately a young pup (8-12 weeks) can need to go as much as once an hour, even during the night, but I guess you’ve got to balance the lost sleep against the hassle of repeatedly cleaning the carpet.

Another benefit of the crate is that it protects the puppy from household hazards at times when he can’t be fully supervised. And given that a young beagle is itself a household hazard(!) I guess it also protects furniture and possessions from illicit chewing. That doesn’t mean it’s a panacea for owners who leave their dog for extended periods though, nor should it be used as a punishment.

So, it looks like our beagle budget will have to accommodate a decent quality crate as well as the beagle pup itself, and all the early vets fees for inoculations and so on. We’re also looking at the possibility of getting a puppy play pen. This could be great for our office, allowing the pup to have a decent amount of room to play without coming into contact with any trailing wires or computer gear. Of course beagles are good jumpers, so it would probably soon lose its ability to contain the little rogue.

We had an exciting time this morning. One of the beagle breeders we’d contacted through the Scottish Beagle Club site invited us to come see a two and a half week old litter of 10 pups. With such a large litter, she said we’d be pretty much assured to get one of the female pups after Christmas, though we wouldn’t get our pick of the litter since we were pretty much at the end of the waiting list. That all sounded fine to us, so we jumped into the car and headed straight over.

Now everybody knows puppies are seriously cute, but still nothing prepared me for the sight of 10 sleepy little pups all piled up on top of one another. The cute-o-meter swung even further to the right when one of them rolled over onto his back in the throws of a doggy dream. But all that was nothing compared to how amazing it feels to hold one of those tiny, trusting bundles in your own hands.

The pups’ mother was on hand to meet us, though in classic beagle fashion she seemed much more interested in food. In fact it was up to the pups to get themselves out of the way when mum was looking for a comfortable position to consume her chewy stick. I suppose the sudden appearance of ten new babies would be enough to leave anyone feeling in need of comfort food.

All the beagles we saw at the breeders home lived up to what we’d read about the breed: happy, outgoing and affectionate dogs, with plenty of character and a tendency toward mischief. This left us in no doubt that we’d chosen the right kind of dog, and now it was just up to the breeder to make sure that we were the right people to own a beagle.

As expected the breeder wanted to make sure that we’d got a decent garden for our little chum, and fully appreciated the beagle’s penchant for escape attempts and “selective hearing” when on the trail of an interesting scent. She seemed satisfied that we’d done our homework and would be able to give our dog the attention and care it deserves.

So as things stand now we can be pretty sure we’ve seen our future family member, we just don’t know which one yet! That question should be answered in a few weeks once the breeder has decided which pups she’s keeping. That’s fine by me, in fact I’m kind of glad the decision has been taken out of our hands – how do you choose one from ten equally gorgeous little furballs?