In order to understand what a pocket beagle is, you need to know a little bit about the history and the development of the beagle breed. The term beagle used to refer to just about any small sized hound rather than a specific breed like the one we see today. In 11th century England hounds that were small enough to ride in hunters pockets until they were needed to flush out game under bushes and in places where the larger hounds could not go were known pocket beagles. These pocket beagles were much smaller than the average beagle we see today often topping out at about 8 inches in height and 10 to 12 pounds.
Overtime as the beagle developed into a breed of its own, the breed we have come to know they gained a bit of height and weight. The average beagle now stands 13 to 16 inches tall and weighs 22-25 pounds. Of course, there are always smaller beagles but this is the exception rather than the rule.
The beagle breed as we now know, the pocket beagle became extinct or almost extinct. There seems to be quite a controversy over whether or not this small dog completely died out. However, whichever the case may be, there was a resurgence of interest in the pocket beagle and some breeders began efforts to accommodate the demand.
The pocket beagle that one sees today is the result of breeding the smallest beagles to the smallest beagles generation after generation in order to achieve a smaller size. Pocket beagles today stand 7-12 inches tall and weigh 7 to 15 pounds. All their other characteristics and looks are exactly the same as the standard beagle.
It should be noted that the AKC and the AKA do not list pocket beagles as a different or separate breed, but, some clubs do divide beagles into two categories those that stand 13 inches and higher and those that are under 13 inches.
You should also be aware that there is a controversy over just how healthy pocket beagles may be. With opponents to this smaller dog arguing that by breeding runts to runts the breeders are breeding in health risks. Proponents of the pocket beagle argue that they use the same criteria for breeding that other beagle breeders do, they simply mate small beagles to small beagles.
The problem that most people looking for beagles have with this controversy is finding themselves wondering why if a breeder of standard size sells smaller pups from a liter at the same price as the larger pups and claim these smaller pups are in good health, would they then claim that breeding this smaller beagle to another small beagle from another reputable breeder would then result in puppies with built in health issues. If the genes are passed down from generation to generation in the breed and the parents of each liter has been checked for potential health problems shouldn’t this result in the same standards of health and the same health issues as pups born to the standard size beagle?
The answer is that if deciding whether or not to choose a pocket beagle over a standard beagle is an individual choice. However, when choosing a pocket beagle over a full size beagle one should be aware of the controversy and the reasons behind it.
