Junebug & Beagle Breed Memory
The first time Jun
ebug ever “Beagled”, she was deep in the blackberry brambles. We heard this terrible sound that we knew was her, and thought she had tripped in a hole and broken her leg. I, at least, was pondering how in the world I was going to find her, let alone get to her, in the middle of the bramble patch. But none of that was needed, because in less than the time it took me to actually formulate the thought, I realized that Junebug was now chasing something through the brambles. A moment later, in a less dense spot, I saw a rabbit run through, and seconds after that, a happy Junebug.
Since then, Junebug has “Beagled” – made the howl/yip sound that makes you think the dog is being tortured – a few other times, but pretty much always when in the midst of brambles, and obviously when chasing prey.
Until this summer. This summer, we have learned that one other thing triggers Junebug’s breed memory of hunting – horses.
Okay, so a google search tells me “breed memory” is not actually a thing, but it is the best term I can come up with. Junebug has been with us since she was 6 months old, so I KNOW that horses triggering her is not something to do with her own training/experience. And while Larry is triggered by horses, it is not in the hunting sense. They need to actually be walking by us, and he thinks they need to be shown who is boss, just like bicycles, joggers, and anything else bigger and faster moving than him.
This summer, I have taken to walking the dogs along an “urban” trail, that runs right through the heart of multiple horse properties. The trail is open to horses as well as pedestrians and cyclists. And if we are on the trail within 30 minutes of a horse having been on the trail, Junebug goes into full on tracking and hunting mode.
She is a dog that has a special relationship with gravity to begin with. And when she gets on the scent of a horse, there is no stopping her. She pulls like there is no tomorrow. And making her stop, or even just slow down, triggers the “Beagling”. She knows she is on the trail of something, and she absolutely must let the rest of the back and the hunters know where she is.
And I thought it was bad at the dog park, when, from deep in the brambles she would make the noise, and other people there with their dogs would give me looks, and then I would just point to her barreling through the blackberries. Often there was another Beagle person there (and often the blackberry hill has two-three Beagles on it at a time), who would help me explain, no, she is not hurt. She is hunting.
But on the trail, standing still, with her straining against her leash, and making a sound like she is being tortured, that gets you looks from the other dog walkers, the pedestrians, the bicyclists, and yes, the horseback riders. And I, at least, cannot shrug nonchalantly while trying to restrain a 35lb Beagle (who is capable of putting all of her weight and then some behind her pulling) who just wants to go, go, go.
About the only good thing about this is that a 2 mile walk with 1 mile of horse tracking tires her out about as much as a 6 mile walk. The problem is when she ends up tracking the horse for the last 2 miles of the 6 mile walk. By the time we get home, both of she and I are exhausted for the rest of the day. Larry, of course, just needs a two hour nap and then he’s ready to go again.
I find it interesting that horses should trigger her this much, as in my understanding of Beagle hunting, the horses and riders would normally be following behind the pack as they chased the fox. But, still, something about the scent of horses makes Junebug think she is on the hunt. It would be cute if it were not so hard on my shoulder.
