BREEDING at Bald Eagle Beagles


Pearl with our 2002 litter (her third) at 4 weeks old


BEB Patch Hound Physical Traits

Our Patch bloodline is kept to the same guidelines as those developed by Willet Randall, originator of the Patch line, at the beginning of the 20th century.  Our dogs are all lemon-and-white, which means predominantly white with light tan patches, usually tan ears, and occasionally a bit of pale ticking.  Some dogs have pink noses and some have black.  Willet Randall's quest was for an all-white dog, and this is our ideal too, although we realize that if Willet never got completely there, it's doubtful we will either. (Blanche is as close as we've come so far.)  Some dogs with Patch blood are other colors as well, however the only non-lemon-and-white dog who has ever been registered with our name is Lehner's Ruby Patch (AKC #HM57719105), a tri-color who was sold in 1999 when we decided to focus solely on lemon-and-whites.

Our dogs are almost always on the tall side, 15" or very close to it (once in a while even over).  Their proportions seem to be a bit longer of limb than the average beagle.  They have well-built chests and lungs, and powerful legs - it's easy to tell that they're bred for both speed and endurance, and they are intense hunters when rabbits are in play.  Translate that as "willful" and you've got the idea - they don't like to stop, and they will run through practically anything.  They'll outrun just about any dog except a faster Patch at a field trial - sometimes they'll overshoot a check, but they're fast enough to make up for it.

John doesn't compete much with his dogs; not only because they are 'apples vs oranges' when trialed against non-Patches, but also because he works swing shifts and his ability to attend trials is limited by his work schedule.  We encourage all owners of BEB-bred Patches to trial their dogs and let us know how they perform.  Also see our Naming Information page for details about our cash award offer for competitive champions.


Hunters vs. Housepets

We do not recommend our puppies as housepets unless the owners are able give the dog regular time in the open to run and hunt also; they have far more energy than would be spent just taking human-paced walks at the end of a leash (they'd pull your arm off before too long).  They're very affectionate and tolerate kids well, but they've been highly bred for the out-of-doors, to track and chase rabbits in the wild, and it would be unfair not to allow them this behavior.  We have more rabbit-hunters on our list than we have puppies to sell them, so we're not normally going to make exceptions to this policy.  If you're looking for a beagle to keep as a family pet, we sincerely suggest you ask your local Humane Society whether they have any beagles in need of a home.  All beagles are wonderful dogs, and every one deserves to be loved - rescued beagles most of all.

We may occasionally have an older dog, retired from service as a hunter and not needed for breeding, who could be sold as a family pet.  If so, we'll have it listed on the Started Dogs page.