Already when Darwin moved in in May 2010 – he showed – that he had a very gentle mind.
My observations of him at the breeder showed that he was the right choice. He was quiet and calm – did not run around and mess with his siblings – but preferred to watch from the sidelines. In between he walked around and looked at things and sought out both me, my husband and our one son.
I therefore had a really good feeling when we brought Darwin home.
On the ride home, which took a little over an hour, Darwin sat or lay in my arms. He demanded to come out of his transport box and up to me.
Here he lay, soaking up impressions – while we drove home.
When we got home, Darwin had to be introduced to Charlie and Oscar – and our two sons.
The first thing we did was let Darwin be in the garden by himself. Here he relieved himself and sniffed around.
Charlie was the first to come out and say hello. It was our oldest son who brought him out.
Darwin took Charlie’s presence in stride. Charlie was very interested in Darwin – ran after him and sniffed him. While he tried to play a little with him.
After a while – Oscar came out, along with the youngest son. Oscar was also interested in Darwin – but he had a little more difficulty in taking a role with him. Oscar was a little more “nervous” and it wasn’t long before he went beagle siren. In other words, he “sang” serenades and didn’t know which leg to stand on.
After a long period where both Charlie and Oscar kept an eye on Darwin and followed him closely – we went into the house. Darwin was inside looking around – sharply “pursued” by Charlie and Oscar. In the meantime I kept both Charlie and Oscar away from Darwin in case they got too “violent”
Darwin took it all in stride. He was happy with his two play uncles from the start.
(I wrote under The social side of Oscar that he initially had some “problems” with Darwin)
Looking back – Darwin was the easiest puppy I’ve ever had.
Darwin slept in a cage at night – which was next to my bed. From there he could see me and make noise if he had to do something at night.
It was only for the first 3 weeks that I was down at night with him to pee – otherwise he slept.
And afterwards he slept through the night
That summer we were up early in the morning – and when the beagles had been in the garden and had breakfast – it was often only 9 o’clock – then Charlie and Oscar were asleep. And Darwin wanted to climb into my arms and sleep. Then we sat quietly for an hour while he slept.
Then the sons came and they went with Oscar and Charlie. In the meantime I stayed with Darwin.
The garden door was often left open – and Darwin already knew that he should go out into the garden if he needed something.
At no time did we have any accidents inside.
I played a lot with Darwin when Charlie and Oscar went for a walk. Later, both I and the other family members practiced small exercises with Darwin.
Charlie and Oscar also played a lot with Darwin, both inside and outside. There is no doubt that several dogs have a good influence on a puppy.
Darwin often sought out Charlie or Oscar himself and lay with them.
As I have mentioned several times in my posts here – you DO NOT walk a puppy. Impressions are significantly better – and that is also the approach we used with Darwin.
We carried him in our arms – to places where he could sniff around and relieve himself. At no time did he walk on the sidewalk – or any hard surface. When he had had his party – he was carried back home.
When you carry your puppies around like that (Oscar, Darwin) people stare at you. To that, I just say that this is how you do it with a puppy whose skeletal system is not yet developed. – unfortunately many people do not know that it is a necessity, which can lead to growth injuries in a simple dog.
When Darwin was about 16 weeks old, we started going for walks. However, the walks were short, as the beagle at this stage is not yet stable enough for longer walks. So it was max. 20 min. and a shorter one later in the day.
Darwin was most interested in dusting around. He used his nose a lot – so he often had a longer leash on so he could use his body freely. Like Charlie and Oscar, he was wearing a harness that allowed him to use his head, neck and body freely.
When we met other dogs/people, he wasn’t that interested in them. He could say hello – but that was enough.
My own theory about it – is that Darwin had company in Charlie and Oscar – as well as all of us in the house. Our beagles have had A LOT of company at home, because there was always someone in the house all day.
As time went on, this behavior continued with Darwin. He had a reserved, independent mind – which is not unusual for a beagle.
Darwin loved to be petted – he would come and sit down himself and then he was ready to be talked to.
Today I would go so far as to say that Darwin was very much like Charlie in mannerisms.
Charlie taught Darwin to dig in the garden (as he did with Oscar) Charlie played chase with Darwin – and he taught him to walk around under our snow bush. The two of them were often seen walking around there and Darwin continued to do this after Charlie had passed away.
Darwin was a so-called alarm beagle. He was the one who “told” Charlie and Oscar – that there was a cat – a hedgehog – or other “dangerous” things in the garden – so that they could take care of it.
If it was a hedgehog – that had entered the garden – then we had to step in with our two legs to “save” the hedgehog – because the beagles could circle around it – but it never did anything. Charlie was stung a couple of times by hedgehog spines and that cost a vet bill.
Like the other two beagles, Darwin learned to be brushed, his ears, eyes and mouth checked – and other general care. He didn’t like us to do anything with his paws, so we had to give him a lot of treats when we had to fix them. He seemed to be a very ticklish beagle.
Like Charlie and Oscar, he went to the vet when the need arose.
In the future, walks would be like this. Sometimes I would walk with all 3 of them in the morning. Sometimes only with 2 of them – and then the 3rd one at the end. In the afternoon, it was the same way. Here it was one of the sons who walked with them.
On weekends and holidays when the husband was home – he would also walk with them.
We would go for walks in the car – so they could sniff other places too – often on longer leashes
All beagles had their own cage – which they had access to whenever they wanted to be there. The door was always open so they could come and go as they pleased.
This was also where each beagle was fed. This was done so that they could not steal food from each other – and we were sure that each beagle got the portion it was supposed to.
Darwin could sleep in either Oscar’s or Charlie’s cage – and that was perfectly fine with them.
