The Beagle Harrier is a recent creation developed in France in the late nineteenth century by Baron Gérard. The breed is a cross between the Beagle and the Harrier and probably received blood from medium-sized breeds indigenous to southwestern France. Larger and faster than the Beagle, the Beagle Harrier is excellent in small game hunting (hare, fox, deer, and wild boar). Attempts by breeders to upset the balance in favor of the Beagle or the Harrier were unsuccessful. Today?s breeders have stabilized the breed, which is neither a large Beagle nor a small Harrier. The standard was officially registered with the FCI (Fédération cynologique internationale [International Cynological Federation]) in 1974 and is gaining popularity in France.
The origin of the Beagle Harrier, like that of most other hound breeds, cannot be positively traced; it appears buried in antiquity. In the second century AD, Onomasticon, a Greek dictionary in ten books by Iulius Pollux, mentions the dog being used by man for hunting purposes about 1300 BC. The ancient Greek author Xenophon made references in his writings of about 450 BC to small hounds used to hunt hare on foot. While no formal name was given to these small hounds, they were undoubtedly the prognosticators of the dog we have come to know today as the Beagle.
Early man hunted animals for survival itself but, through the centuries, hunting evolved from a means to sustain life into a sport. The landed gentry and nobility of England, as early as the fourteenth century, participated in blood sports as a social activity. They used horses and large and small hounds, along with small terriers, in the pursuit of deer, fox, badger and hare.
Selection for desired physical characteristics and mental traits to suit a purpose is how the various purebred dog breeds came into being. In prehistoric times, the breeder was the caveman looking for a dog whose basic instincts were strong, and he used the best of these dogs to assist him in finding and catching food. Later, the breeder was the farmer, who found that keeping a hardy and energetic dog around helped keep meat on the family’s table. The caveman and, much later, the farmer both followed the dogs on foot. Later, when the Beagle Harrier was kept by the British aristocracy, stockmen were employed and it was their job to make the selection of stock. The aristocracy, having the wealth to do so, kept large numbers of hounds together in packs; the evenness of type in these packs was highly regarded. The terrain varied from county to county throughout England and so the desired type varied from pack to pack to serve the challenges of the local hunt. The groups of wealthy sportsmen usually followed the hounds on horseback.
By repeatedly selecting desirable characteristics and traits to suit the purpose at hand, the breeder, whether the caveman, the farmer, the stockman, etc., fixed type within the dogs and these small hounds eventually were refined and bred with some consistency. During the Middle Ages in England, there were two varieties of hound said to be Harriers and Beagles. Little has been written to describe the Northern Hound but William Youatt, in his book The Dog, published in 1846, mentions “the shallow-flewed, more contracted lip of the Northern dogs” and claimed that this type was the swiftest. There is also mention of North-Country Beagles by seventeenth-century writers, including William Somerville (1675–1742), who refer to this dog as being fast and more slender than the Cotswold Beagle. Perhaps the Northern Hound and the North-Country Beagle are one and the same; it would seem so. So what breeds of dog were put together to produce the Beagle? Some believe that the breed resulted from a crossing of the Harrier with the old South of England or Southern Hound. In some instances, they were referred to as “medium Harriers.”
Most scholars seem to support the theory that the modern Beagle came down for the most part from the Harrier. Selection for the smaller dog, litter after litter, over and over again, fixed the size what was once called a small Foxhound or a small Harrier is known today as the Beagle. During the seventeenth century, Beagles were mentioned by many different but similar names: Northern Hounds and Southern Hounds; Rough-Coated and Smooth-Coated Beagles-Herrier. The Southern Hound was described by Gervase Markham as having “a longer nose, ears and flews more shallow, his general appearance slender and greyhound-like. They had good noses and were fast but in respect of mouth they were a little sharp, with no real depth of tone or music.” William Youatt, in his book The Dog, agreed with Stonehenge (J. H. Walsh, a noted dog authority of the Victorian era) and felt that the Harrier crossed with the old Southern Hound was the combination that produced the Beagle.
In Cynographia Britannica, published about 1800, there are descriptions of Southern Beagles and Northern Beagles. The small hounds were described as varieties generally distinguished by the parts of the country in which they were bred, which lends support to the quote credited to William Somerville at about the same time, “A different Hound for every different chase; select with judgement.” Northern Beagles were commonly wire-haired, straightlimbed and better formed in their shoulders and haunches, and endured bad weather and lengthy exercise better than the Southern Beagle. William Somerville described the Cotswold Beagle, whom he credited as producing some of his best Harriers when crossed with the old Southern Hound.
The Beagle Harrier is hardy, vigorous, fast, agile, and courageous but less powerful than the Harrier. With his determination and keen sense of smell, he works well in packs and is not afraid to enter even the thickest brambles. This easygoing, straightforward dog is a pleasant companion. Beagle-Harrier size: Height at withers : From 45 cm to 50 cm. Beagle Harrier color : Tri-colour (fawn with black blanket, and white); not too much importance should be given to the blanket, with markings more or less bright tan, or pale, or with black overlay. Because there exist grey Harrier, the grey tri-colours or the white-greys would not be either disqualified or penalised only because of their. Group 6 Scenthounds and related breeds. Section 1.2 Medium-sized Hounds. With working trial.
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