THE OLDE ENGLISH POCKET BEAGLE

Lots of intelligence in a small package, combined with loving, sweet dispositions in a diminutive body. They are not the diggers and noise makers that their larger cousins are. Their soft melodious voices are seldom heard.

There are no Pocket Beagles left in England, Ireland or Scotland. While still somewhat popular in the U.S. until the mid 1970’s they were no longer winning in the field trials. The larger longer legged Beagles were faster and bringing home the trophies. Breeders were quick to abandon the small Beagles and breed for the larger, faster beagles. At this time, less than 1200 adults of the original type Pocket Beagles have been located in the U.S.

HISTORY

“The Beagle club was founded in 1890 and soon after issued a Standard of Points. This included a special paragraph relating to the Pocket Beagles, which read: “Pocket Beagles must not exceed ten inches in height. Although ordinary beagles in miniature, no point however good in itself should be encouraged if it tends to give a course appearance to such minute specimens of the breed…”

SIZE AND STANDARD

Not all of the breeding stock that we are working with is at 10″. Heights vary from 8 1/2″ to 11 1/2″. Very rarely a puppy will exceed the 11 1/2″ height. It will take several generations to bring the size down genetically and consistently to 10″ or below. To allow for this difference the standard at this time is set at 12″ or under. With the smaller dogs being preferred in a breeding program provided they are conformationally correct.

Size in the individual is determined by the interaction of a number of hereditary factors, or genes, and is much more difficult to control than are such characteristics such as color or coat texture. If a small male is mated to a larger female the size the progeny will attain when mature cannot be forecast with certainty. Furthermore, size is not solely dependent on an animals genetic make up. Size is a polygenic character and the grouping of the genes which determine small size may be dominant or recessive to that which determines larger size. This varies from breed to breed. Where small size behaves as recessive to larger size the mating of two small animals will produce small offspring however the parents are bred, but should it behave as a dominant character, some or all the progeny may be much bigger than their sire and dam. There is no way of distinguishing by physical examination whether the small size shown by an individual is due to non-inherited causes or is of genetic origin, or of knowing with certainty whether it will be transmitted as a recessive or a dominant character.

Breeding for Size

In endeavoring to re-establish the Pocket Beagle the first essential is to ensure that the factors for small size are carried by both the animals mated, that they owe the smallness to hereditary and not environmental causes.

Don't breed from weedy runts, but only from hounds which, besides being small, are sound, typical, strong, straight, well-boned, and healthy. The first litters bred must be expected to include whelps of diverse sizes. The general practice is to choose larger females, even though they may somewhat be above height and weight required, and to mate them to the smallest, small bred, dog available. This policy is wise and well adopted in the initial stages of laying the foundation of perfect 10-12 inch beagles. With patience and scientific breeding the pocket beagle has been re-established. Breeders must keep in mind that what we want is a robust, typical, sound, little pocket edition of its larger prototype, differing from the standard 13"+ beagle only in size. We do not want tiny "freaks" with high rounded skulls, pop eyes, snipy muzzles, often accompanied by faulty dentition, which are characteristics of dwarfs. Type, constitution and temperament must never be jeopardized by an irrational desire to achieve minimum size at all cost.

Excerpts from the book "Beagles" by E. Fitch Daglish

**If your dog displays any signs of dwarfism he/she will be rejected by the registry.

FOUNDER: ROBERT MOCK

Here is the story of my association with the Pocket Beagle.

In 1967 I purchased a boarding kennel in Seattle, over half of the Beagles we boarded were the small 10″ to 11″ Beagle. There was a very noticeable difference in the dispositions of the smaller Beagles as compared with the larger Beagles. We nicknamed the smaller Beagles “Dolly Faces”. They were extremely intelligent, were not stubborn in training classes, did not bark a lot, or dig craters in their yards. They were more interested in staying by your side and watching you for signals than the larger variety. I used to wonder how people could live with the larger variety of Beagles.

By the early 70’s there was a very noticeable reduction in the smaller Beagles and a large increase in the larger Beagles. Dog people had started breeding the smaller Beagles with the larger variety to get dogs that were leggier, and had more stamina in field trials and won the trophies. The larger Beagles at that time were called Harriers.

By the late 70’s the little “Dolly Faces” had all but disappeared. Their stronghold was in the Ozark and Appalachian Mountains and Deep South.

I then forgot about the smaller Beagles until 1999. I had a stroke and could no longer work with the restoration projects of the larger livestock. Although I still maintain the protective registries for them. See The Olde English Baby Doll Registry which has been the most successful restoration project of any domestic livestock breed by an individual in U.S. history.

Wanting another project with a smaller breed, I remembered the little Beagles. I started out the next day to buy some breeders and found that there were none left in the general population. The search started. It took over a year to find the first ones back in the Ozarks, Appalachians and Deep South. Most of these folks were older and had had them in their families for many years. Because there was no market for them they rarely bred and only to replace their own little packs. Many of these folks were hill people and could talk to you on the phone but not write. I finally located about 25 breeders, with less than 100 breeding dogs left in the U.S. I also searched England, Wales and Scotland, none were found in those countries. A friend had given me a copy of Beagles by E. Fitch Daglish, published in England in 1961. I started collecting breeding stock and eventually ended up with about 30 dogs all from diverse bloodlines. I gave them the name “Pocket Beagles” taken from the E. Fitch Daglish book to give them a separate identity. It had never been used in this country, and I then founded the protective Registry for them.

Purchasing the dogs sight unseen was a trial and error situation. Not all the breeders represented their dogs honestly. Puppies had to grow out to a year old. Many of the dog’s pedigree’s were from memory. However many of the breeders were honest and happy to see a restoration project for their little Beagles. It was a very expensive project.

The Pocket Beagle is not bred from the larger sized Beagles. This would take years of work. The genetics for size is inherited from many generations. Yes-there are breeders who do breed from the larger sized beagles and have litters with small and the other large pups mixed. But they cannot be registered in the protective registry. Many smaller pups are also nutritional runts. These are not genetically pure Pocket Beagles. Others have mixed them with other breeds such as Daschunds to reduce size. Your only protection is to buy from breeders who have been accepted by the Olde English Pocket Beagle Registry. There are many breeders using the Pocket Beagle name who are scamming the public.

About other registries: There are many dog Registries. AKC means nothing to the Pocket Beagle. These papers only state the breed, there is no size or way of tracing genetic size with them at this time. There are also paper registries who will register anything even with mixed parentage puppies. They do not check the background on your dogs.

This is the information that is true and I give out to any who ask me.

-Robert Mock