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Beagles are one of the best kinds of dogs to have as a family pet, you only have to ask our two children aged 5 and 15.

Hunting dogs, (well, yes they were breed for that) tearing up rabbits, and hares yes, but bad publicity is something the Beagle can do without, as with any breed of animal there is always a bad one out there (the same as humans I suppose!)

Ours is a daft and loveable hound, stand on his paw by accident and no you don't get bitten, he just rolls over. The fact was when we came to buy another dog (you know you look at all different breeds, be it at the shops, parks or country game fairs, I'm sure some people must have thought we were planning on stealing their dog at some point, when all four members of the family start to look at the animal and coos of delight come from our children, to see dogs out and in real situations is the best way to see how they interract with many different situations. One big one is children, especially important when having any in the home, as if a dog is bought back from the pound it could have had a bad experience with a child and therefore be aggressive with children.

We visited a breeder for Scooby and was shown his parents and grandparents, even had them sniff our son who was only a few weeks old at the time, (I must say I did feel totally safe with them all, going into a pack of hounds is not something I had done before, but glad I did). Scooby is a great lump full of love and affection for everyone, he doesn't like certain people though (good judge of character in most cases) and I am sure if push came to shove he would protect us if someone were to try to hurt a member of the family.

Exercise wise you always think biggish dog, must need lots of walks, but no you are wrong to think that, he has a nice long walk once and day, and then he is bushed, his best form of exercise is lolling in front of the Aga and only moving when he is forced to (hot pans not a good look from his angle). Very strong though, I sometimes think it is him taking me for a walk not the other way around.

Hard to obedience train though (most of our dogs have been though, so maybe not purely the dogs fault!) My husband tries to blame me and say that after buying the Beagle Handbook of Obedience that everyone including the poor dog is confused,(the book is Amercian and words don't always have the same meaning as in England for example "Down" means to get off in America, whereas "Down" here means lie to most dogs and owners. Also "lie" means to lie down, try saying that though and our five year old tells us not to tell Scooby to say untruths, (I ask you what are you suppossed to do?) Even Scooby got feed up though and ate the sticky note pad with the training words on it.

Maintenance wise a doddle, no long wet hair after a walk in the rain, as the coat just seems to shrug off a quick brush over once a week, and his fur is back to a1 condition (no high maintenance costs here, no cuts, dematting or clipping). Doesn't even have to have his nails clipped (well at the age of 5 nearly six he hasn't yet).

Sociable and loveable are the words that sum up Scooby, I'm sure the whole family would agree.