8 Key Facts to Know About the Poogle
Poogles are a fascinating designer dog breed between two very popular family pets – the Poodle and the Beagle. Despite its two parents coming from very different backgrounds, however, the Poogle has relatively consistent characteristics for a designer breed. Aside from its coat which can be all over the place, the Poogle’s personality, sociability, trainability, and energy levels can be predicted pretty reliably. So, let’s go over each of those points and the overall 8 important things to note about the Poogle below.
What do you need to consider before getting a Poogle?
The first and most important thing to keep in mind is that the Poogle isn’t purebred. This sounds derogatory but it isn’t – there’s nothing wrong with a dog not being purebred – it only means that there isn’t much of a “breed standard” of characteristics pups are meant to follow.
This is good, on one hand, as a lot of pure breeds get “overbred” due to high demand and breeders being forced into overly narrow and restrictive breed standards.
On the other hand, this lack of breed standards also means that disreputable breeders don’t always account for things such as hereditary health problems. Either way – purebred or designer – it’s always important to make sure that you’re getting a healthy pup anyway. So, let’s get into the specifics of the Poogle breed below.
1. The Poogle is a small to medium-sized dog, depending on what type of Poodle has been added to the mix
As the offspring of Beagles and Poodles, the Poogle can vary in size depending on its Poodle parent. Beagles tend to always range between 13 and 15 inches in height at the shoulder (33 to 38 cm) and 18 to 32 pounds of weight (8 to 14.5 kg). Poodles, on the other hand, come in several varieties – Toy, Miniature, Medium, and Standard. Toy and Standard would rarely get bred with a Beagle but both Miniature and Medium Poodles can be used to make a Poogle.
Miniature Poodles grow up to 15 inches tall or 38 cm – just like the Beagle. They are more athletic, however, and only tend to weigh around 12 to 20 pounds (5.5 to 9 kg). Medium Poodles, on the other hand, are in the 15 to 20 inches range (38 to 51 cm) and weigh some 20 to 30 pounds (9 to 13 kg).
What does this mean for your Poogle?
It means that these mixed dogs will usually be around 13 to 20 inches tall (33 to 51 cm) and should weigh between 11 and 25 pounds (5 and 11.5 kg) depending on their parents’ size. Overall, this is a small or medium breed which makes it pretty easy to look after for most people and in most homes/environments.
2. These dogs’ coats can vary quite a bit but generally aren’t big shedders
The biggest variation in the Poogle breed is the coat. That’s because Beagles and Poodles have two quite different coats.
Beagles have short and dense double coats. This means that, despite their short length, the coats of Beagles actually have a second underlayer of insulation. That, in turn, means extra shedding. As for their color, Beagles are usually tri-color with a combination of white, black, and brown/beige.
Poodles, on the other hand, are famous for their adorable and curly single-layered coat of hair. Unlike most other dog breeds, the Poodle doesn’t have an undercoat and therefore sheds very minimally. That’s why Poodles are often said to be almost hypoallergenic too. In terms of color, their curly coats are usually solid and can be white, black, grey, cream, blue, brown, or others.
For your Poogle, however, all that means that it can be either double-coated or single-coated, it can have either curly mid-length hair or short and dense hair, it can be a solid color, bi-color, or tri-color, it can come in many different colors, and it can be hypoallergenic or not.
Pretty much the only constant here is that even if your Poogle is double-coated, it likely still won’t shed too much. Even then, however, regular brushing and grooming are still important to maintain good skin and coat health, and to prevent matting.
3. Whatever their exact size, Poogles are very hyperactive dogs and need lots of exercise and playtime
As Beagles are scent hounds and Poodles are gun dogs, it’s no surprise that the Poogle is quite an active dog breed. Fortunately, their smaller body size compensates for that as they’d otherwise need almost constant exercise and playtime. As they are, however, they can usually feel fine with about an hour to an hour and a half of outdoor time a day plus some extra indoor playtime.
If you have a well-fenced yard, that’d be great too but it’s not strictly a must. Apartments can work for Poogles as long as you spend enough time in the dog park with them.
4. These dogs are smart, naturally obedient, and very easy to train even if this is your first canine pet
Both its parents are incredibly smart, obedient, and easy to train, and the same applies to the Poogle. A bit of obedience training early on is going to be a must, of course, but after that, you should be able to train this dog to do anything any other breed can do.
5. Loving and gentle, the Poogle can be excellent in families of any type and size
The Poogle is not a “lapdog”, of course – they are way too energetic and inquisitive for that. However, this doesn’t mean that Poogles doesn’t enjoy cuddling or sleeping on top of you once playtime is over – they definitely do. They just need to expel their energy first.
Once playtime is done, however, the Poogle becomes an incredibly gentle and lovable animal. It doesn’t matter whether you live in a single-person household or with a large family – the Poogle will love all his humans all the same. As long as the dog gets enough love in return, of course.
And here lies the catch – dogs like the Poogle are so incredibly affectionate that they can suffer from separation anxiety. This risk makes the breed ill-suited for households where the dog will have to be left home alone for too long every day. If you suspect that might be you, the Poogle may not be the best breed for you.
6. These dogs have a very social and outgoing personality as long as they get at least basic socialization
When it comes to meeting new people, the Poogle is a fantastic breed. With some basic socialization out of the way, a Poogle should get along swimmingly with any guest or stranger on the street. The same goes for kids of all ages. Poogles don’t have much aggression for other canines either and get along very well with dogs. The only potential issue is non-canine pets such as cats as they can trigger the prey drive of the Beagle inside your Poogle. With enough socialization and a proper introduction, however, even that can be mitigated.
7. Like their Beagle parents, Poogles love to sing and vocalize every thought they have
Beagles are famous as one of the most vocal breeds out there alongside Huskies. And while Poodles aren’t nearly as loud, they aren’t quiet either. So, you can expect your Poogle not to hesitate to state his opinion whenever he has one. You can even expect howling. If all this sounds undesirable to you, obedience training and no-bark training can help mitigate it somewhat. However, you can never expect a Poogle to be a quiet dog.
8. Poogles are healthy overall but you need to be careful with their family history and breeding
You can easily expect a Poogle to live up to 12 or 13 years on average. With good care, a healthy pup can go years beyond that too. However, you’d want to make sure that you’ve found a healthy pup by asking the breeder for a health certificate for the dog and its parents. This will help you avoid potential issues such as Addison’s disease, hip dysplasia, ear infections, cardiac disease, and others.
All things considered, the Poogle is a great family dog to bring home. Yes, their coats can vary a lot but you can usually see what type of coat each Poogle is going to have when it grows up when you adopt or purchase it after the 8th week. Aside from that, these designer dog breeds actually have some pretty consistent traits. The exact extent of how vocal they are going to be also varies but that’s hardly the most crucial characteristic of a pet dog.
So, as long as you’re ready to give your pet plenty of playtime, attention, and love, the Poogle should be a near-ideal dog for you and your family.
