Beagles make excellent pets

Udron the Beagle arrived in our hamlet just before the mid-December storms. Tired, hungry & footsore & very wary of people, though not in bad physical shape. Abandoned or lost, we don’t know. Not a puppy, but by no means old either.

In the early days he sat on the road looking hopefully at cars. Was he pushed from one, we wonder? He then went through a phase of chasing my car when I went out. Now he just watches me go….. I guess he realises I am not abandoning him & will come home.

Have done all we can to find his owner but he’s still here….. Although he’s a beagle he shows no interest in the sounds of the hunt (we live on the edge of the woods).

He’s still nervous of enclosed spaces – will now sleep in my conservatory but has to be physically encouraged in by a hand on his collar. He’ll then sleep quietly until morning.

Fine with my ginger cat & other cats in the neighbourhood. (He ignores my cat when he comes in & out through the catflaps at night)

Loves a game with our neighbour’s neutered bitch.

Is always looking for something to happen – preferably a walk – & will attach himself to any of our local families who may be out in the garden or going for a walk. In the early days he walked very much to heel, with a wary eye on us in case he got it wrong. Now he’s more relaxed – will enjoy a country walk, going a bit further afield but with an eye on us so as not to lose us. Will occasionally pick up on a scent & go yelping off after it like a hunting-dog, but that isn’t often.

He will walk on a lead. But any sort of restraint – enclosed space or being attached – still makes him fearful & cowed. “Meek” is a good word for him – an unexpected noise or movement will scare him.

We persuaded him into the car for a trip to the vet – but it is still an enclosed space & we had to physically lift him onto the back seat where he allowed my neighbour to hold him.

He has never been aggressive – apart from at the vet’s when he took slight exception to having the microchip-machine passed over him (no sign of a chip!), and once when I foolishly tried to break up his food for him when he already had his nose in the bowl….. He seems fine with the local children, and they love him, but as we don’t know his history I would be wary of leaving him with a small child.

Please contact us now on 05 49 27 26 20 or email hopeassoc@orange.fr with your details and contact number;  or contact Carol Fischer on 05 49 29 32 02 to ask more about him.