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48 free Beagle trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Beagle trivia quiz covers the small British scent hound from Elizabeth I's 'singing Beagles' to Snoopy. The history questions run through the Southern Hound and North Country Beagle, Reverend Honeywood's Essex pack of the 1830s, 'Stonehenge' and his four varieties, the founding of the Beagle Club, General Rowett's American imports and the year the breed hit number one on the AKC list. The breed section covers what makes a Beagle a Beagle: the white 'flag' on the tail, the gumdrop nose, the tricolour that puppies are not born with, the 13-inch and 15-inch varieties, the famous mouse-in-a-field scent test, why they bay and howl, and the health quirks from reverse sneezing to 'Funny Puppy'. There are questions on beagling, the USDA Beagle Brigade, the breed's grim role in laboratory testing, and famous Beagles from Westminster champions Uno and Miss P to Gromit, LBJ's Him and Her, and the ship that carried Charles Darwin. Questions run from easy to expert with a difficulty score on each, so it suits a family quiz or a hound-lover's challenge. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia and breed references and each question carries its citation. Also try our Dogs and Snoopy quizzes.
30 of 48 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The Beagle was bred primarily to hunt which animals?
Rabbit and hare
Beagles were bred as scent hounds to hunt hare and rabbit, a sport called beagling in which a pack is followed by hunters on foot rather than on horseback.
Q 02The Beagle looks like a smaller version of which larger hound?
Foxhound
Foxhound is the look-alike, but the Beagle's head is broader, its muzzle shorter and its legs shorter in proportion.
Q 03Which monarch kept 'Pocket Beagles' that stood only 8 to 9 inches at the shoulder?
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I called her Pocket Beagles her 'singing Beagles' and let them cavort among the plates and cups at her table to amuse guests.
Q 04Edward II and Henry VII both kept packs of what tiny beagle-type dogs?
Glove Beagles
Glove Beagles were so named because they were small enough to fit on a glove; Edward II and Henry VII both kept packs of them.
Q 05Gervase Markham likened the 'musick' of a beagle small enough to sit on a man's hand to what?
Reeds
Markham wrote in 1615 that the 'little small mitten-beagle', a companion for a lady's kirtle, ran as cunningly as any hound, 'only their musick is very small like reeds'.
Q 06Which clergyman's 1830s Essex pack is believed to be the basis of the modern breed?
Reverend Phillip Honeywood
Reverend Phillip Honeywood's Essex pack of the 1830s, hounds of about 10 inches that were reportedly pure white, is believed to be the foundation of the modern breed.
Q 07Which two 18th-century hare-hunting hounds are the breed's chief ancestors?
Southern Hound and North Country Beagle
The modern Beagle descends chiefly from the Southern Hound, a tall, slow dog with the better nose, and the smaller, faster North Country Beagle bred in Yorkshire.
Q 08Which breeder is credited with refining Honeywood's hunting hounds into dogs that were also attractive?
Thomas Johnson
Thomas Johnson refined Honeywood's hounds into dogs that were both attractive and capable hunters, developing rough- and smooth-coated strains; the rough coat later died out.
Q 09Writing as 'Stonehenge' in 1856, John Henry Walsh divided beagles into how many varieties?
Four
Walsh's 1856 Manual of British Rural Sports listed four varieties: the medium Beagle, the dwarf or lapdog beagle, the fox beagle and the rough-coated or terrier beagle.
Q 10In what year was the Beagle Club formed in Britain and the first breed standard drawn up?
1890
The Beagle Club was formed in 1890 and drew up the first breed standard that year; the revival was under way, with 18 packs in England in 1887 rising to 44 by 1902.
Q 11Which Illinois general imported English Beagles in the 1870s and helped write the first US standard?
Richard Rowett
General Richard Rowett of Illinois imported hounds from England in the 1870s; the first American standard, drawn up by Rowett, L. H. Twadell and Norman Ellmore in 1887, was modelled on his Beagles.
Q 12Between 1953 and 1959 the Beagle held what position on the AKC's list of registered breeds?
No. 1
The Beagle was the No. 1 breed on the AKC register every year from 1953 to 1959; it has been more popular in North America than in its native England, staying in the US top ten for decades.
Q 13Uno, the first Beagle ever to win Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club show, triumphed in which year?
2008
Q 21Which very light tan Beagle colour shares its name with a citrus fruit?
Lemon
Lemon is the very light tan seen on lemon-and-white Beagles; two-colour Beagles always have a white base, tan and white is the commonest, and liver is barred by some standards.
Q 22What are the two Beagle varieties recognised by the American Kennel Club?
13-inch and 15-inch
The AKC splits the breed into 13-inch (under 13) and 15-inch (13 to 15) varieties; the UK Kennel Club and FCI recognise a single type of 13 to 16 inches, so British Beagles run slightly bigger.
Q 23How much does an adult Beagle typically weigh?
18–35 lb
18–35 lb is the range, with females slightly smaller than males on average.
2008 was the year, and Uno, registered as K-Run's Park Me In First, was also the first Beagle to take the hound group since 1939.
Q 14The OED's earliest 'beagle' in English literature is from about 1475 in which work?
The Squire of Low Degree
The Squire of Low Degree, a Middle English romance of about 1475, gives the OED's earliest literary use of 'beagle'; the word's origin itself is uncertain.
Q 15The word 'beagle' may derive from the French 'begueule', meaning what?
Gape throat
It is a nod to the breed's famous voice, which carries over long distances in thick cover.
Q 16The Kerry Beagle of Ireland is unlike the modern Beagle in what way?
It is much taller
The Kerry Beagle is much taller, standing 22 to 24 inches against the Beagle's 13 to 16, and was originally used for hunting stags.
Q 17What is the white tip on a Beagle's tail called?
The flag
The white tip, known as the 'flag', was bred for on purpose so the tail stays visible above cover when the dog's head is down on a scent.
Q 18A Beagle's tail is traditionally called what?
The stern
Hound fanciers call the tail the 'stern'; a Beagle's is long, slightly curved and held upright when the dog is active, but never curls over the back.
Q 19Tricolour Beagle puppies, whatever their adult coat, are almost always born in which two colours?
Black and white
Black and white at birth; the white areas are set by eight weeks, but the black may fade to brown over one to two years.
Q 20The tricolour with a jet-black saddle is known as the 'Classic Tri' or what?
Blackback
'Blackback' is the other name for the jet-black-saddled Classic Tri; the 'Dark Tri' and 'Faded Tri' show less contrast, and some dogs lose their black markings entirely as they age.
Q 24In Scott and Fuller's scent test, how long did Beagles take to find a mouse in a one-acre field?
Under a minute
Beagles found the mouse in under a minute; in the same test Fox Terriers needed 15 minutes and Scottish Terriers never found it at all.
Q 25Along with the Bloodhound and Beagle, which breed is named as having one of the best noses of any dog?
Basset Hound
The Basset Hound, alongside the Bloodhound and Beagle, has one of the best-developed senses of smell of any dog; all three have long ears and loose lips that probably help trap scent near the nose.
Q 26What is the popular Beagle-Pug crossbreed called?
Puggle
The Puggle is the Beagle–Pug cross; some are calmer than a Beagle, like the Pug parent, but many are highly excitable and need vigorous exercise.
Q 27Several breed standards describe the Beagle's temperament with which single word?
Merry
Several breed standards describe the Beagle as 'merry'; it is a poor guard dog because strangers win it over so easily, though its bark makes it a decent watchdog.
Q 28Where does the Beagle sit in Stanley Coren's ranking in The Intelligence of Dogs?
72nd
Coren ranks the Beagle 72nd, in his lowest tier for working and obedience intelligence; the scale measures trainability rather than the independent scenting a hound was bred for.
Q 29When a Beagle catches a scent and gives voice, hunters say it is doing which of these?
Baying
A Beagle on a scent is said to be baying; hunters also call the same behaviour 'speaking', 'giving tongue' or 'opening'.
Q 30A 2024 UK study gave the Beagle what average life expectancy?
12.5 years
The 2024 UK study put the Beagle at 12.5 years, a shade under its 12.7-year average for purebreds; an Italian study the same year found 11 years.