A few months after Sparky moved in, I took him across the street to meet Carl. They got along well, and he didn’t even mind Sparky taking a shit in his pachysandras. Carl told me that there are short beagles and tall beagles. Like they were different styles of the same breed.
Carl is 96 years-old, and says interesting things, but it may not all be strictly true. I remain skeptical of his thoughts on the medicinal uses of cobwebs and turpentine.
Sparky is charming, thoughtful and tolerant, but it’s hard to think of him as a great hunting dog.
I thought of Sparky as beagle-ish. I considered doing the DNA test to learn what breeds he has in him.
Since Rocco is obviously laid out different, I looked up the AKC beagle guidelines.
There are two types. Rocco is a standard beagle, and Sparky is a pocket beagle.
Standard Beagles are the taller of the two types of Beagles, and they can be 13–15 inches tall in the United States. Beagles in the UK can be up to 16 inches tall. Generally, they weigh between 20 and 30 pounds. They are found in several colors, including tricolor, red, tan, brown, or lemon with white.
Although they are not a separate breed, “pocket” Beagles are the smaller of the two types. They can’t be more than 13 inches tall, with no lower height limit. Typically, these smaller Beagles weigh less than 20 pounds and are found in the same colors as a standard Beagle.
Sparky measures 12.5 inches at the shoulders, but the weight isn’t correct. We know who Sparky is, and accept his jolly physique.
Rocco has an unusually long neck.
After we get acquainted, I’ll ask Rocco what the long neck is for. I image that’s to stick his head into rabbit holes or something.
Seems like sparky might have a touch of just in him.
Husky typo. Sparky might have a touch of Husky in him. Spell check turned Husky into the word just automatically