My dog does laps in our living room… Is that normal?

It’s true. Sam uses our living room/ dining room as his own personal Nascar track. He’ll get excited about something (the possibility of a walk, the fact that it’s morning, or perhaps simply the pure joy of feeling important papers flap around in his mouth as he’s hitting the straightaway…) and he’ll take off running. He usually goes clockwise, incidentally, but occasionally he’ll throw in a figure eight, or he’ll take a tight, unexpected turn through the dining room chairs. But, in general, his lap starts around the coffee table in the living room, through the living room to the dining room, around the dining table and back to the living room. When he’s really excited, he might do 20 laps in a row (which usually sends him panting and coughing over to his water dish for refreshment).

For some reason, when we were researching the characteristics of the dog breeds we were considering, the beagle’s energy level did not raise a red flag… I guess the translation for “full of energy, a lively, active dog” is “CLEAR ALL BREAKABLES! WILL DO LAPS IN YOUR LIVING ROOM!”
I guess I was thinking more along the lines of “will really enjoy a brisk walk or perhaps the occasional jog.”

Now that we have a beagle, of course, we keep running into old friends and neighbors who say, “Oh your dog is so cute! WE USED TO HAVE A BEAGLE.” Used to have???!! I guess once is enough, no one would voluntarily go through the experience AGAIN! That would have been nice to know.

So, I guess the moral of the story is that if you are looking to get a dog, DO the RESEARCH. And not only that, but BELIEVE the RESEARCH. Pay attention to the warnings—they are not kidding.
But, after all that, if you choose to ignore the warnings and decide against all common sense to get a beagle, make sure your living room has at least a 10 foot clear path with optional figure 8 track.