Anyone who grew up in the late 90s or early 2000s probably remembers Courage the Cowardly dog. Not because of it being a cute show. Mostly people remember it for the horrific imagery that the show displayed. Truly it gave nightmares to children all around the globe. However have you ever wondered what kind of dog is Courage the Cowardly dog? Is he really that frightened, or is he supposed to be a more courageous breed?
According to the creator of the show, John R. Dilworth, Courage actually does have a confirmed dog breed. He is, in fact, a very well known breed known as a beagle!
The beagle is a small scent hound type breed. They are described to be very similar in appearance to the much larger Foxhound. This breed was bred specifically for hunting hare (also known as beagling), with the genetics being focused in their ability to track. They are known to be some of the best tracking dogs in existence in the modern day. With their superior tracking capabilities they are used as detection dogs for agricultural imports and/or foodstuffs that are in quarantine all around the world. They are very intelligent dogs, something that lines up with Courage perfectly, and is a popular breed due to its good temper, lack of major inherited health problems, and their outstandingly lovely temper.
Now the beagle wasn’t always the way we see them today. While we aren’t positive how different the breed was back in the day, we can at least pinpoint when the breed truly began to emerge. The modern version of the breed was first recorded in Great Britain during the 1830s and was a combination of the North Country Beagle, Talbot Hound, Southern Hound, and (in some reports) the Harrier. Since their emergence they have been depicted in pop culture since the Elizabethan times. They have appeared in literature, paintings, film, television, comic books, music, and many, many other forms of media.
So then the question remains, is Courage truly anything like his real world counterpart? Well, yeah actually. Courage has exhibited, throughout the show, that he could smell things very easily and through this was able to save his owners rather easily by locating them. Not only that but they are also widely intelligent, which allows them to solve complex problems that some may consider to be beyond the understanding of dogs. Courage does this as well, granted he is smarter than the average Beagle, that doesn’t change the fact that he is showcasing that classic Beagle intellect. Finally there is their pleasant demeanor and personality. As one can expect, this also checks out. Courage is loving towards his family, even Eustice who doesn’t like him at all (anyone else hear the classic ‘stupid dog’ line?).
All in all we can see that Courage is in fact, without a shadow of a doubt, a beagle. Now that we know that, let’s just keep him out of the middle of nowhere. I don’t know about you, but I don’t really want to be seeing the spirit of King Ramses on my porch. Boy was early 2000s computer animation creepy.