Marmaduke, Garfield, Heathcliff, Scooby Doo and (of course) Snoopy…there’s a seemingly endless list of cartoon animals who have human or semi-human characteristics but, in reality, demonstrate characteristics of the very animal type they are a caricature of.

What’s fun about these characters is that they are basically exaggerations of those characteristics of their animal type and/or breed.  With that in mind, here are 3 ways that the beloved Peanuts character Snoopy is actually like a real beagle:

1.  Beagles are very active, but also really love their lazy time.   Snoopy is constantly on the go…playing with Woodstock, playing shortstop on Charlie Brown’s baseball team, investigating every nook and cranny, etc.  Snoopy is certainly an active dog, but he also values and protects his lazy time.  He loves his naps and, in one classic comic strip, he is shown napping…then waking up…then his thought bubble says “Born to Sleep.”  Beagles are known for playing hard…and resting hard.

2.  Beagles are very imaginative in their play time.   The personality of a beagle is such that he or she can get totally wrapped up and even “lost” in playtime with humans or other dogs.  Snoopy best exemplifies this when he has his fantasy sequences as a World War I flying ace trying to shoot down the Red Baron or as a spy behind enemy lines.

3.  He has a voice and he wants it heard.  Snoopy is a very vocal dog, whether it’s his body language, his LOUD thought bubbles or his actual barking or howling.  This makes him very much a beagle, as they are known for their loud and almost sad/pathetic sounding howls.  Just listen to a beagle when you leave the house and he or she doesn’t know what’s going on.  It just might be both the saddest and cutest thing you’ve ever heard.

Beagles are popular and loved for their personality and Snoopy has personality in spades.  His memorable personality is mostly an exaggeration of the characteristics of this classic dog breed.