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My brother once looked at my beagle and said, "You know, it's a good thing you're cute because you're SO ANNOYING!" This really sums beagles up in a nutshell.

I have had 4 beagles over the course of my lifetime and they are some of my favorite dogs. They have great personalities and tend to be very interesting, fun, energetic, loyal, loving, and sweet. They're beautiful dogs and make great pets... But they have their downsides.

Beagles also tend to be very strong willed and often challenge authority. They are very hard to train and will flat out ignore you if they feel like it. They are bred for hunting so they have strong instincts to chase down and track animals. If you let them go outside you will hear their annoying and incessant baying all night long as they chase animals through the woods. When they are on the hunt, NOTHING else matters. They are also very greedy and will whine constantly at the dinner table, and steal food when your back is turned.
 

My best friend in high school had a beagle as a pet. He was very cute, but whenever my friend would practice her alto sax, he would just howl and bay the whole time she was playing. I was never able to figure out if he was howling on protest of the loud noise, or if he was joining in because he felt he could add to the concert.

I know exactly what you mean. Whenever my dad would sing loud, the beagle would howl right along with him. I think they just do it to be part of the music. They are very vocal dogs. They have no problem whatsoever with howling up the same tree at the same animal for hours on end without stopping.  

      I once read a summary of a book that claimed that beagles are one of the stupidest breeds of dogs. This shocked me because some of the smartest dogs I have ever encountered are beagles. For example, my family had a beagle that learned how to open the refrigerator! Then, I realized: the book was probably basing intelligence on how trainable each breed is. Beagles can be extremely stubborn and obstinate, and perhaps they should be; some of them are probably smarter than their owners.

I think that's exactly it. Beagles are smart enough to play dumb when they don't feel like doing what we want them to. They are also very good at playing deaf and blind. Sometimes it seems the only thing that works with them is their nose. I had a beagle that was so stubborn. You could call her and she would look at you and run the other way. I spent hours chasing her through the woods following her incessant barking. Their barking is annoying most of the time, but it makes them really easy to chase in the woods.