What breed is Snoopy? The beagle behind Peanuts, explained

Part 1

Why Charles Schulz drew Snoopy as a beagle

Charles Schulz gave Snoopy his look by remembering a dog from his own childhood. The Schulz family got a black-and-white mixed-breed dog named Spike in 1934. Spike was white with black ears and markings, and Schulz later said he was the inspiration for Snoopy.

Snoopy started out looking like an ordinary dog. According to Benjamin Clark, Curator of the Charles M. Schulz Museum, the young Snoopy of 1950 stood on all fours, barked, and acted like an ordinary dog. As the strip continued, his appearance grew bigger, rounder, and more abstract, even though he kept his markings. Real beagles are usually tricolor, a mix of black, white, and brown, but Snoopy is mostly black and white.

Snoopy made his first appearance in the Peanuts comic strip on October 4, 1950, two days after the strip itself debuted. Peanuts itself had started two days before, on October 2, 1950, in seven newspapers. Charles Schulz drew every strip himself for nearly fifty years.

Part 2

How Snoopy's design changed over the decades

If you compare an early Snoopy strip with a later one, the differences are easy to spot. In 1950, Snoopy walked on four legs, chased cars and birds, and dug holes like a typical dog. Clark explains that over the years Snoopy got bigger and rounder, and he eventually began walking upright on two legs and wearing clothes.

He was first shown as the World War I Flying Ace in 1965, imagining he piloted a fighter plane against his rival, the Red Baron. Schulz researched World War I aviation to keep the character accurate, drawing on his son's interest in model airplanes.

His long dark ears, his black-and-white spots, and his black nose were part of his design. Those markings are also what tie Snoopy back to Spike, the real dog Schulz grew up with.

Part 3

What real beagles are actually like

Beagles stand about 13 to 16 inches tall, with males weighing 22 to 25 pounds and females 20 to 23 pounds. Their coat is short and hard, usually tricolor or a combination of white with black, tan, brown, or yellow. Beagles are known for being cheerful, intelligent, and sometimes stubborn, and they are loyal companions. Beagles are also considered a friendly, outgoing breed that gets along well with children and other dogs.

Beagles were originally bred as scent hounds for hunting rabbit and hare. Their sense of smell is remarkable, with more than 225 million scent receptors compared to about five million in humans. That nose also makes beagles useful today as detection dogs at airports and borders. In the United States, a program called the Beagle Brigade has used the breed's nose to find thousands of banned food items at airports and border crossings.

Snoopy is drawn mostly black and white, while beagles can also be tricolor.

Part 4

Snoopy's place among famous cartoon dogs

Among cartoon dogs, Snoopy holds an unusual spot. The American Kennel Club calls Snoopy the most famous of all cartoon canines, and it even gave him an honorary registration number, Beagle-1. In 2015, Snoopy received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and he became the first beagle to be honored this way. Snoopy also rose to popularity through television specials in the 1960s, which introduced him to new audiences. Snoopy is also thought to have helped push the beagle to the top of the AKC's breed rankings in 1953.

He grew out of Schulz's memories of Spike, a dog from his own childhood.