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They sound more like foxhounds than beagles.

I'm the proud and happy owner of a 2-3 year old Beagle. She was a stray, picked up by local rescue league that figured she'd be a good match for my family and placed her with us.

She's a great dog, phenomenal and gental personality, loves to be with us and gets VERY upset when we're not around (Beagles are bred specifically to be pack animals, more-so than canines in general). But to say that she's "brazen" around food is something of an understatement. She learned pretty quickly how to pop open the door to the cabinet where we keep the garbage can ... and has no hesitation, despite multiple scoldings, in trying to get in there even when we are in the room.

She's very observant of us humans - watches us, knows our weaknesses and when we aren't exactly paying attention. A few months back she boosted a hotdog clean out of my 5-year-old's hands as he sat on our couch watching a TV show. She sat and waited and watched (with me watching her the whole time, fascinated by what I was seeing) until the moment he turned to pick up his cup and then ... SNAP! She darted in, scarfed the hotdog and took off across the room. Kid was completely shocked, just sat there saying "Where's my hot dog?"

She ended up under a table, and fought me pretty hard when I pulled her out (and the hotdog out of her mouth) ... and showed absolutely NO evidence of the "hangdog" remorse look when I scolded her.

This story about feral Beagles is amusing (since I don't live there), but not really surprising.