Why the key to a blissful love life could be a pet beagle

IT won’t come as a surprise for newlymarried Meghan Markle, the loving owner of rescue beagle Guy.

Research shows that owners of the breed are more likely to have a happy romantic life than those of any other dog.

A survey by the Kennel Club found that 87 per cent of beagle owners are married or in a relationship. They are also the most likely to be asked out on a date while walking their dog.

The poll of 2,612 dog owners found people projected their preconceptions about certain breeds on to their owners.

So beagles like Guy (pictured) which are seen as ‘friendly, loyal and fun’, create a positive first impression.

But Jack Russell terriers’ ‘strongwilled, hard to handle but friendly’ personalities though saw their owners at the bottom of the romance league. They were least likely to be married or in a relationship (64 per cent) and least likely to be asked out while walking their dog (22 per cent).

The owners of ‘handle to handle, kooky and fun’ chihuahuas also fared badly in the survey, with just under a third of them being asked out.

But labradors, most often described as ‘kooky and outgoing’ in the poll, fared well, with 80 per of owners in a marriage or relationship and 40 per cent being asked out during walkies.

Overall, 75 per cent of dog owners were found to be married or in a relationship, compared with 65 per cent of those without dogs. Kennel Club Secretary Caroline Kisko said: ‘Dogs are a great ice breaker, when strangers may otherwise not look twice at each other, and we tend to have very positive associations about people who love dogs.’

The Duchess of Sussex’s beagle, which she adopted from a dog shelter in the US, has been settling into life at Kensington Palace and is the ‘author’ of his own children’s book to be published next month.