Handler Aaron Wilkerson is shown with Uno, a beagle who won Best Of Show at the 132nd Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. How much do you know about the breed?

Uno the beagle may be “America’s dog,” which is what the commentators at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show dubbed him when he took Best in Show honors last week.

But the merry little hound is not the right breed for everyone.

To be sure, there is a reason the beagle was the fifth-most-popular breed in American Kennel Club registrations in 2007: It is an excellent family dog, with a genial temperament, appealingly small size and irresistibly pleading expression.

But beagles come with baggage.

“Once they hit a scent in the air or on the ground, they will try and trail it, regardless of what’s in the way,” warned Skip Herendeen of Henderson, Nev., an American Kennel Club judge who bred beagles and was present to see Uno make history as the first of that breed to win Westminster.

“Some 50 years ago, I was one of those people who purchased a beagle just because it was cute, and I paid the price,” said fellow judge Barbara Sawyer-Brown of Chicago about her dog Scooter.

In his various exploits, Scooter upset a neighbor’s Thanksgiving table crowded with fine crystal, won a tug-of-war over a rack of barbecued ribs and escaped during a snowstorm to cruise the neighborhood.

“A beagle-proof fence has to be at least 4 feet high so they can’t climb over,” said Karen Philhower, president of Safe Hounds Beagle Rescue in Sparta, N.J. “And, because they dig, part of the fence should be buried so they can’t burrow under.”

Then there’s Uno’s penchant for barking at his handler in the ring and during news conferences. Philhower adds that the beagle’s gregarious nature can also lead to howling or barking when lonely or bored.