When people do that they actually send a signal to their dog that there is danger near and more likely to cause a problem than if they had let the dogs naturally meet and say hi. But maybe it wasn't that she was afraid, perhaps the beagle was sick or doesn't have its shots yet.. or maybe she was afraid that Gracie didn't. Still if it was something like that, you would think she would say that to you so you wouldn't feel offended. Glad the visit went okay