Feeding a Beagle: Weight, Scavenging, Counter Surfing and the Things They Eat

A Beagle's relationship with food is not like other dogs'. A hound bred to run all day was bred to eat whatever it found whenever it found it, and the off switch never evolved. Beagles rank among the most commonly overweight breeds in every survey, and an overweight Beagle has a worse back, worse joints, a higher risk of diabetes and a shorter life. This article is the difference between thirteen good years and ten hard ones. The usual honest line: we are not vets. This is what to watch and when to ask.

The waist test

From above, a clear waist behind the ribs. From the side, a tuck up behind the chest. Ribs easy to feel under a thin cover, like the back of your hand. A Beagle who looks like a barrel from above is carrying at least fifteen per cent too much. Ask your vet to score body condition out of nine; four or five is the target. Weigh monthly on the vet's scales, which are free, and write it down.

How much, and how often

• Weigh every meal in grams. A cup varies by a third depending on who fills it. A Beagle's eyes are not a guide.
• Two meals a day for adults, three for puppies until six months. In a slow bowl, a snuffle mat or scattered across the grass, so a thirty-second meal takes ten minutes and works the nose.
• Treats from the ration, never more than ten per cent of it. Use part of the kibble for training.
• After neutering, cut the ration by twenty to thirty per cent in the same week. The calorie need drops that much, and most Beagle weight gain starts here.
• Adjust by the waist, monthly. The packet's guide is a starting point for an imaginary average dog.

A Beagle who begs is not hungry. A Beagle is always begging. Feed the dog, not the face.

Counters, bins and the scavenger

Beagles counter surf, open cupboards, raid bins, unzip bags, steal from children's hands and eat off the pavement. Management beats training here: lidded bins or bins in a cupboard, food never near a counter edge, a kitchen door that shuts, bags off the floor, the dishwasher closed. Then train a 'leave it' and a 'drop', both with high-value trades, so that when they do get something they give it up rather than swallow it. On walks, a Beagle with the nose down in the leaves has usually found something; for a dog who eats everything, a basket muzzle trained kindly with treats is a sensible, humane tool, not a punishment.

The poisons

Any of these is a phone call to the vet now, not tomorrow, and don't make the dog sick at home unless the vet tells you to:

• Chocolate, especially dark and cooking chocolate. The dose matters; tell the vet the type and the weight.
• Xylitol, the sweetener in sugar-free gum, some peanut butters, sweets and baked goods. Blood sugar can crash within an hour; liver damage can follow.
• Grapes, raisins, sultanas, including in cakes and mince pies. Kidney failure in some dogs at any dose.
• Onions, garlic, leeks, raw or cooked, including in gravy and stuffing.
• Macadamia nuts. Weakness, tremors, fever.
• Mouldy food from the compost or a bin. Tremorgenic mycotoxins cause tremors and seizures.
• Raw bread dough, which rises in the stomach and produces alcohol.
• Human medicines, especially ibuprofen and paracetamol.

Keep the Animal PoisonLine number on the fridge, and the emergency vet's.

Blockages

Corn cobs, peach and avocado stones, socks, tights, children's toys, cooked bones, the stuffing from a toy. Signs: repeated vomiting, no poo for a day or more, a painful or tense belly, refusing food, lethargy, restlessness. Same-day vet. A blockage found early is an operation; one found late is a rupture and a very sick dog.

The honest summary

Weigh the meals, keep a waist, cut the food after neutering, lid the bins, train the trades, know the poisons. Do that and the two things that shorten Beagle lives most, obesity and the emergency vet, stay manageable. The health by age guide covers the diabetes and thyroid problems that come with the weight.