How to feed a beagle puppy correctly

The Beagle is an English dog breed that has been considered one of the most prestigious breeds for many years. When drawing up a beagle's diet and feeding regime, you must first take into account that you cannot indulge their requests and overfeed, otherwise the dog can quickly become fat and clumsy. Beagle feeding guidelines must be followed to ensure a long and healthy life.

Feeding

If your beagle is still very small, you need to take into account that his stomach is not as strong as that of an adult, which means his diet should be different.

The first year of your pet's life is crucial for future health, and it is during this period that habits are formed.

If you spoil your pet, it will be almost impossible to get it back on track.

Mode

The daily food intake is best divided into several meals . It is advisable to feed the dog at the same time - this disciplines the dog and also improves metabolism. In the case when a beagle has eaten its portion and asks for more, this is pure begging! If within 15-20 minutes the dog has not eaten the food allotted to it, the bowl should be taken away and left until the next meal.

The dog should always have clean and fresh water freely available.

It is best to choose a food bowl made of stainless steel , as it is more durable and the dog will not be able to chew it or turn it over. Plastic bowls quickly break down, and small pieces of plastic that your dog may chew off can harm your pet if ingested.

Another important purchase when you bring a beagle into your home is a bowl stand with the ability to adjust the height - this will help avoid curvature of the dog’s spine.

What to give a one-month-old puppy?

First, check with the breeder what the baby ate. A sudden switch to other foods can cause stress in a small beagle, so changing food should be done gradually .

Take your food choice seriously and try to decide as early as possible on the best option for you and your baby. When he grows up, he will refuse to switch from dry food to natural food and vice versa.

The amount of daily food intake should not exceed 6-8% of body weight . So, if your puppy weighs 2 kg, then he should receive no more than 160 g of food per day. The puppy needs to be fed 6 times a day.

The diet of a one-month-old puppy, if fed natural food, should be based on the following principle:

70% – natural meat;
30% – dairy and vegetable products, as well as cereals.

Give only boiled and lean meat (chicken, rabbit).

If you want to feed your puppy ready-made dry food, then you should choose the best premium food. You should only take food that is marked “For puppies.”

What to give at 2 months?

At two months, you shouldn’t change the baby’s diet much, but you need to reduce the number of meals: feed the puppy 5 times a day. Add vitamins and minerals to your diet . Natural food, in addition to boiled meat, must include the following products:

fermented milk products (kefir, cottage cheese);
eggs;
cereals (oatmeal, buckwheat).

You can add a small amount of boiled vegetables.

Preference should be given to fermented milk products only in the first half of the day; later meals should be heavier.

Owners often try to combine natural food with dry food. In this case, combining is possible only during the day, but not during one meal. For example, you can give your baby natural foods at one meal, and dry food at the next.

Diet up to a year

From 3 months, the baby’s diet can be supplemented with sea fish (boiled and boneless) and raw vegetables (vegetables need to be finely grated).
From 4 months of age, the number of meals is reduced to 4 times a day. If desired, you can start feeding the puppy liver, chicken gizzards and tongue.
After the baby reaches six months, he should be fed 3 times a day. The diet does not change and depends on the puppy’s preferences.

For training, you can use the following treats: carrots, low-fat cheese, fruits, crackers (cooked without oil!).

Choosing a place, dishes and accessories for feeding

Beagles are quite capricious dogs, and are famous for the fact that they like to dictate to their owners the rules of behavior in the house. This, in particular, affects the reluctance to have a dedicated place for rest and other aspects of behavior related to the manifestation of anarchic habits.

In this regard, determining the place where the puppy will eat will organize and discipline the little bully, and a diet in which the owner eats first will help develop the correct behavioral patterns in the beagle.

The place for feeding is chosen so that all family members feel comfortable:

Away from the aisle (so that no one could accidentally step on the baby or push him).
Where it is easier to clean up (in case the puppy knocks over the bowl).

You should not place the bowl in the kitchen if it is too crowded, or near the dog’s bed. The dishes for feeding the beagle puppy are chosen so that the pet’s long ears do not get into it while eating.

There are several types of bowls:

Plastic : convenient for travel, but poorly suited as permanent utensils - they are too light and “pleasing to the teeth.”

Ceramic : convenient, you can heat food in the microwave, but their price is quite high.

Metal : the best option, both in quality and price.

Bowls are selected according to age and change as the pet gets older. It is convenient for beagles to eat from deep bowls that are not too large in diameter. The dishes are placed on rubber mats or special stands for bowls (bars, countertops, bedside tables with drawers with holes for dishes). The feeding level is up to the pet’s elbows.

Important! It is advisable to choose a place for feeding immediately, and not change it as the dog grows older.

Nutrition for an adult dog

An adult beagle needs to be fed 2 times a day . It is advisable to feed after a walk. The diet of an adult dog directly depends on what he was fed before. The weight of the daily food intake should not exceed 5% of the dog’s body weight (fat deposits are not taken into account). The risk of obesity increases with age, so for older beagles the food weight is reduced to 2.5–3%.

Dry food

If your puppy grew up on ready-made food, continue to feed him that way. However, now you should buy premium and super-premium food for adult dogs. Don't forget that when feeding your beagle dry food, what he needs most is drinking water.

Switching from natural food to ready-made food in adulthood is highly undesirable - the dog’s body may not be able to cope with such a load.

Straight

In general, when feeding natural food, the diet of an adult dog is no different from the diet of a puppy: the bulk should be lean meat and dairy products. But portion sizes need to be reduced. To maintain a balanced diet, it is necessary to give your dog vitamin and mineral supplements.

Beagles are strictly prohibited from giving sweets, as well as fried and fatty foods, even as treats! Their stomach is not designed to digest such heavy food, which can lead to problems with the digestive system, as well as obesity.

Features of the Beagle breed

Beagles are energetic dogs, slightly below average in size, with short, dense hair and floppy ears. Since historically these dogs were hounds and were good hunters, genetics has left its mark on modern representatives of the breed, leaving them with an excellent sense of smell and fast metabolism, subject to sufficient physical activity.

Currently, the passive lifestyle of most beagles has led to the fact that the breed as a whole is predisposed to diseases of the musculoskeletal system, metabolic problems and allergies to food components. A peculiarity of the breed is the insatiable desire for satiety, which, in the absence of control on the part of the owners, often leads to obesity in the pet with resulting health problems.

Diet for a fat dog

Irregular physical activity, poor diet, and excessive generosity of the owner can lead to Beagle obesity. You can keep track of your dog's shape by weighing him regularly . The easiest way to find out the weight of a beagle is to first step on the scale without the dog, and then with it - the difference in the indicators is the weight of your pet. Excess weight gain is also visually noticeable.

When you notice that your dog has gained excess weight, you need to immediately change his diet:

Natural food . If your beagle has overfed itself on natural food, then, first of all, you need to reduce the consumption of foods high in carbohydrates. Replace porridge with vegetables and fruits. Vegetables that help your Beagle lose weight include: zucchini, pumpkin, and carrots. Give exclusively dietary (lean) meat: chicken, rabbit, turkey. But you will have to give up offal for the entire period of the diet.
Dry food . If the dog grew up on dry food, then the diet should be based on it. In this case, it will be easier for the owner - there are a lot of feeds in stores to solve this problem. They contain only plant and meat ingredients; the presence of grain crops is excluded.

Vitamins and supplements

A puppy's menu, regardless of age, should always include vitamins and supplements. In the case of natural nutrition, minerals and vitamins are already present in the food, but in a situation where the nutrition is not balanced, or there is a need to correct some aspects of growing (weak joints, dull coat), the puppy is given a vitamin-mineral complex in accordance with the problem.

There are many good vitamin complexes for various purposes and you can buy them at any pet store, not forgetting that they are divided by age.

Remember! When feeding with industrial diets, all vitamins and minerals are already contained in the food (provided that the product selected is at least premium class).

How much should a beagle puppy eat?

During the puppy stage, our Beagle needs many grams of food. So it's no surprise that we give them more in the early months compared to when they reach adulthood. In this sense, a beagle is considered to have reached maturity once they exceed 12 months of life. Until then, we will have to buy dry food from the junior range, made exclusively to meet the needs of this breed of dog...

The food chosen should contain a high percentage of proteins and nutrients. They will support your digestive system and ensure the proper development of your intestinal (or intestinal) flora. In addition, it is important that essential minerals such as calcium and phosphorus are found in the composition. These minerals help your puppy's skeleton form properly and prevent joint problems. Since they are active and energetic animals, they often suffer from diseases related to bones and joints. Keeping them in perfect condition from birth is important to prevent these diseases. Finally, keep in mind that the food contains antioxidants, which help strengthen your immune system.

We recommend looking at quality food to ensure your puppy receives the best nutrition. Keep in mind that this is the most important stage of your life. This marks his evolution and development. Therefore, you should avoid those brands in which flour and cereals predominate.

When feeding your Beagle puppy, you should keep the following considerations in mind:

To stimulate food intake during the first two months, it is recommended to soak the food in water to soften it. Then you will have to reduce the amount of water until the food is completely dry.
From 2 to 4 months we will ration daily grams and give them in four shots.
From 4 to 6, we'll give them three.
At 6 months , we can now give them the total daily amount of grams, divided into two meals.

Below you will find a guide to feeding beagles presenting the total number of grams you should feed your beagle per day. The numbers take into account the age they are and the weight they will reach when they become adults...

To find out your Beagle's current and future weight, you should consult your veterinarian. You will notice that up to 6 months of age, your beagle's daily food intake will increase to meet all of your nutritional needs. After 6 months, food intake should be reduced to avoid excessive weight gain and/or obesity...

How to feed a beagle correctly

Each dog breed has its own characteristics that help us determine their nutritional or other needs. Although all hounds require a large supply of protein. In addition to the composition of the food, the amount we provide will also depend on the breed and the following factors:

Years
Adult weight
Physical activity

Obviously, of a beagle puppy, it will not consume as much food as an adult or older beagle. Likewise, small, medium, large and giant fangs are also given an adequate amount of their size.

However, when determining how much food our beagles should eat, we will focus primarily on the amount of physical activity they engage in. Beagles need long walks and exercise, which burn off all their accumulated energy. Likewise, this highly energetic nature makes them have an insatiable appetite. Controlling food portions can be a challenge for homeowners, but it is very important. Beagles, as we mentioned earlier, have a greater tendency to become obese than other dog breeds and therefore their diet must be carefully monitored.