It is a fact of life that beagles love food and that their owners cannot resist that look that begs for one more bite! We are all guilty of overindulging these lovable beggars! I recently had my 6 y/o boy in for his annual. He had been skinny at 22 pounds when found and I overshot his target weight by 4 pounds after one year! I vowed to do better but one year later, I was faced with the reality that he had gained another 6 pounds!! How could this happen when I only feed him 1/2 cup twice a day of low-calorie food?!?!? We can be good about measuring out their kibble and limiting the number of soft toppings, but we all fail at those little bites of food throughout the day. In Dillon’s case, he lives at the sanctuary. He gets treats at meals time, lunch time and bedtime along with the foster pack. He then comes inside and begs a bite or two at mealtimes in addition to the treats my sister gives them when she comes and goes! The key will be to reduce the size of the treat and frequency, in addition to substituting things like green beans and baby carrots to their diet. We should all vow to do better and keep our beagle lean and mean!
General Guideline:
1/3 to 1/2 cup of kibble twice a day for your small beagles
2/3 cup twice a day for your average weight adults
1 cup twice a day for your larger, young, and active beagles
Puppies get fed often and should get a couple cups of food spread out through the day. Reducing the amount as needed for whatever size they end up being!
Seniors may need to have the amount reduced, if no longer active. Adjust the amount to keep thiem at an ideal weight.
Buy age-appropriate food and try a little shredded chicken or a spoonful of soft food as a topper to the kibble. For those who refuse kibble add a little to the soft food until they are eating more kibble than soft. Dry kibble helps keep the tartar from building up on their teeth!
