[BeckyBeagal]

Hello, Dog Forum family!! I haven't here for a while but I am back!
I have 3 questions for our Dog Forum Experts. * Wink

1) I have 13" female beagle about 2 years old (Not sure about her age since we adopted her from a shelter.) She used to weigh 21 lbs when we first got her since she was sick from kennel flu and ticks. Now she is 26 lbs. I was able to get her down to 24lbs but she is right back up 26. I am feeding her "Diamond Chicken and Rice fomular for adult dogs", 1/2 cup in the morning and 1/2 cup for dinner. She gets some eggs, beef, chicken and veggie when we eat. ( Man.. Beagle is such a good food begger). She goes for a walk for 30~40 min about 2~3 times a week and plays in our back yard, which is huge almost all day on Sunny days.

After she is done eating, she looks like she didn't have enough food and keeps on looking for food. Am I underfeeding her? Is that why she is having reverse effect, I mean gaining weight instead of loosing it?

2) I am going to change her food to Caidae. Does the formula for over weight dog really work? Or it might be better off to get " all Life Stage" I heard some negative comments/articles on overweight formula. Please advise.

3) Is it safe to feed raw eggs? My hubby says it should make dog's coat shinnier but I want to get second opinion..

I would appreciate any advise. Have wonderful evening.

Becky's Mom

[briteday]

You will feed less on Canidae, especially less since you are trying to reduce weight. Honestly, I've never seen a beagle at our shelter that wasn't overweight. It seems to be a trend with them so don't give in to those puppy eyes. I would go with the all stages formula. Everyone I know has had success with it. Raw eggs are fine. I feed my dogs a raw diet and they get a raw egg every week. Some dogs take a bit of getting used to it. You might have to mix it with some kibble.

And with an over weight beagle (or any beagle IMO) I would skip all table scraps. They are just too prone to obesity. Also try to work in a daily walk of 30 minutes or so, at least, to burn more calories. If the weather is too hot then play fetch or roll a ball to chase in the house, for a good long time.

[poodleholic]

After she is done eating, she looks like she didn't have enough food and keeps on looking for food. Am I underfeeding her? Is that why she is having reverse effect, I mean gaining weight instead of loosing it?

No. Skip the table scraps and opt for things that won't pack on the weight. Try canned green beans with grated parmesan cheese, bits of hard boiled egg, garlic chicken (poach breasts in water w/garlic and celery stalk; cool, then cube), low fat cottage cheese, raw baby carrots, peeled and cubed apple or pear, etc. Or, get some really smelly garlic summer sausage and put some in a plastic bag filled with cheerios. The cheerios take on the smell of the sausage, so the dogs really go for it.

2) I am going to change her food to Caidae. Does the formula for over weight dog really work? Or it might be better off to get " all Life Stage" I heard some negative comments/articles on overweight formula. Please advise.

You're better off to get All Life Stage and skip the weight control stuff. Get a Buster Cube and put her kibble in there for one of her meals. You might want to increase her exercise by taking on two walks a day, for no less than 30 minutes. When I want to build muscle, I add backpacks with 2.5 lb. weights on each side. It also keeps my dogs lean, and tires them out!

3) Is it safe to feed raw eggs? My hubby says it should make dog's coat shinnier but I want to get second opinion..

People do, I don't. I buy organic brown eggs and offer them soft or hard cooked, in omelettes w/spinach & cheese. For skin and coat I give Omega 3 Fatty Acid caps. I use Wild Alaskan Salmon, 1,200 mg, twice a day.

[RonE]

Beagles are the most accomplished beggars in the world. They will not stop eating when they're full. In fact, I'm not convinced it's even possible to fill up a beagle.

I was reading a rather dry book about dog food quality years ago when I ran across an amusing passage. They were talking about dog food taste tests and mentioned that beagles and labs are never used for taste tests because they will just eat every food available in the order that they encounter it.

Since she is basically just a Big Black Beagle, Esther is a very good beggar, too, but I am able to resist her begging because I was trained by a beagle.

[Shell&Jas]

I will agree that beagles will never stop eating if you let them. My beagle (especially in colder weather) will always look for more food all day even after having a full meal. It is just the kind of dogs they are. I find that they have one track minds and when they are thinking about food you can't reason with them.

The trap a lot of beagles owners fall into is giving them more and more food cause they think they must not be full. This just leads to a lot of obese beagles. Stick with the recommendations on the food that you are feeding and see how it goes.

[BeckyBeagal]

Thank you for all the kind reply. So I guess one cup a day for my beagle is good enough huh?

Have a great weekend.

Ron- Good to see you again.