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Beagles/Beagle Weight

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Expert: - 11/30/2008


Question
Hello Mr. Have4Paws,
I have a large beagle.  He weights 50#'s however my vet says he is not overweight.  We give him (Barney) a half a pound of Deli Fresh in the morning and 1 cup of kibble in the evening and treats throughout the day.  Barney also gets 1 walk a day anywhere between 10-40 minutes.

Question #1, is our dear Barney overweight; Question #2, are we overfeeding?

I appreciate your response.
Susan Paz-Tellone

Answer
Here are guidelines for judging whether your dog is at a healthy weight.

-- Emaciated
Ribs, backbone and pelvic bones easily seen, even from a distance; no body fat; obvious loss of muscle mass

-- Underweight
Ribs can be seen and easily felt; pelvic bones are prominent; obvious waist and abdominal tuck

-- Ideal
Ribs can be felt; waist obvious when viewed from above; abdominal tuck evident
-- Overweight
Ribs hard to feel, covered by fat; noticeable fat deposits over back and base of tail; waist and abdominal tuck barely discernible

-- Obese
Ribs cannot be felt, under heavy fat covering; massive fat deposits over back and base of tail; no waist or abdominal tuck .

Source: Veterinary Products Laboratories

Hope this helps determine for you if he is overweight. Also beagles are NEVER 50#, I have one that is 35 and not overweight but he is extremely rare. Are you sure Barney is all beagle?

As far as feed, I don't know what Deli Fresh is but if it is any kind of human food it is not appropriate for him. He should be getting kibble ONLY twice a day and if he gets snack throughout the day his food should be minused by that much. Beagles will eat until they pass out and have no idea of "full", it will shorten his life greatly if he IS overweight.

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Have4Paws

Expertise

I am happy to answer BEAGLE BREED SPECIFIC behavioral questions. Please DO NOT ask CRATE TRAINING OR MEDICAL questions! I am not a vet nor an expert in the use of crates.

Experience

I currently have one beagle, a male age 5, an 12 month old Pit Bull, and a 8 year old min. poodle. I have had to let go of three of my dogs, 2 beagles and 1 whippet/rat terrier mix in the past 5 years, most recently my whippet mix. The two beagles lived to 15 and the whippet mix to 13.5, it has been hard to say goodbye to them. I have done rescue work on and off for years as well as fund-raising for the local animal shelter. I worked for a dog magazine in the past (Southern California Dog Magazine). Being a psychotherapist has encouraged me to do in depth studying of animal behavior as well. I have worked with many people to help curb undesirable behaviors in their dogs (or them!) or to form good behaviors. My life is devoted to and surrounded by my dogs........The picture you see here is Zeppelin but we also call him the "miracle dog". He was hit by a car April 2010 while out with the dog walker and had very serious injuries... 4 surgeries and $17,000 later my boy is whole again and back to loving life. He is so special to me and he weathered a lot of pain and trauma yet is still the sweet boy he always was! I also work to stop Breed Specific Legislation and help to get pit bulls adopted.

Organizations
HSUS, PETA, SPCA DONT SHOP...ADOPT!!

Publications
Dog Fancy

Education/Credentials
I am a Marriage and Family Therapist licensed in the state of CA and am also credentialed as a Certified Addiction Treatment Specialist

Awards and Honors
Honored by the Agoura Animal Shelter for my volunteer work.

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