Expert: Have4Paws - 3/12/2009

Question
I'm trying to switch my beagle from eating table food on to dry dog food. How can I get him to eat the dry dog food?

Answer
First off congratulatons on making the decision to stop feeding your dog people food. It is incredibly unhealthy for him and especially in beagles who tend to be overweight if you are not vigilant with their diet. It can be deadly by shortening their lives considerably. If you are having trouble geting him to switch right away don't feel bad, he is used to getting a certain diet and may try to hold out until you give in but DON'T!! He will NOT starve if he misses a few meals without eating.

Start off by giving him some high quality canned dog food which will smell great and be very enticing. AS well it will be designed for dogs and have all the right proteins, fats and carbs he is supposed to be getting. Unfortunately it is not advised to feed him canned food long term as it tends to cause tooth decay.

I would try a meal or two with just canned food and then slowly add a few pieces of kibble to each feeding, adding more each time until the kibble is the higher content and the canned food is the smallest. Eventually you will phase it out. As I said if he gets stubborn and doesn't eat a couple times he will survive and it will only make him hungrier the next meal. Adult dogs should be fed twice a day to keep something in their bellies most of the time. Food should be put down and the dog given 10-15 minutes to eat, if they don't finish it pick up the food. Do not get in the habit of hand feeding to try and coax him or you will have another problem to fix. This whole process shouldn't take more than a week.

Hope this is helpful and you are successful!