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Beagles/What and how mcuh do i feed my pup.

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Expert: - 3/20/2009


Question

Tank
I am getting a new black/tan male beagle on Saturday. He will be 7 weeks. Right now he is being fed Purina beneful puppy food. Should i continue with the same food? Also how much and how often should I feed him? I just want to be ready for him and start out right!

Answer
Oh my, Tank is adorable!!!! I would suggest putting him on a high quality food instead. You can go to  www.dogfoodanalysis.com to see which are the highest rated, Beneful is not one of them. There is a whole process to changing the food. For the first week at least I would not make any changes at all, just coming to a new environment with new people is a huge change and takes a lot of adapting. You may find you puppy is very tired and out of sorts for a few days but just depends on the puppy. After a week or so then get the new food and begin to add pieces of it to the old food. Day by day you will keep adding more until the old food is extinct. The rule of thumb is start off by feeding him 4 times a day, then at about3-4 months go to three times a day and atabout 6-7 months go to twice a day and that is where it will stay. Never free feed, in other words you put the food down, he gets 10 minutes to eat it and then it is picked up until next meal. Most importantly NO HUMAN FOOD, especially in a beagle as they already tend to be obese and will eat until they pop!
Congratulations and enjoy your boy!!
    Questioner's Rating
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    CommentThank you so much!! I am so grateful you take the time to do this!


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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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