Beagle fussy eater!

[joannexoxpoppy]

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Hi all

We are new to this forum!

This is my first post and just need some advice/help if anybody could.

little bit of background:

We have a female Beagle, she has just turned 1, she has problems with her anal glands and has to have them emptied every few months, she has a lot of dandruff and is ALWAYS itching her back!! she is treated for fleas, mites etc. on a regular basis so does not have fleas.

We have always struggled to get her to eat dry food, she just doesn't seem interested in it for some reason. Our vet suggested trying different food to see how she reacts, we would prefer to feed her dry food as it is good for her teeth but she just seems to turn her nose up every time!

we currently feed her naturesdiet meat (puppy/junior) and try to mix in her dry food which is skinners. We have tried adding water to the dry food but still won't eat it!

we have tried different dry food:

James wellbeloved - would not eat

Burns - would not eat

Fish4dogs - would not eat (but will eat the fish4dogs treat cubes)

Red mills - this is what the breeder was feeding her but after 2 weeks she would not eat it!

Currently on Skinners puppy - we try to mix it with the naturesdiet but if we put too much in she just goes and lays down!

She will eat the meat which is naturesdiet but not always very hit and miss!

The vet has weighed her recently and is very happy with her weight which is 12.7KG, he says that is fine because she is such a dainty little lady.

So we just really want some advice if anybody has gone through this too and especially as she is constantly itching and the vet suggested it could be the food but the vet did not and never has suggested an alternative food which is very frustrating all he says is that it is trial and error and there are so many on the market now that he could not recommend one

I hope that all sounded ok and that I have not gone on too much

Thanks all :thumbsup:

 

[Poochbypost]

Hi there, this is my first post too

In my opinion this dog is crying out fot the BARF diet, I know it sounds scary but its really not! we sell the natures menu range, its all 100% human grade ingredients. This is not an advert though, I just highly reccomend you choose a raw diet for your dog

 

[hanneroon]

you could try eliminating grains from her diet, these can often cause a bit of itchiness.

Fussy dogs are amazing eh? Mine is, and was very underweight when i got him. i tried many tricks to get him to eat, and put on weight. If she's on weight then i'd say you are just playing the food is power game, not a criticisim, i play this too with my fussy chap. They quickly learn that if they turn their nose up at something, then they get something nicer, or a bit of gravy on it, etc etc.

I never mix his food now, so that if he won't eat it i take it up and try again later, after he's had a bit of a run or something, so the biscuits won't be soggy or whatever.

i can also reccomend raw feeding, but as this will depend on your time and freezer space, you could try one of the really good grain free complete foods, and supplement with raw bones, tinned fish (good for skin), tripe, as and when you can.

My dog has Acana biscuits, or one of the other similar ones. They are pricey, i warn you, but my dog eats less than the recommended amount, and the bags last for ages. I then supplement him with raw food, butchers tripe in tins, those trays like nature diet etc. And i don't worry about him stealing the odd biscuit from the old ladies i work for.

If you dog has skin troubles, it might be worth trying to isolate what is causing it. feeding as few ingredients as possible, then slowly adding more things. It can take a number of weeks for you to see the effects of a new diet.

good luck!

 

[eingana]

I'd be suggesting a raw diet too, but the alternative is to try one of the brands which is recommended by lots of different sources for beagles, which is Wainwrights. My best mate has a rescue beagle who arrived weighing twice the weight he should be and addicted to human junk food (and also with the anal gland problem) and Wainwrights offered as a very carefully weighed food has gradually bought his weight down, reduced the number of times that his anal glands need attention and he also likes it sufficiently that my friend can use it as his treats too.

My dog is a GSD and her digestion can't cope with any of the processed foods that we tried. The only thing on which she doesn't have diarrhoea is a raw diet and she also now wants to eat her food which keeps her weight stable too.

Good luck and I hope you find something that suits your dog soon

 

[Poochbypost]

in relation to the freezer part, you can now also feed a BARF diet in either tins or pouches

 

[eingana]

Sorry, but I need to ask this question. How can a raw diet be canned or put in pouches? Most canned or pouch foods are put in raw but are then cooked in the can/pouch to prevent the food spoiling.

I'm not thinking about doing this BTW- it's hugely more expensive than just going and buying meat and vegetables. It's driven entirely by interest and curiosity.

 

[Poochbypost]

well the tinned and pouched foods are the "next best thing", theyre steam cooked inside the pouch so that all of the nutrients stay inside of the packet, and yes youre correct it is more expensive, but do you know which vegetables contain which vitamins and minerals? what percentages and ratios to use meat:veg, other stuff like oils etc, its a fantastic meal in the convenience of a cube,or in a tin or pouch

 

[murphyrules]

Hi, I also have/had a picky, itchy, beagle!! mine also had poo issues with diarrhoea coming from most food brands. I tried various foods each for a minimum of 8 weeks (absolutely no treats or tit bits) and Wafcol Salmon and Potato has been the best for him, he has gained weight he was 12kgs and is now perfect at 14kgs and has normal poo.

Wafcol state -

Formulated with NO CEREALS such as wheat and wheat gluten, maize, barley, rye and oats. Also excludes red meat, poultry, white fish, dairy products, soya and artificial colours, flavours and preservatives - known allergens that may trigger food allergies or intolerances

And its just under £40 per bag which lasts my boy 5-6 weeks so it is less expensive than other cereal/grain free foods.

His skin was much less itchy over winter but has flared up again and we are waiting on referral to a dermatologist for seasonal allergy testing.

With regard to him being picky and not eating I put his 100g of dry food down at 6pm give him 15 minutes and if it is not eaten he goes hungry until 6am, when 100g of dry food is put back down to him again for 15 minutes. It took my boy 2 days to start eating both meals and we have not had any issues since then. It may sound mean but at over a year old he was not going to starve from missing a meal and it taught him to eat what's given to him when its given.

Good luck with your girl I would go back to your vet and ask their advice on trying an elimination diet and see if that sorts out her skin and anal gland situation. :flowers:

 

[AbiMay]

I have a 5 year old beagle and it took us about 2 years to get him on a diet that suited him and that he would eat. Believe it or not he now eats Asda's hero branded food, he has a tin (only in gravy he turns his nose up if in jelly) with some hero biscuits mixed in for his breakfast and has 3 raw chicken wings at night. Of all the options we had tried him on he loves the cheaper brand which is great for us and it suits him well he hardly ever has a funny tummy. As for the Chicken wings we were told they are good for his digestion by another beagle owner and bones are no harm to him unless cooked (they don't splinter when raw) and they're his favourite thing ever. With his diet agreeing well with him we never have any problem with Harvey's anal glands, on his vet check ups the vet always looks and has only once in 5 years had to empty them (before we put him on chicken wings) he said he must empty them naturally. I hope this helps.