How much should I be feeding my 5 months old Beagle?

Question

I have a 13" Beagle just over 5 months old and is just under 16 lbs. She looks skinny, slightly visible ribs and narrow through the middle and hips. How much should I be feeding her and how many times a day to keep her a healthy weight?

Answer 1

I have worked with the beagles at my school's small animal lab and based on what they get fed I would say about a cup of dry dog food twice daily. If your dog doesn't take well to dry dog food either add water or you can buy those gravy's specially made for dog food

Answer 2

Make sure you're feeding a good quality puppy food at this age, suc as Purina Puppy Chow or Proplan Puppy, or any of the other major pet food puppy foods. There is even a small breed puppy food, but it's not really necssary. Look on the side of the bag and look at the feeding recommendations. Make suure you look a the size she shouldbe when fully grown, not the size she is now. If you think she's too skinny, feed a little more than the feeding guidline suggests. It will also sometimes tell you how often to feed as well.. I suggest feeding puppies 3 times a day, but 2 times a day is usually often enough. If she doesn't finish her food, feed her more often. If you're still at a loss on how much to feed per feeding, either divide te daily ration into however many feedings you are going to do, or you can figure that she'l eat a portion about as bigas her head at one time. Some dogs will eat a little less, others will eat a little more. Some will eat whatever you put in front of them at any time. Just play it by ear. If she starts gaining too much weight, back off a bit on the amount of food. If she doesnt' gain weight or if she loses weight, feed her a little more. An ideal dog will not have easily visible ribs, though they should be felt fairly easily. They should have a noticeable tuck at the belly, and they should have an hourglass figure when viewed from above. If you're still in doubt about whether or not you're feeding her enough, give the vet a call and see what their recommendatin is (this is usally free - very few vets charge for calls).

Best of luck with your puppy, beagles are great dogs!

Answer 3

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Answer 4

I'm a handler and I deal in beagles especially ,,,, I breed them and field train them ,,,, I've read the answers you've gotten so far and I'm glad I'm not a pup under the care of some of them ,,,, For a 5 month old as you've described ,,,, You should feed her 3 times daily but in controls amounts ,,,, It's not too hard to figure out the amount either ,,,, Just look at the animal and figure how big a stomach she would have ,,,, For a dog your size you could figure that it's stomach might be as big as a tennis ball when full at the most ,,,, You don't want to over feed her though ,,,, Three times a day with an amount of food that would equal the size of just over half of what a tennis ball would be and be consistant ,,,, A morining feeding say around 7 or 8 AM with a little less than half the volume or size of a tennis ball ,,,, Then a noon feed with an amount that would be maybe three quarters the volume and then again in the evening around 6 PM with the same amount that you gave her in the moring ,,,, You don't want the food to lay heavy on her stomach when she is sleeping so the 7 or 8 AM amout is plenty for the night ,,,, As I said earlier though ,,,, the important thing is to be consistant ,,,, Meals on time with the same amount I explained earlier and you might consider putting a raw egg on the food maybe twice a week too ,,,, that will keep the coat in good condition ,,,, People have daily routines where their food intake is concerned ,,,, or they should have ,,,, and it's no different for a domesticated animal ,,,, As your pup is only 5 months old then you should put her on a schedule of feeding as I described and keep her on it for at least the first year ,,,, After that you can reduce the feedings to twice a day at say 9 or 10 O'Clock and maybe around 6 or 7 at night ,,,, What you feed her is important too ,,,, They have excellent puppy chows on the market ,,,, They are a nutricious mixture that is easy on the stomach and the puppies metabolism ,,,, Also another thing ,,,, Feeding her 3 times a day with controlled amounts will prevent her from gulping her food also ,,,, Even if she's the runt of the litter ,,,, The runt of the litter usually has this habbit of gulping its food because while still taking mothers milk he had to compete for his food with the bigger pups and probably missed out allot of times ,,,, This situation will make the pup greedy and tends to make them eat too fast later on as well as make them prone to over eating if it's available to them to do so ,,,, Dogs are intelligent ,,,, especially beagles and the runt beyond that ,,,, It's usually the runt of a Beagle litter that makes the best hunter ,,,, Once you get your dog on a regular and consistant feeding schedule then she will realize that the availability of food is no problem and she will settle down ,,,, I do have a concern about her condition as you explained it though ,,,, Ribs showing and thin at the hips ,,,, If this persists after you've gotten her on a consistant diet for a while ,,,, then I would definitely take her and a sample of her stool to a vet and have her checked for worms ,,,, She may have gotten the spoors from anywhere ,,,, Follow your vets advice from then on ,,,, Good luck with the pup ,,,, With proper feeding and care you will get allot of enjoyment out of her ,,,, Beagles are especially good dogs for pets as well as hunters ,,,,, Yoda told you this ,,,,

Answer 5

well I have a beagle and I started feeding 3 times a day until she turned 6 months. After that only twice a day, morning and dinner.
Now she is a year old and only eats ones a day , dinner. Only give her one cup because I gave Lucy a full bowl ones and we had to take her to the emergency room. The doc said that beagles eat when they are not really hungry and then get really bad stomach pain. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 6

Well, I fed and still feed my 15" male beagle a little over 1.5 cups of kibble twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. He is an outside dog so right now I've been giving him a little more cause of the cold. He weighs 38 lbs at the moment but he's a solid strong little beagle, all muscle. I would say if she's an inside dog, 1.5 cups twice a day would be plenty as long as she gets her exercise as well.

Answer 7

She actually sounds pretty close to the right weight.

Much of your decision on how much to feed her depends on what you are feeding, and how much exercise she is getting. If you are feeding a raw diet, you would feed 2 -3% of her body weight. If you are feeding a decent brand of kibble then probably about 2 cups a day is sufficient. Generally, I have found that the amount that the bags of dog food suggest is too much. You should be able to feel your dogs spine (but it should not be pronounced), and just be able to identify the ribs. Your dog should have a "waist", or a narrowing after the rib cage. But again, not too much.

And your dog should get at least a half hour of exercise daliy.

Answer 8

Do not go by how someone else thinks your dog may be skinny. ASK a professional. At 5 months your pet should have been to the vet a couple times. What does your vet say?

I guage the health of my min pins on how active and healthy they act as well as how I perceive their size. Some humans think dogs should be heavy some think thin is in. But your local vet... or a local reputable breeder (where did you get that cute dog) is a good place to start.

Personally I am overweight myself and would not wish that on a dog!

I have a 16 yr old minature pincher that still acts like a puppy, but he never gets people food... no chips, cookies, or icecream! And he always had a measured amount of food fed to him at 3 intervals when he was a pup but after a year old he gets fed only once a day, about a cup and a half of high quality dog food.
He only weights about 9 lbs now and is perfect as far as my vet is concerned. He is active and still chases squirrels and rabbits around the yard. (frequent and fun excersize is great too) I should follow my vets good advice for my diet and exersize!.

Answer 9

"Watch the dog and let the dog tell you what it needs."

There's just one problem with that- beagles lie! They will sit there and look like they're starving whne they just ate five minutes ago. Twice a day, 1/2 cup at a time is pretty good. Make sure you set up a feeding schedule so the same person feeds her at certain times to avoid giving the beagle 2nd or 3rd helping (they'll gladly eat them).

Also, beagles are really prone to obesity, so walk them every day and limit their dog treats a couple times a week. We got our dog onto clicker training because she got fat on "good dog" treats!

Answer 10

I think I am the right person to say this scence I got a puppy that was also once extremely underweight. I'd feed her 3 cups in her bowl, but you can check with a doctor to see what's right for you. You need to fatten her up alot, though, that is for sure. Check out the sites that the other people posted. Keep giving her excersize and let her rest, make sure she eats alot. Well, that's all I can offer. Good Luck!
SnowyDove

Answer 11

My dog is a beagle, looks so skinny too. Though he is abiut 2-3 I give him one cup of food in the morning and one when I eat dinner (6-7) and he's good. Sometimes I give him more or less, but he is healthy : ) Hope that helps : )