Diet plays an important role in your Beagle’s well-being and overall health. Feeding your dog with quality food will help improve your dog’s mood, energy and also extend their lifespan.  If you want a dog that’s healthy and happy, the first place to start is improving your dog’s diet.

Your Beagle depends on a variety of vitamins and nutrients in his food. If he doesn’t get the right amount, then your dog’s immune system will get weaker and that’s when you start seeing health problems rise up.

Benefits of a Healthy Beagle Dog Food Diet

When comparing two dogs on different diets, you can clearly tell which one is given the better food. Here are some benefits of giving a healthy diet to your Beagle:

Increase Overall Health – Dogs given good food with minimal fillers and additives will have a much better immune system. This means their bodies will be able to fight off different bacteria and viruses much easier. This in return means fewer visits to the vet.

Shinier coat and less shedding – A Beagle on a healthy diet will have a glowing coat and will shed much less. It’s normal for dogs to shed, but constant heavy shedding could be a sign that your dog is lacking some of the important vitamins and nutrients.

More energy – If your Beagle is always sluggish and is always being lazy, it could be that he doesn’t have enough energy to run around and play. Try changing the diet with better food to see if your dog’s energy and mood improves.

Get rid of constant hunger – Dog food that’s filled with “fillers” and additives will make your dog feel full but at the same time still hungry. If your Beagle is gaining a lot of weight and still is constantly hungry, it could be that he is hungry for better nutrition.

Note* The last point isn’t always true for all Beagles. Some Beagle dogs will never turn away a meal no matter how healthy they are. It’s completely normal for a Beagle to finish his plate and then turn around and ask for seconds.

Beagle Raw Food Diet

Feeding your Beagle with raw food seems to be the most natural way to go. Since dogs obviously can’t cook, their bodies are designed to digest raw food. A raw food diet for your Beagle will keep your Beagle lean and strong.

The only downside to this diet is that the germs that you would normally kill off with cooking will remain there if you serve the food raw. On the other side, your Beagle’s body was designed to deal with those germs and bacteria so they can handle raw food just fine for the most part.

So if you decide to feed your Beagle with raw food (raw meats and vegetables) then always make sure the food you give to your dog is fresh and clean.

Homemade Beagle Dog Food

The biggest advantage of homemade dog food over commercial dog food is that since you are the one making it, you are in complete control of what your Beagle eats and doesn’t eat. Most Beagles actually appreciate homemade dog food because it tastes better.

There are tons of homemade dog food recipes available and you can try different ones until you find the right food for your Beagle. You can also include some raw food into your recipe if you’d like.

Beagles are originally from England, with their main source of food being rich carbohydrates such as potatoes,beets, wheat, and corn and meat such as rabbits, mutton, and poultry. If you wanted to make a home cooked meal for your beagle dog you could cook a cup of vegetables until tender, and 2 pounds of your pets favorite meat. Wait until the food is completely cool before serving it to your puppy.

The meat is rich in protein to give your pup lots of energy, and vegetables to supply the nutrition to keep them healthy. Make sure you completely cook whatever meat you choose to be sure to rid the meat of bacteria completely. Food that is home cooked can be richer in nutrition than canned dog food.

Although it takes time to cook the dog food yourself, and sometimes it costs more than some of the dog food brands, it’s a much better option to make the food yourself. Your Beagle will be much happier and healthier if he is fed with quality food.

How Much Food You Should Feed Your Beagle

How much you should feed your beagle puppy mainly depends on what type of food your feeding it. Premium Brand foods are recommended and you will have to feed him/her less food (about 2 cups per day), which in the long run means less poop for you to scoop. If your feeding your beagle a less expensive grocery store brand, they will eat more food (about 3 cups).

Puppies need more food than grown adults, the amount you feed them should increase while they’re growing, but level off when they reach full maturity. An easy way to find the exact amount of how much you should feed them is by twice as much volume of food per pound of body weight.

Beagles are not picky eaters and will eat just about anything that you drop on the floor, so make sure you drop nothing harmful! Beagles diets should also be rich in vitamin A,B, and D. You should also always make sure they have a bowl of water to keep them hydrated, and when they are stressed they will drink more.

Why most dog food brands are bad for your Beagle

Many dog food brands on the market are less than desirable for your dog. If it weren’t for the additives that add flavor and smell, your Beagle probably wouldn’t even go near 80% of the dog food that is being sold today. I’m not saying all the dog food is worthless fillers and junk, but a high percentage of them are.

Some dog food companies Just don’t care about the well-being of their customers dogs. For them it’s all about the bottom line – the profits. That’s why it’s important that you do your research before you purchase any dog food brand.

You would be shocked at what the greedy corporations are willing to put into your Beagles food bowl if it meant they could make a couple of pennies more. I won’t go into the details, but trust me… some of that stuff is plain out disgusting!

For me personally, coming up with the name for my beagle dogs has always been the hard part. Training them and raising them from misbehaving little puppies into well socialized and obedient dogs is easy in my opinion, but naming them is always tough for me.

Seems like no matter how hard you try to come up with a good name for a dog, it just doesn’t seem good enough. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me…

Anyways, I wanted to do a quick and short guide on Beagle dog names for others who are like me when it comes to choosing a good name for their beagle. It has a couple of ideas and tips which I found helpful with name picking along with some names to give you more ideas.

Picking the Perfect Beagle Name

There are some people who don’t really care what they call their beagle dog because it’s just a name. It’s just a sound you make with your mouth to get your dog’s attention… right?

Well for people like me, the name is everything. The name is what the dog will be responding to for the rest of his life. When you go out to the park and start calling your dog back to you, the name will be the first thing people will know about your dog. That’s why I came up with a couple of guidelines that will help you pick a fitting name for your dog.

Keep the name short! While your creative side will tell you to name your dog after a famous artist or thinker with a long foreign sounding name.. DON’T DO IT! You’ll get tired of shouting “Michelangelo! Come Here!” and will end up calling your dog just “mike” in the end. Instead come up with an already shortened name that’s no longer than 2-3 syllables.

Don’t name your beagle after common words. Sure, naming your beagle “Bagel” might seem harmless at first, but wait until you take your dog for a walk and come across a bagel cart. Won’t seem like a good idea when the owner of the cart starts shouting “Get your bagels! Buy one bagel, get the other bagel for free!” and your beagle jumps up and down every time he hears the word thinking he is being called by name.

Names that describe your dog physically are great. If your dog is covered in spots then the name “Spot” is perfect for your beagle. Names that describe your beagle are very fitting for both the males and females. They’re not the only names you should use, but they work in almost all situations.

Additional Beagle Name Ideas

Here are some of the more common beagle names I’ve seen. Don’t have to pick a name from this list but if anything they will at least give you more options and ideas.

Male Beagle Name Ideas

Female Beagle Names

Whether you are looking for a new dog and considering a beagle as your family pet or already own a beagle and want to learn a little more about this breed, you’ve come to the right place to get the beagle breed 101.

Personality, Temperament and Behavior Of Beagle Breed

Beagles are social animals and love spending time with their human family members as well as meeting new friends at the park or other social places.

They don’t like being left home alone for prolonged periods of time and get bored quite easily. That boredom sometimes leads them to find other means of entertainment, which unfortunately is often of the mischievous kind.

Of course if your beagle is well trained and has a good grasp of obedience training then he will find other less destructive ways to keep him busy, as long as you leave him some toys and chews to play with.

Even though they tend to be quite friendly, they do not take too kindly to unwelcome strangers. If they sense a presence of a stranger near your home they will bark and howl to notify you of the intruder.

Of course if you live in a crowded neighborhood and have a lot of people walking by or near your home, this will get quite annoying.

Grooming and Care

Beagles love to get into all sorts of trouble when off the leash. If they find a smell that they like, they will most likely roll around in it until they are completely covered in it. Even though they may find it pleasant, you probably won’t.

So you will have a bit more work keeping your beagle smelling clean than you would with some other dog breeds.

The good news is that beagles don’t shed nearly as much as dogs with long fur. If they have a healthy and well balanced diet, you should expect very minimal shedding.

Exercise Requirements

Beagles love taking trips to the park, around the block or go to any new and unexplored territory. They enjoy playing games and running around and would do it all day long if they could.

They need quite a bit of exercise on a daily basis to stay physically and mentally happy and healthy and would really suffer from being locked up in one room all day long.

Beagles tend to beg for more food than they can eat and giving them enough exercise each day will prevent obesity and any problems associated with it.

Common Health Issues In Beagles

While you still will need to spend money on basic regular checkups and shots, the veterinary expenses wouldn’t be as large as some other dog breeds.

Since beagles have been around for so long and have been bred for ages, most of the genetic illnesses have been bred out of them.

Giving them the proper diet and keep them exercised is important. Beagles suffering from obesity suffer spinal cord problems which can be extremely painful.

Training

Training a beagle that is distracted by new scents and smells is almost impossible. If you can’t get his full attention then there is no point in trying to train him anything.

Their strong sense of smell is the biggest distraction and often gets them into trouble. If they catch on to a fresh scent, they will follow it no matter where it leads them.

Of course, if you know how their little minds work and know exactly how to get their full attention each time you call them by name, training should be a breeze.

If you have a fenced yard, make sure to inspect it regularly for any small holes underneath the fence before you let the beagle off the leash.

Before You Bring One Home

If you are considering bringing home a beagle dog, then I highly suggest you read the beagle training guide before you bring one home.

It will go over essential things you need to know about picking out a breeder, finding the perfect puppy, things you will need to prepare and much more.

It will be the one and only book you will ever need for your beagle since it covers everything you need to know about making your beagle happy, keeping him healthy and training him to be obedient.

The biggest question I get asked by people interested in owning a beagle of their own is whether they should adopt a puppy for purchase one.

There is a large misconception about shelter dogs, mainly that they are all dirty, sick and unsocial. This is not even close to the real truth.

A lot of the dogs given to the shelter are given up by their owners who loved them but couldn’t keep them anymore either because there are moving or are having money issues.

These dogs have been well taken care of and are need of a new home. They had all their shots and in most cases have had some sort of obedience training.

There are obvious advantages, and disadvantages, to both so let’s go over the differences between adopting and buying.

Purchasing a Beagle Puppy from a Breeder

Advantages… Usually there are more puppies to choose from and finding a young puppy is much easier when you are buying a beagle from a breeder.

The puppy will have no previous training or have any solid habits, so you will have a slightly easier time training your beagle the habits and behavior that you want.

Disadvantage… Just like previously said, the puppies will have no previous training whatsoever. Some dog breeders might housetrain their puppies, but that is very rare.

So you will have to train your beagle everything on your own and deal with all the mess that comes with it. Of course if you know what you are doing when training a beagle, this might not be such a bad thing.

Another disadvantage is that you won’t really know what your beagle puppy will turn out like. It’s hard to judge his behavior at such an early age so there is no way to predict his temperament and behavior once he reaches adulthood.

The price of purchasing a beagle from a reputable breeder can be several hundred dollars. So if you don’t have that kind of money to spend then maybe purchasing a beagle is not right for you.

Adopting a Beagle Puppy from a Shelter

Advantages… You will have more history available about the dog to really know what he will be like. You will have a much better idea about how well he does with kids, cats or other household pets.

In most cases the adopted dog will have some previous training so that means less work for you. You won’t have to worry about housebreaking or destructive chewing if the dog had previous training.

By adopting a beagle you will also be helping out the animal shelters and rescuing a dog in need of a new home.

Disadvantages…Beagle puppies are adorable and finding one in the shelter isn’t so easy. You will have to spend more time looking for the perfect beagle puppy. However there are plenty of adult beagles looking for a new home.

Other than that, there are no real disadvantages in adopting a beagle puppy from a shelter. You will rescue a dog in need of help, save some money by adopting and gain a new loyal companion in the process.