[jenncarrera]

My 5 month old bealge is starting to drive me nuts! AGAIN :raspberry: .
He was doing really well with his food and now is stubborn when it comes to feeding time. For awhile now I've been adding water to his kibble, the only way he will eat his food. For the past few days he just is not into his food. He goes to his food ..sniffs then walks away. Yesterday I was so frustrated sitting with him for 30 min trying to get him to eat.
So I grabbed a treat and he just gobbled it up. I am feeding him Science Diet regular flavor. I was thinking of maybe getting him the Lamb & Rice flavor. Does anyone have any recommendations on what food I should try with him.I feed him a total of 3 cups per day is that too much. He weighs about 21 lbs now.

Thanks!!
jennyC_

 

[Murphys Dad]

My first observation is her pup needs some help in training Jenny :wave:

 

[jenncarrera]

Quote:Originally posted by bob:
My first observation is her pup needs some help in training Jenny :wave:

He goes by Mizu /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

[BeagleBabe]

Abby use to do that but then go eat the cat food. I determined that she just didn't like the food she was eating so I started her on something else and she's been fine.

She also really likes the food in the pouches I get that is made my three dog bakery.

 

[Murphys Dad]

Jersey did that as a puppy. I did like Bob said and let her be hungry for a day and she started to eat normally again. Mizu needs to learn that he needs to eat his food before he gets treats. It will probably hurt you more than it will hurt him. If he still refuses, you may want to try another variety of food, but if he was eating it and suddenly just stopped, I'd say he's just being stubborn.

 

[Murphys Dad]

Quote:Originally posted by jen-n-jersey:
... but if he was eating it and suddenly just stopped, I'd say he's just being stubborn.

and "stubborn" is every beagle's middle name! Speaking from experience, if you let Mizu wrap you around his little foot at 5 months, you are going to be in deep trouble later. Since Mizu ate the treat with no hesitation, I would definitely agree that this seems to be a situation of him trying to get control rather than a health problem. My suggestions are: 1) put down his food (and you might try just 1/2 cup at first) and leave it for 30 minutes. Pick up it and put it down again (either afternoon or evening depending on how often you are feeding him). Good thing about using just dry food is that you can do this with the same food and do not waste any; 2) absolutely no treats until he is back into routine of eating his dry food. I can't comment on the 3 cups of food -- you might check with your vet on how much he/she thinks you should be feeding Mizu. If you are going to switch brands, I would suggest that you not start doing that until Mizu is eating his present food again or else he will just pick out the new food and leave the old (since you will have to mix them together at first and gradually reduce the old and increase the new).

 

[Mom of 2 Beagles]

Ours did not eat good as puppies either. I'm sure they would have eaten when they were hungry enough, but the Mamma in me wanted them to eat regularly. We fed them Science Diet puppy dry kibble. I would roll the little pieces of kibble across the floor fast. I would roll several at a time and Sadie and Pooh would chase the food and eat it. It was like a game. I didn't have to do that for long and they ate it from their bowls.

 

[ricksconnected]

3 cups of food is waaaaaay to much to be feeding a beagle. 2 cups total daily divide by a morning and an evening feeding. again 2 cups total.
keep up the 3 cups a day and your going to experience a very over weight beagle. you dont want the health problems that will come from that for you beagle or your wallet.
i do agree, once your pup gets you wrapped around his finger, your in big trouble. thats a hard thing to break once its implanted in the beagles mind.
in my best opinion and research, run from science diet and never look back. :animal18:
it was mentioned above that it might be an idea to put the food down for about 20 minutes then pic it back up. save it for the evenings feeding.
the normal evenings cup of food should not be added to it. very soon the beagle will not like getting fed once a day, and will eat when the food is down. your conditioning the dog at this point. your teaching him to eat while the gettin is good, and he will. might take a few days but his tummy will teach him pretty fast.
no treats until he regains his regular feeding times. this is a tuff love training. get it done before he trains you, and he will if your not careful. but again i warn you, 3 cups is way way to much food for a beagle. a beagle will eat a 40lb bag of food in 3 days if you let them.

 

[K & G]

Check the back of your bag of food to see how much Mizu should be eating. The amount he needs will depend on the food he's getting. Here\'s a link to the science diet puppy page in case you don't have your bag. When you touch him, you should be able to feel his ribs without pressing, but they shouldn't be visible. If you look at him while he's standing, you should see an indentation in his sides where his waist is.

Gage isn't enthusiastic about eating kibble, so it just stays down all day until he's ready. I'm pretty laid back about food. As long as he can run and play, and he's not too skinny I don't worry about it. Some days he eats more than the recommended amount, and sometimes less. He's an only pet so this works in our house.

 

[Laxmobster]

My boy is super picky too. I just make sure to leave food out for him and he chooses when he eats. He's maintained a healthy weight thus far so I'm not worried about it.

Good Luck and don't stress yourself out too much. Too many times these beagles are playing games with our heads just to get in that extra treat...At least I know my beagle does!