BEAGLE HEALTH MANAGEMENT

The Beagle is a small hound dog that is not only beautiful but also amazing with both kids and other animals. Although this breed does shed, grooming and overall maintenance is easy. Considered a strong but gentle dog, the Beagle has captured the hearts of many people looking for a good watchdog along with a wonderful family pet. Keep in mind that people do still use this breed for hunting since it has an incredible sense of smell.

For the most part, the Beagle is a healthy breed of dog. If cared for properly, placed on a good diet and exercised daily, it can live anywhere from 12 to 15 years. Again, while this breed is healthy overall, you do have a few considerations just as you would with any dog. For instance, the ears of the Beagle are long and floppy. Because of this, airflow into the ear canal, as well as trapped heat and/or moisture is relatively common. By keeping the ears of the Beagle cleaned on a regular basis, you should not have any problem. If you find your Beagle develops an ear infection, medication can be used for treatment. For grooming, this breed should have daily brushing, as well as occasional baths. Just be sure the ears are completely dried afterwards, again to avoid any type of infection.

As far as diet for the Beagle, you want to avoid feeding any type of table scraps, which helps battle obesity. Unfortunately, the Beagle loves to eat – anything. Therefore, you need to provide the dog only with high qualify food. Most veterinarians highly recommend this breed be kept on a diet of lamb and rice dog food, which perfectly matches the energy level of the dog. You will also find that sometimes, the Beagle will have problems with the eyelashes growing back into the eye. As you can imagine, this condition, known as Distichiasis, is painful, causing irritation and redness. In this case, a qualified veterinarian can remove the eyelashes to prevent the problem from occurring again.

While not as common as other problems, some Beagles are prone to congenital heart disease Typically, if you purchase your dog from a reputable breeder, this type of health risk can be screened for early on, ensuring you purchase only a healthy puppy. Then in very, rare cases, another problem can develop with this breed called Polyarthritis. In this situation, the joints are attacked by the body’s immune system. In some cases, a veterinarian can treat this condition using a series of cortisone injections.

Beagles tend to have problems with epilepsy and/or seizures. If you find your dog experiencing this problem, usually medication can treat it, eliminating or at least slowing down future attacks. Finally, various types of cancer do occur, although not often. The most common of these is called Lymphoma.