I am looking for some advice regarding which dry food I should feed my 6 month old Beagle. He is currently eating James Wellbeloved Lamb and Rice but this seams to be causing him some problems. He has terrible wind and often has diarrhoea. He also scratches a lot but doesn't have fleas. I am a novice when it comes to keeping dogs so thought I might find some expert advice here.

Cheers

I recently asked about dry foods and recieved lots of info .
I intended to put pup on Wellbeloved but there were one or two comments re; hair and skin problems since some owners had used this - which changed my mind .
I am using Hills Science Plan ( a little expensive ) but he has also been itching and I wonder if this could be put down to food or just normal doggy behaviour .?? He has only recently started to go out so I hope it isnt fleas .
Lel

You could try Burns pet food. It's supposed to be really good for skin problems. I feed my three on it and i think that they have done better on it than any other food i've tried.

I have a 6 month old beagle and i feed her dried food. She is on a mixture of the Autarky Puppy / junior and Dodson and Horrel Chudleys. The Autarky is full of herbs but the man in the pet food shop advised the Chudleys as it has a high oil content compared to any others. My beagles coat is lovely, although she does itch quite alot. She hasn't got fleas or anything, i just think its her, she can't sit still for one minute. Also my vet has advised that i start her on cod liver oil capsules as my three labradors are already on them and there coats are lovely.

I feed the autarky and my main reason for the change was terrible wind ( not me the dog;) )
and he has been fine and his coat is great :)
Liz

My pup is scratching a bit as well. Adding oil to food is a good idea, which I may try if she keeps it up. (First, I want to switch brands of dry food.) The heat in the house must have a similar drying effect on dogs as it does people, after all.

I was think of switching to Wellbeloved, since it is the only "all natural" one in Pets at Home near me. It is so confusing. I literally read dog food labels for 30 minutes standing in the store yesterday and walked out with nothing. Except a new rubber squeeky toy, so I guess it worked out okay for Pets at Home anyway. :-)

Stacey

Thanks to everyone for the advice this forum is really a great source of information for a newbie like me.

By way of an update we are now feeding Arden Grange Graduate and the results have been amazing. The wind has gone, stool volume is reduced and now firm. He doesn't seem to be scratching as much but I would have to say at this early stage the results are inconclusive, but here's hoping.

Once again thanks to everyone.

Hi Milton Beagle,

My pup kept scratching - he didn't have very flaky skin and vet confirmed no fleas present. He advised me to give a combined capsule of Evening Primrose Oil and Cod Liver Oil once a day. Seems to have done the trick! :)

Zoe P

My beagle seems to be allergic to just about everything, they're sensitive little chaps aren't they? We can't use those plug in room freshners anywhere in the house as he has coughing and sneezing fits, we have to wash him in extra senstive puppy shampoo for his skin and he spends a lot of time scratching too. We can only wash his dog bed approx every 3 months cos the washing powder seems to set him off.

Makes for a wonderful smell of 'eau de dog' about the house!

Might try the adding some oil to his feed though.