The Link Between Beagle Obesity and Joint Problems

Overweight Beagles Lifespan How Obesity can affect their health

These adorable little cuddle-monsters will eat anything that they can fit into their mouth. Beagles love to eat. I wont be surprised if my beagle jumps and grabs all the pancakes and eat them in one go, even right after having his meal. Due to their obsession with eating, beagles are prone to obesity. This affects their health drastically. Lets look into the average lifespan of an overweight beagle.

According to the data published by Banfield Pet Hospital, on average, the lifespan of overweight beagles is 2 years shorter than the beagles with normal weight. While beagles with healthy weight live for 15 years, overweight beagles live for 13 years.

Lets look into more about the research conducted to find how weight can affect a dogs lifespan. We will also see how you can find out if your beagle is overweight.

What does the research say

A study was conducted by Banfield Pet Hospital, where scientists examined how weight can have a negative or positive effect on the lifespan of a dog. The research was done over two decades and included popular breeds like labrador retrievers and beagles. You can find the Journal here:

Association between life span and body condition in neutered client-owned dogs.

This study examined more than 50,000 dogs of a 12 different breed, both male and female, and aged between 6 1/2 and 8 1/2 years.

The research proved that overweight dogs have a shorter lifespan compared to dogs with a healthy weight.

The lifespan of an overweight beagle is reduced by 2 years. While a male beagle with a healthy weight lives for 15.2 years, an overweight one lives for 13.2 years. A female beagle with normal weight lives of 15.3 years, and an overweight female lives for 13.3 years.

How to find if your beagle is overweight

A healthy weight for a male adult beagle is 22 to 35 pounds (10 to 15 kg). Whereas, 20 to 30 pounds (9 to 13 kg) is healthy for a female beagle.

According to AKC, there are two varieties of beagle:

1. Beagles whos full-grown size stand under 13 inches at the shoulder.
2. Beagles whos full-grown size stand between 13 to 15 inches at the shoulder.

A healthy weight of these two types of beagles is:

• Under 13 inches: 22 to 30 pounds (10 to 13.6 kg)
• Between 13 and 15 inches: 25 to 35 pounds (11 to 15.8 kg)

Anything above this is considered overweight.

Other ways to tell if your beagle is overweight

There are some other ways to confirm that your beagle is overweight. Lets have a look into them.

Note: The ways mentioned below are for adult beagles only. Its okay for a puppy to look chubby or fat even after feeding healthy food. They are supposed to carry extra weight.

Check their ribs

You can put your hand on your beagles ribs and gently apply a little pressure. Healthy beagles have a layer of skin with thin fats over them, and you can feel the ribs.

And if you can feel a good amount of fats before you can feel the ribs, then your pooch is overweight.

And in case if the ribs of a beagle are visible and popping out of his skin, then the beagle is underweight.

They look chubby

Beagles are hunting dogs, and the breed, in general, is athletic, and so is their body. You can easily spot an overweight beagle by looking at them. They are chubby and have lots of fats on their body.

They are not flexible.

Overweight beagles struggle to scratch behind their ears and find it difficult to lick their other body parts.

They get tired easily.

Healthy beagles are a powerhouse of energy. They love to play and run.

However, an overweight beagle will struggle to run and get tired quickly. They become lazy and lethargy.

Why overweight beagles have a shorter lifespan

Obesity in beagles can create lots of health concerns and invite diseases that can reduce their lifespans.

Lets discuss some common health risks found in overweight beagles.

Sugar Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus or sugar diabetes is prevalent in overweight beagles. Obesity increases insulin secretion. If it keeps increasing over a long period, it can burn out cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, which results in diabetes.

Complications in Joints, bones, and ligaments

As the bodyweight of the beagle increases, the pressure on joints and bones increases too, causing severe damage over time. Overweight can cause joint problems, arthritis, and hip dysplasia.

Heart disease

The heart needs to pump more blood in an overweight body. This can cause congestive heart failure.

Hypertension (increased blood pressure)

Excess body weight can cause increased blood pressure in dogs too. You can read more about it here.

Other common health concerns

Other common health concerns in overweight beagles include difficulty breathing, decreased stamina, decreased liver function, digestive disorders, lower immunity, and a higher risk of cancer. You can read about these complications in detail here.

All these diseases and health complications are caused by excess body weight in beagles. This increases the chances of early death and results in shorter lifespans.

Helping your Beagle to Lose weight

Please consult a certified veterinarian first before you come to any conclusion. If your vet has confirmed that your dog is overweight and needs to lose some pounds, then its time to become strict with your beagles diet and routine.

Step 1: Try to make this as fun as possible for your beagle.

Begin with a positive mindset. In any case, losing weight should not be a negative experience for your beagle.

Try to keep things excited and fun for both of you.

Step 2: Slow and Steady Wins the race.

Set a realistic goal that can be achieved over a period of a comfortable time. The plan is to transform your dog slowly but steadily.

Setting unrealistic goals for quick results will put your beagle through a lot of physical as well as mental stress. And we dont want that.

Losing 1 to 2 pounds a month seems like a safe and reasonable goal.

Step 3: Feeding Guide

Two things you need to check:

• What are you feeding
• How much are you feeding

Ask yourself, what are you feeding your dog? Is it healthy? If its not, then try finding a healthier option.

Weight-loss dog food for your beagle should have more protein, less fat, and fewer calories.

My top three suggestion of dog food for weight loss are:

The second thing to look for is how much are you feeding your canine. You neither want to overfeed nor underfeed him. Every dog food has its own feeding guide printed on its package, so follow that to find the correct quantity.

One more thing to keep in check is the treats that you feed him. The number of treats and snacks must be reduced. Try switching to a low-calorie treat. My recommendation for a healthy low calorie treats:

Step 4: Exercise

Regular exercise is essential for keeping your beagle in shape and increase his lifespan.

Overexercising your beagle out of his capacity can cause joint or bone injury.Ask your veterinarian or a dog trainer to create an exercise plan for your beagle according to his weight.

Apart from that, make sure your pooch drinks enough water while exercising so that he doesnt overheat.

You can go through these 7 best ways for beagle to lose weight.

Final Thoughts

Beagles are supposed to be active and healthy. If you stop exercising your beagle and allow them to eat unhealthy food, then it will most definitely cause him to overweight and decrease his lifespan.

9 Common Beagle Health Problems and how to Avoid them

Being a dog owner, its our responsibility to take proper care of our four-legged pal. And to help our beagle to lead a healthy and happy life, we must have the necessary information about common health problems, their symptoms, and how to avoid them.

To provide authenticate information, I consulted with our local vet, and she suggested all the possible health problems. This article only provides fundamental information on the topic. I do not constitute any pet medical advice, kindly consult a licensed veterinarian for pet medical advice.

Allergies

Allergies are an ill-conceived reaction to foreign substances by the bodys immune system. Allergies are prevalent in all dog breeds. Allergies can be classified into three different categories: Contact Allergy, food allergy, and environmental allergy.

Contact Allergy

Contact Allergies are caused when a beagle comes in contact with something he is allergic to. Common signs for this kind of allergy include excessive itching, coat loss, and nasal discharge.

Dealing with Contact Allergy:

• Your dog may be allergic to the allergens trapped in the carpet of your house. You can always change the entire carpet of your home or use a Certified HEPA vacuum to clean all the allergens from the carpet.
• Another reason could be the chemical in the floor/carpet cleaner that you use. Try getting a hypoallergenic and odorless carpet cleaner.
• A widespread cause of contact allergy is fleas. Beagles can be allergic to the saliva of fleas. Keep your beagle away from unhygienic dog parks.
• Consult a vet.

Home Treatment

• Wash your beagles paw every time he comes home from outside.
• Bath your beagle once in a week using an oat-meal anti-itching shampoo.
• Use Conditioner.

Food Allergy

Beagles can either be intolerant or allergic to a particular food. Something to note down is that in most cases, dogs are not allergic to the food, but one of the ingredients used to make that food.

Symptoms:

• Skin Reaction
• Digestive Reaction

Dealing with Food Allergy:

• In most cases, food allergies are caused because of commercial foods. Again, this doesnt mean that the beagle is allergic to commercial food. Instead, he is just allergic to one of the ingredients used to make that commercial food. The ingredient could be added flavor, preservative, or fillers. The best way to deal with it is to switch to a more premium brand.
• You can even switch to a healthy home-cooked diet.
• Speak to a vet about it.

Environmental Allergy

Some beagles tend to have allergies due to seasonal changes in the environment. Like: summertime allergies are usually caused by pollen or weed and in winter due to dust mite as the house is closed and there is less circulation of fresh air.

Few Common Symptoms:

• Dry coughing
• Sneezing
• Difficult breathing
• Snoring
• Rashes
• Itching, etc.

Dealing with Environmental Allergies

• Try keeping your beagle inside during days of high pollen.
• Wash your poochs paw when coming back home.
• Get unscented dog wipes and wipe your beagles coat when he comes back home.
• Use the HEPA filter in your air conditioner.
• In summer, when its breezing, do not keep your windows open.
• Wash your bedding and curtains regularly.
• Consult a vet.

Fleas

No matter how much you take care of your beagle, he will catch fleas at least once in his lifetime. Fleas can jump from one dog to another from a distance of 6 feet.

Symptoms

Scratching is the most common symptom of fleas. Even the tiniest flea can cause intense itching to your beagle. If you notice that your beagle has started scratching his ears or any other body part more often, its a high chance that your pooch has fleas.

Coat loss: Few beagles might be allergic to flea saliva, which would cause even more itching and damage to the coat.

You can try looking in the areas that your beagle is unable to reach for itching like his back. If you notice small black dots, then my friend, your pooch has fleas.

Dealing with Fleas

Bath your beagle with a flea shampoo. Make sure to massage your beagle with the shampoo so that it goes deep into the coat to eradicate fleas, fleas eggs, larvae, and pupae.

Use a good quality flea comb before and after every bath.

Fleas also jump off the dogs body in search of another meal. So if your beagle has had fleas, then its all over your house. Wash everything you can in your home. Use a vacuum cleaner to suck them from your carpet, chairs, sofas, etc. Try spraying peppermint oil and clove extract around your house.

Preventing Fleas

• As the saying goes, Prevention is better than cure. Prevention is the best way to deal with fleas. Beagles are active bread, and they require daily walks and exercise. So it is most recommended that beagles should be on Flea Prevention Medication throughout the year. Preventing fleas is more cost-efficient than curing it.
• Whenever you take your beagle out for a walk or vet, apply anti-flea spray. You can also use natural products that consist of clove extract and peppermint oil.

Vomiting

Your pooch might vomit just because he has eaten something wrong. However, vomiting could also be an indication of something more serious. Your beagle might have swallowed something toxic or could be an early sign of some disorder, in which case he would require medical attention asap.

Sudden Vomiting / Acute Vomiting

If your beagle throws up unexpectedly without any previous health issues, then it is Acute Vomiting. Usually, its not anything serious, but just to be safe, have your pooch checked by the vet. Just remember that if acute vomiting happens more than once in 72 hours, then it could be a sign of a health issue.

How to prevent this:

The most common cause of acute vomiting is indigestion. If your pooch eats grass or weed, it will cause irritation in his stomach, and he will throw up. So make sure your pooch doesnt eat anything wrong. You can try putting a dog muzzle when you take your pal out for a walk.

Limping

There are three primary reasons that could cause beagle to limp:

Reason 1: Injured paw

An injury to the dogs paw is the most common reason behind limping. Just like humans, dogs could break their bones, sprain their muscles, or tear their ligament. If you notice that your beagle is faltering, the first thing you want to do is check his paws for any sign of injury, burns, or cuts. Sometimes a small stone or a pebble stuck between the paw pads could be the culprit, so make sure you check for it too.

Reason 2: Knee or Hip Injury

Theres a possibility of the slipped kneecap or hip dysplasia due to which the dog is limping.

Reason 3: Kidney Infection

Kidney infection is another severe problem that could be the reason behind a dogs limping.

Limping could be a sign for some severe health concern, so if you notice your beagle is limping, seek medical help as soon as possible.

Worms

According to Dr. Jerry Klein, AKCs chief veterinary officer, worms can cause serious health problems if left untreated. The five most common types of worms are heartworms, roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms, and whipworms. Lets look into each one of them and know how to prevent them.

Tapeworms

Tapeworms attach themself in the dogs intestine. An adult tapeworm could be as large as 20 inches. These worms suck up nutrients and can result in a lack of growth.

How a Beagle gets Tapeworms: A beagle can get tapeworms by swallowing fleas as fleas can contain tapeworm eggs.

How to spot them: These worms can sometimes be present in the beagles bowl.

How to Prevent them: Make sure you regularly deworm your beagle.

Hookworms

Hookworms can prove to be fatal if not treated on time. These worms can poke a hole in blood vessels and suck blood. A heavy infestation of hookworm can cause 5 to 10% of blood loss every day.

How a beagle gets hookworms: A dog may get hookworms if he swallows hookworm larvae, which can be present anywhere, sometimes even on grass. Puppies may also be born with this.

How to spot them: Few of the symptoms of hookworms are vomiting, diarrhea(black or bloody), loss of appetite, weakness.

How to Prevent them: Proper hygiene should be maintained. Beagles poop should not be left unattained in the yard. Keep your beagle well-groomed and clean. Hookworms can travel from one agent to another, so keep your dog away from uncleaned dog parks. Take your dog for regular checkups.

Roundworms

Roundworms are 4 inches long, white and look like cooked spaghetti. They live in a dogs intestine and survive on partiallydigested food.

How a beagle gets Roundworms: A puppy may be born with roundworms or can get infected by drinking infected mothers milk. A dog can get these by eating soil that could contain roundworm eggs.

How to spot them: Initially, there are no signs of infestation. Symptoms of getting severely infected with roundworms may include vomiting worms, swollen stomach, and signs of pneumonia.

How to prevent them: Regular deworming is necessary. Put a muzzle on your beagle mouth while taking him for a walk, so he doesnt chew on the soil.

Heartworms

Heartworms live inside the ventricle of the heart and nearby blood vessels. They could grow up to 14 inches and take over the dogs body. Heartworms are fatal if not treated on time.

How a beagle gets Heartworms: A beagle may get heartworms via infected mosquito bites.

How to spot them: Early signs include difficulty in breathing, weight loss, vomiting, coughing, weakness.

How to prevent them: There are heartworm prevention medication available.

Ringworms

Ringworms are not really a worm but a type of fungus. These fungi live on the surface of the skin and survive on dead skin tissues.

How a beagle gets Ringworms: Ringworms are very contagious. They are transmitted through direct contact with the infected being. This fungus can infect humans too.

How to spot them:In most cases, there would be visible bald spots on the coat of the dog. If not treated, these spots could grow and result in massive fur loss. If you notice something similar, take your pooch to the vet immediately.

Prevention: Keep your beagle clean and stay away from unhygienic dog parks.

Deworming Schedule

Regular deworming prevents most of these worms, so make sure you dont miss the schedule. As per our local vet, puppies should be dewormed at 2, 4, 6, & 8 weeks of age, and then at three months old and then four months old, but its recommended that you consult a vet for proper advice regarding the schedule.

Epilepsy

One of the top 5 breeds most prone to Epilepsy is Beagle, and thats why it is necessary to have some basic understanding of epilepsy. The first epilepsy seizure could usually occur between the age of 1 and 3 years old. Many beagles do well and live a high-quality life even after they are diagnosed with epilepsy.

Symptoms of Epilepsy

The beagle will start acting strange and appear to be non-responsive. In epilepsy seizures, the mind freezes momentarily. The dog might shake, even drool, and do odd moments. He may fall on the ground, and his body may become rigid.

Caring for your beagle during a seizure

• Do not panic if your beagle has an episode of seizure. Beagles are quite sensitive regarding their owners mood, so your panicking will just scare them more.
• Make sure you comfort your beagle. Gently hold your beagle and try to comfort him.
• Time the seizure.If the seizure lasts for more than 3 minutes, then your beagle might suffer from overheating. Put some wet towels on his neck, paws, and head.
• Take your beagle to a vet once his seizure ends.

Prevention: The most common form of epilepsy is Primary Epilepsy. The cause of this epilepsy is unknown. It is thought to be passed on genetically. So we can do nothing to prevent it.

Hip dysplasia

In hip dysplasia, the soft tissues that surround the joints of a puppy start to grow abnormally. The bones start moving apart and are not held together. As the puppy grows, the two bones lose contact with each other and cause a problem. Usually, signs do not show until the beagle is in his late adulthood.

Symptoms of Hip Dysplasia

• One leg may appear shorter than other
• The beagle may wobble while walking.
• The beagle may have difficulty rising.

Reasons behind the cause of Hip Dysplasia

• Genetics plays an important role. If one of the parents has hip dysplasia, it is more likely that it will get passed on to their puppies.
• Overweight beagles have higher chances of developing hip dysplasia.
• Over-exercise at a younger age can also be the reason for causing hip dysplasia.

Prevention

• Keep your beagle fit. Do not overfeed him, neither underfeed him. Provide proper nutrients and make your beagle exercise daily.
• If you have a beagle puppy, then make sure you dont over-exercise him.

Arthritis

There are four types of arthritis: Osteoarthritis, Immune-mediated, Infective, and Idiopathic (unknown cause). The most common type of arthritis in beagles is Osteoarthritis, in which the beagles joint becomes inflamed and painful.

Symptoms:

• Super laziness. The beagle would not want to do anything but lye on his bed.
• The beagle would show difficulting in getting or rising. This is worst in the morning and might get better as the day goes.
• The dog may be in pain, and it gets difficult for the owner to recognize it. The dog may not want to move much.

Prevention:

• Maintain a healthy weight of your beagle.
• Take your beagle on walks daily. Regular exercise is a must.
• Try to keep your dog away from actions that might cause injures. Place a canine step or a ramp on the floor if your beagle has a habit of jumping off from the sofa or bed. Limit certain actions like high jumps.

Bad Breath

Beagles are cuddle monsters, and they love to lick our faces, so theres nothing more irritating than a beagles bad breath. Well, we dont expect good, minty smell from our beagles mouth, but we do expect a neutral and non-smelly breath. Apart from being unpleasant, bad breath could be a sign of some serious dental concerns. Also, just to mention, it is typical for a beagles breath to smell like his food. Lets look into some reasons behind beagles bad breath:

Reasons behind Bad Breath

Teeth: Leading causes behind bad breaths are plaque, tartar, and dental infection and could be a possible sign of undiagnosed dental issues. The most useful thing you can do to prevent this is to brush your beagles teeth daily. This will not only make your beagles breath smell good but also keep his teeth shining white.

Eating Poop: If your beagles breath smells like poop, then he has probably eaten his own or some other animals feces. This is known as coprophagia. Consider it a behavioral issue and try to teach your pooch not to do it.

Dental infection: Beagle could have eaten some foreign object that might have stuck between his teeth or pierce his tongue and inside his cheeks. This could lead to a possible infection, which is making his breath smell terrible. Take him to a vet and have his mouth checked.