Feeding the Beagle

One fact Beagle owners know holds true: Your Beagle, if given the opportunity to free-feed, will be an eating machine. Beagles, as a general rule, are easy to keep. They're healthy, hardy, have few genetic problems associated with their breed and they eat wellvery well. While food and water may be enough to sustain your Beagle, proper nutrition can make it thrive.

Nutrition is more than just correct proportions of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats and protein. It has as much to do with the source of the ingredients as it does with the amount in the diet. For Beagles, a small body size and high-energy demands create a very active dog in any walk of life whether companion animal, show dog, field competitor or hunting dog. In these hard-working dogs, protein and fat may play bigger roles than previously understood.

The Power of Protein
Recent research undertaken at Cornell University by Dan Carey, D.V.M., director of technical communication in research and development at the Iams Company, showed that protein may help reduce injuries in sporting dogs such as Beagles. All of the diets we tested were well above the minimum requirements for protein. But the two higher protein diets, one of which derived 30 percent of its calories from protein and the other 40 percent, produced fewer injuries, Dr. Carey says. In addition, higher levels of protein had a side benefit in increasing blood volume, a state that is common among human athletes in peak performance, he adds.

When looking at protein in your dogs diet, remember, the source is just as important as the amount. There is a tremendous difference between dietetics and nutrition, says R. Geoffery Broderick, D.V.M., president of Cornucopia Natural Pet Foods. Dietetics will look at brown rice and white rice and say both are carbohydrates and therefore have the same nutritional value. Nutritionists know that the brown rice offers much more to a body. In the same way, protein is meaningless if it comes from beef by-products, which really should say beef waste products such as lips and tendons. Those proteins are really useless to your dog, but they're the kind that's inexpensive and readily available.

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