My first Dog thread!

Ralphie is gorgeous! I have a soft spot for beagles and have had several over the years. I must say I have never heard of one refusing food (they are the go-to dog for experimental trials precisely because they are greedy), but I wouldn't panic if he doesn't eat; does he take kibble as treats?

Recall with scenting and sight hounds is seldom reliable - I had a neighbour tell me that all beagles were deaf, really deaf, and it's true that mine would never lift their heads if they were on a trail. Good luck with him, they are lovely little hounds. (Making me want one now.....)
 
LaurenBay said:
So now he just licks the gravy off the top and leaves the rest! I will try to cook some chicken and mix that in later. He already looks to have slimmed down some. Don't know if that is the regular exercise or the not eating though. On yesterdays walk he saw a squirrel and he did try and chase it (until it went in the trees) then he still continued to follow it. I called him back and he came straight to me. So I was pretty happy with that. He slept through the night again yesterday which was lovely. 3 nights in a row, so think he is now settled.

He didn't eat again yesterday.
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Are his teeth OK? I wonder if he has some pain.
 
Clodagh said:
Are his teeth OK? I wonder if he has some pain.
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You could be right, Although he eats treats quickly enough. I dropped a carrot the other day and he ran in to the kitchen from no where and snatched it up and ate the whole thing. I messaged old owner to ask and they said they always found him a fusspot and they put ham at the bottom of the dry food.
 
We were told by a vet to sprinkle garlic powder/granules on top of food for an old dog we had who went off her food completely. The garlic made her drool and drool some more, and eventually she ate it all!
 
Getting Ralphy's teeth checked is an excellent suggestion by Clodagh.

CT usually provides a link to a dog food index to help in choosing a good quality food.

I note you are using dog gravy in an attempt to entice him to eat and that the little tinker is just licking it off and leaving the kibble.

To make the food more appetising you could try adding homemade stock and letting it soak in as it cools. It is easy to make and not too time consuming (though I speak from the perspective of someone who does not have a hectic lifestyle).

Ask your butcher for meaty bones (usually free) and throw them in the crockpot for 24 hours with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Strain the liquid and allow to cool - good stock will set to a jelly. To avoid pancreatitis, once it has cooled remove the fat from the top - easy to scrape off when set. At each mealtime heat up some of the stock and poor it over the kibble, allow it to soak in and feed while still warm.

If you make a big batch of stock it can be frozen.

He will probably enjoy the meat which has come off the bones but don't give him any of the fat and definitely do not give him the cooked bones.

Similarly, when you have chicken save the carcass and go through the same procedure. The collagen that will come from the chicken cartilage is excellent and is used in joint preparations for dogs - chondroitin and glucosamine are derived from chicken breast cartilage.

Personally, I would not use human stock cubes - they contain too many additives like MSG - which comes in many guises, and is a neurotoxin. It is possible to buy MSG free stock cubes but they generally contain other rubbish.

When you cook meat, strain the fat off and mix warm water with meat juices and pour that on his meals.

I avoid anything from the allium family as they are known to be toxic to dogs and destroy the red blood cells - the effects are cumulative. I know some people do give garlic (and some dog treats contain it) but personally I don't.

Sardines are tasty and cheap, I buy the ones in spring water. You could mix some with his food, including the spring water, and see if that makes his dry food more appealing. Once you get him eating his kibble you could stuff kongs with the dry food and pack sardines in the end so that he has to work to get his dinner.

I prefer natural treats and use dried sprats, JR Pure dog treats or similar.

Apologies if my suggestions conflict with those of others.
 
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I would choose what I want to feed him and stick with it once his teeth have been given the all clear.
Are you feeding him slightly less than is recommended for his ideal weight not his current weight?
I have found that once you start offering all sorts of food to a fussy eater they wait until something really special is put in the bowl before eating.
The only time I will vary a diet is for I'll, old or puppies that are very underweight, for a dog that needs to loose I would not worry.
 
Well OH mixed some peppers in with his dry food yesterday and then put the gravy on and mixed it all in. The bowl was empty this morning so I can only assume he liked it. I was at Olympia last night and didn't get in til late. Will have to ask OH how it went with Ralph as I know he popped out and left Ralph on his own.
 
You can get some quite good quality wet food trays that are much better than the tins with god knows what meat in, but which would work out quite affordable for a dog his size. Or also I think foods like canagan do tins.

I would definitely recommend keeping a long line on his (I used a horse lunge line) as even in enclosed areas you never know. Especially as he gains confidence. Then it is easy to grab trailing behind and also I find gives freedom but with the little reminder of slight tug as it drags behind. I chuck mine in the washing machine when it gets gross
 
I thought of a lunge line actually, I have a few spare so I can use one of them.

He was left on his own for 4 hours yesterday which is the longest he has been left. So he went into the toilet bin and took some of my lady things back out of it and left them on the floor (for OH to find) How lovely. Also (and this is completely my fault!) I stupidly left my cousins Christmas presents in the landing so I'd remember to take them with me (I forgot them!) Ralph went through them all and opened up the Reeses Chocolates, he didn't eat any though but just unwrapped them. Apart from that I think he was fine, certainly looked very settled when I came in and found him tucked up asleep on the sofa (naughty on the sofa) Neighbours said they didn't hear a peep out of him. He left the lights and TV on for him.
 
LaurenBay said:
I thought of a lunge line actually, I have a few spare so I can use one of them.

He was left on his own for 4 hours yesterday which is the longest he has been left. So he went into the toilet bin and took some of my lady things back out of it and left them on the floor (for OH to find) How lovely. Also (and this is completely my fault!) I stupidly left my cousins Christmas presents in the landing so I'd remember to take them with me (I forgot them!) Ralph went through them all and opened up the Reeses Chocolates, he didn't eat any though but just unwrapped them. Apart from that I think he was fine, certainly looked very settled when I came in and found him tucked up asleep on the sofa (naughty on the sofa) Neighbours said they didn't hear a peep out of him. He left the lights and TV on for him.
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That's not so bad, really. I laughed at the "lady things", but the chocolate might have been an emergency trip to the vet if he'd got into them. I'm sure he will do well, but I must tell you that we long ago gave up on the no sofa thing.
 
We have a beagle that walks near the horses field he is never on a lead and potters along the lane about 6 ft from his owner he has superb recall if we drive up he goes to his owner immediately so it can be done
 
Ah that all sounds much more beagley lol.

Is he sometimes allowed on the sofa, or never? It's really hard to train a dog not to do something if you are not in the room with it and it is a big ask for a dog you've only had for a short time to understand he's not allowed somewhere, that he has access to, when there is no one there to tell him it's not allowed. If you don't want him on the sofa when you are out, either restrict access by shutting the door/putting up a baby gate or put obstacles on the sofa which will make it uncomfortable to be there (clothes horses etc).
 
He was allowed on the safe in his old home. We haven't let him on the sofa in this house (whilst we are there anyway) but hard to stop him when we aren't there. I don't mind him so much on the sofa, me and OH were actually talking about this last night. I think we are just going to get a large throw for the sofa when we aren't there, its the hair that drives us mad! ha ha. He has stopped trying to get on the sofa when we are home though. So we can just remove the throw when we are back.
 
LaurenBay said:
He was allowed on the safe in his old home. We haven't let him on the sofa in this house (whilst we are there anyway) but hard to stop him when we aren't there. I don't mind him so much on the sofa, me and OH were actually talking about this last night. I think we are just going to get a large throw for the sofa when we aren't there, its the hair that drives us mad! ha ha. He has stopped trying to get on the sofa when we are home though. So we can just remove the throw when we are back.
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Yes, we (largely) all succumb....sofa cuddles are the best :-)
 
UPDATE:

Ralph is staying! we are over the moon with him.

He has really settled and is so affectionate and loving. He is enjoying his walks and has lost 1.4kg so far (still have another 7 to go though before he is a healthy weight) we have loved exploring together and we have even had a go at agility (I will try to attach a vid) we spent a lot of time doing some recall training on the long line which proved a success. He is now being walked off lead for short periods of time in safe areas until I know he can be trusted. So far so good, we went to Thorndon County Park and he stayed off lead for over an hour. He did take off once after a squirrel and he ignored my calls, but when I started to run in the other direction he quickly followed. Apart from that he has come to call each time.

We have cracked his feed, we found out he has a love for rice. He gets a couple of spoonfuls of rice added to his meal and he gobbles it up.

He has been kicked back off the sofa, we loved having him for cuddles but the hair is just too much. we have brought throws to cover the sofa with for when we go out. My partner was started to get itchy and wheeze on the sofa and it wasn't fair on him so Ralph is back to the floor.

The only thing we are struggling with is humping. He has been done. Only humps when guests come over and usually he humps and bites his bed. This wouldn't be a problem but he also tried to hump my partners little boy which is not on. It's so odd as it is only when we have guests come in, I guess its all the new smells that set him off?
 
Lovely update :)

Humping is excitement, my bitch does it too. I think if you can warn guests not to get in the position where he can do it (standing still for too long) and learn to see the signs and redirect him to something else it will ease over time. Mine gets a sharp “no” and understands what I’m saying it for and I then give her something else to do, like come to the kitchen for a treat.
 
Oh bless him! Glad to hear he has settled in.

He looks like he is having a great time but you are right not to overdo the jumping - please take this in the spirit with which it is intended, as you have pointed out, he still has a lot of weight to lose IMO, which will be putting pressure on his joints so groundwork would be best. My friend has a beagle and he is just a blob with a head and four paws...I do a lot of tongue biting :o
 
That was the only jumping we did CC :) we were quite happy to watch the other dogs. He did go through the tunnel though which he seemed to really like bless him. I didn't even realise there was a dog agility course, we were out for a lovely walk and we spotted it and I was curious to see what he would be like. The other Dog (the little cavapoo in the pink coat) was a superstar and did all of the obstacles.
 
I think I'm a little bit in love with Ralphie :).

He's such a handsome boy, but my gosh you are right: he's a little porker! He's so lucky to have you to look after him and get him back to a normal weight.........I really don't understand people who have fat dogs (not you, obvs).
 
He is a beauty Cortez. But yes super super fat! we still have a lot to go but so far he has lost 1.4kg. We try to keep him really active so he can work the weight off but at the same time we don't want to overdo it so its finding the right balance. He doesn't get any human food apart from rice (he did have a bit of gammon for Christmas though) and his food is low fat so hopefully if we keep going the way we are he will lose the weight.
 
I just love him-he's loving working with you in those obstacles, bless him. He is chubby, he was carrying it well in the photo I saw him in last. I took a small dog off my brother when she got really fat-she was about 8 we think, didn't put her on special food, just reduced what she was getting and plenty of exercise-she turned into a wee ball of muscle and never looked back. 1.4kg off will be making him feel better already.

LB is you are on FB, there is a low impact version of agility -doggy parkour. just search International Dog Parkour. I taught it to mine before they were old enough to jump stuff and I still do it on walks. Some of the moves will use his core muscles and back muscles as well.
 
A wonderful update and what an incredibly lucky dog. (And you too of course). Treat humping like you would any bad behaviour - as has been said.
 
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