"cshenk" wrote in message
...
Yes, and as soon as folks seemed to think I was talking a pedigree
'classic' from a rescue shelter, I added he's a mix and bigger than
standard.

Yup, you did.

Measure is from front shoulder to ground right? 17.5 inches.

Well, that's roughly how to measure. Close enough anyway. At that height,
there is definitely something else in there. The "beagle-y" look seems to
be pretty dominant and it's what people are used to seeing a lot of so it's
what our minds say is in there.

There are alot of breeds that look pretty close to the common eye. Cash
seems to be a mix with one or more of the other 'hound' types.

Very likely true. And exactly what else is in there is of very little
import in how he is going to behave and how best to train him.

Just looking at the web page,
http://www.dogsindepth.com/hound_dog..._foxhound.html there
seems to be a mix of this in there but Cash isnt that tall. Legs somewhat
shorter and a bit heavier chested

Those are the first things that would separate a beagle from a fox hound
anyway. (I didn't look at that particular picture.)

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/beagle.htm (which is too short and Cash isnt
tri-color). The main difference is Cash isnt this heavy (as in weight)
and has longer legs. I'd say to my inexperienced eye, this beagle seems a
bit overweight?

That is a particularly ugly beagle. Could be the picture but the legs are
too short and yes, the dog is overweight.

Instead look at AKC and the national breed club's versions:

http://www.akc.org/breeds/beagle/index.cfm

http://clubs.akc.org/NBC/beagle_colors.htm

So, going purely on 17.5 inches and 33.5 lbs, he'd be the top end of the
medium catagory right?

I have no idea what you mean by the medium category. Is this from the dog
food package or from dog breed info?

I would figure that a 15 inch purebred beagle would weigh between 25 and 30
pounds - the higher weight would be a male. A 13 inch beagle would be five
pounds less - perhaps six or so. Those are just rough estimates - it's been
a lot of years since I've had a beagle and I'm going from memory. A heavily
muscled dog could weigh more. I had a male who measured 16 inches and was
*extremely* well muscled - as a fully filled out adult he was about 33 - 35
pounds. With any less muscle, he would have been fat at that weight.

So, assuming that my estimates there are at all close, Cash at 17"+ and 33.5
pounds is probably not overweight. With his health problems, he probably
isn't particularly well muscled and at his age, he isn't fully filled out
yet (although his overall dimensions won't change at that point.).

How much food you feed is dependent first on what the food is. If you are
feeding a denser food, you would feed less of it than you would feed of
another food. Don't cheap it out on food - I can tell by the piles of poop
in my yard that my neighbors are feeding what is known among dog people as
"Bog O' Crap" - not only is the food crappy but it comes out in roughly the
same form as it goes in. You don't necessarily have to feed expensive
food - most dogs do just fine on most foods. If you were involved in any
sort of performance work with your dogs (which it doesn't sound like you are
planning), you would want to learn more about basic nutrition - at least so
you know your way around the labels on the bags.

I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere in your posts or in anyone else's
suggestions to you - I suggest strongly that you find a basic training class
and go to it with your dog. You will be amazed by how much you will learn
in just a few weeks and will be even better at training your dog to be a
well-mannered member of your family. I know you're busy - everyone is.
Trust me on this - it will be worth the effort and time.

Judy