"Judy" wrote

'classic' from a rescue shelter, I added he's a mix and bigger than
standard.

Yup, you did.

I'm not sure what made the impression of pedigree there since it started
with rescue dog, but I must have accidently caused that. No harm, it's
corrected now.

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.

Yup. 'beagle-y look' says it just right.

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.

Seemed so to us.

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


Yup! Had viewed those too.

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?

From general descriptions on the web for sizing. Dog food packages don't
list sizes other than what they think they are appropriate for (far as I
know).

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.

Seems about right. Cash is a little taller. Just got back from the
petsmart and weighed him. Bathroom scale was right. The ladies there said
he looked *slightly* (1-3 lbs they guessed) under optimum. Not enough to
worry about. I know the vet will know more but that's not for a bit over 2
weeks from now. I'm not suprised. He was treated first for heartworms in
November? He's just on maintenance now but that probably had him lose some
earlier until treated.





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