Beagles are pretty active dogs that like to work, run, and play outside.
Even though they are usually pretty healthy, they still have some vulnerability to health issues stemming from being out of doors.
One such thing is beagle allergies.
As an owner, you should be familiar with the types of allergies your pet may have as well as how to manage care.
The most common allergy is actually a reaction to specific foods.
The time you start to see this develop in a beagle is usually after they are a couple years old and before they are five, though there are some instances where they may have an immediate food allergy even as puppies.
The most common problematic foods are corn based, contain milk or beef and then there are preservatives that can impact your dogs health.
Some of the symptoms can actually be kind of scary.
Hair loss causing bald patches, uncontrollable diarrhea, and itchy skin rashes that can also cause dry flakes are all indications of a health problem.
These may be due to an allergen but you should consult your veterinarian just in case it is something worse.
If you have determined that it really is an allergy to food, then you need to find out what food is doing it.
To figure out which food is causing the allergies you need to start elimination of one or two food types from their diet.
This can take weeks for each trial because sometimes you need to wait for the cause of the problem to get out of their system.
Slowly switch out chicken or lamb for beef, or maybe try rice based instead of corn based foods.
Eventually you will determine the right combination of carbohydrate and protein to feed them to avoid their food allergies.
Food is not he only thing that can cause problems.
Environmental factors can also induce allergic reactions.
Inhalants is the most likely cause from environmental allergens, though contact to certain elements my induce a reaction as well.
Inhalants could be any number of things.
Natural things like mites, or pollens from grasses or other plants can promote symptoms, as can man made articles like cleaning chemicals or even their rubber chew toy.
The beagle's body produces histamines when they come into contact with an allergen.
This in turn will present the symptoms like a rash, or sneezing, hot spots, etc.
If your pet is chewing or licking its paws excessively, this is an indicator of something wrong and is most likely due to an allergy.
Most of the time an inhalant beagle allergy reaction will pass pretty quickly after exposure.
However there are times when things can go bad and the treatment by a vet is required.
Medications like antihistamines and even steroids are used to mitigate strong allergy effects.
Contact allergies happen when a beagle rubs up against something that induces histamine production.
This could be anything from a wool blanket to a plastic toy and even certain plants out in your yard.
Usually symptoms are itching and sometimes blisters.
You need to watch carefully with skin conditions lest they become infected and create greater problems for you and your pet.