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Beagles, with their enthusiastic personalities and charmingly floppy ears, make loving and loyal family pets. They’re also known food lovers. And while most aren’t hard to please, there are some good nutritional reasons to tailor your food selection to this breed’s particular quirks—which can include a predisposition to allergies, digestive sensitivity, and obesity.
First, you’ll want to choose a food that’s a good fit for your Beagle’s size. Beagles typically reach an adult size between 20 and 35 pounds, which puts them at the upper limit for small breeds and overlaps them into medium breeds. Small Beagles might do well on a small-breed formula, but bigger Beagles should avoid it, since small-breed formulas tend to be calorie dense—which can contribute to weight gain in a bigger pup with a slower metabolism.
Allergy-prone Beagles can benefit from limited ingredient lists, hydrolyzed diets, and novel proteins that avoid common allergens like chicken or beef. Beagles with sensitive stomachs need highly digestible recipes with prebiotics and probiotics.
Since that can be a lot to keep in mind, we’ve reviewed some of the strongest food options from Beagles in a variety of styles to help you understand what they’re especially effective at. These selections all meet AAFCO guidelines for safe and healthy dog nutrition—but as always, it’s up to you and your vet to make the best choice for your pup.
Best for Beagle Puppies: Wellness Complete Health Puppy
This chicken, salmon, and oatmeal puppy recipe has all the the building blocks for your Beagle puppy’s well-rounded growth, with 32% protein and 20% fat—healthily meeting AAFCO guidelines for puppy food. A good dose of fish-oil-based omega fatty acids promotes critical brain and eye development, while carrots offer fiber to help regulate puppy stomachs.
Remember that puppies need more frequent feedings than adult dogs, and that with Beagles, you’ll probably want to avoid free-feeding to keep your buddy at a healthy weight as they grow.
Key Nutrients:
- 3,911 kcal/kg
- Protein: 32%
- Fat: 20%
- Fiber: 5%
Best Hydrolyzed for Food Allergies: Blue Buffalo Natural HF
For Beagles suspected of having food intolerances or allergies, a hydrolyzed protein diet is the way to go. Because protein sources are by far the most common food allergen, formulas like this one from Blue Buffalo break the protein down into pieces too small to trigger an immune response. They’re especially useful when you’re in the allergy testing phase and are trying to figure out what’s causing your Beagle’s upset stomach.
This particular formula is prescription, meaning you’ll want your vet’s approval before you offer it to your dog. It adds pumpkin for additional digestive support, fish oil for skin and coat health, and antioxidant-rich ingredients like kelp to support your Beagle’s stressed immune system.
Key Nutrients:
- 3,529 kcal/kg
- Protein: 26%
- Fat: 13%
- Fiber: 6%
Best Limited-Ingredient: Merrick Limited Ingredient Grain-Free Real Lamb Canned Food
In cases where you’ve already identified the culprit behind your Beagle’s food allergy or sensitivity, a limited-ingredient diet with novel proteins can be a better fit than a hydrolyzed protein formula. This line of canned foods from Merrick features only single-source proteins, plus a short list of vitamins and minerals.
This particular grain-free wet food includes only protein from deboned lamb and lamb liver, not other sources that could provoke your pup’s stomach. There are also beef and bison options—the latter being especially useful if you need a protein your dog hasn’t encountered before.
Key Nutrients:
- 1,353 kcal/kg
- Protein: 32%
- Fat: 41%
- Fiber: 6%
Best Air-Dried: Ziwi Peak Original Series
Air-dried food has a texture somewhere in between jerky and kibble; Ziwi Peak’s air-dried dog foods have about 14% moisture content (kibble tends to be around 10%). The recipes are strong on single protein sources, with venison in particular offering a high-protein choice for especially active or working dogs. Air-dried recipes do, however, tend to be more expensive than traditional dried foods and kibbles.
The recipe includes meat plus tripe, heart, lung, liver, kidney, and bone, along with New Zealand green mussels, which provide supplemental protein and omega-3 fatty acids—as well as a natural source of joint-supporting glucosamine.
Key Nutrients:
- 4,650 kcal/kg
- Protein: 51%
- Fat: 28%
- Fiber: 3%
Best for Weight Loss: Solid Gold Fit & Fabulous
Choose between a couple of weight control options in this dog food line: the grain-free chicken, sweet potato, and green bean recipe or the whole grain Alaskan pollock–based recipe. It’s a low-fat, medium-protein option with a healthy dose of fiber from peas, pearled barley, and brown rice that also assists in helping your Beagle feel fuller longer.
Key Nutrients (whole grain Alaskan pollock):
- 3,240 kcal/kg
- Protein: 29%
- Fat: 7%
- Fiber: 11%
Best for Senior Beagles: Dr. Gary’s Best Breed Senior
Like a lot of dogs, Beagles tend to slow down as they age. This reduced-calorie, low-fat, low-fiber, and medium protein dog food is especially formulated for senior dogs of all breeds, including your Beagle, developed by a veterinarian. Chicken and menhaden fish are the primary lean proteins here, and additional senior-friendly nutrients, including New Zealand green mussels, glucosamine, and taurine, round out this recipe.
Key Nutrients:
- 3,679 kcal/kg
- Protein: 23%
- Fat: 8%
- Fiber: 4%
Best Fresh Dog Food for Beagles: Nom Nom
We like this Beef Mash recipe because it has a slightly lower fat content at 17%, which also brings it under some of the other fresh food options out there. That said, fresh dog foods are generally a good—if pricier—choice for your Beagle’s nutrition, thanks to short whole-food ingredient lists that are high in protein and healthy fats, often human-grade, and lower in calories than dry kibble. Nom Nom foods started out as a subscription-based food, so it’s available that way as well as via retail outlets like Chewy.
Key Nutrients:
- 1,239 kcal/kg
- Protein: 35%
- Fat: 17%
- Fiber: 4%
Best Novel Protein Dog Food: Zignature Small Bites Kangaroo
Zignature specializes in novel proteins, which can be great if your dog is sensitive to certain proteins like chicken, beef, or lamb. Kangaroo is one of the more unusual options out there, but it has a lot going for it: It’s a low-fat red meat with high amounts of B vitamins, minerals like zinc and iron, and omega fatty acids. There are also trout and salmon, turkey, and lamb options in this line. The “small bites” version has kibble sized for smaller dogs, so it’s especially good for a smaller Beagle.
Key Nutrients:
- 3,884 kcal/kg
- Protein: 30%
- Fat: 14%
- Fiber: 0.6%
Best Subscription Dog Food for Beagles: Raised Right
If your Beagle loves fresh food, it’s hard to go wrong with Raised Right for a low-fat, high-protein option. The food is human grade with the shortest ingredient list in this roundup, and every batch of food is tested before it’s shipped out. It’s also a good low-sodium option, if that’s something your pup needs, with the content at 0.12%.
Raised Right emphasizes transparency, and that includes posting on their website where ingredients are sourced from, the lab test results, and the full nutritional content of each recipe. It also two thumbs and four paws up from our Rover testers.
Key Nutrients:
- 4,092 kcal/kg
- Protein: 64%
- Fat: 14%
- Fiber: 3%
Best for Beagle Skin and Joint Health: JustFoodForDogs Joint & Skin Support
JustFoodForDogs’ customizable and flexible human-grade foods fit a lot of different dietary needs. Their three styles of dog food—fresh, shelf-stable, and DIY kits—have been formulated by a team of veterinarians and all have single protein sources and a short recognizable ingredients list. This skin and joint health formula is a good option for Beagles struggling with coat issues, especially as a result of allergies.
It has pork as its meat protein, with quinoa, kale, carrots, and apples as nutrient-rich supports. Coconut and sunflower oils, plus EPA and DHA, provide healthy fats and fatty acids. You can also schedule a consultation with the company’s nutritionists to create the right fit for your pet or to find which formula fits their needs best. If you prefer to make your dog’s food at home as much as you safely can, DIY meal kits allow you to fine-tune your dog’s food to your needs: you get a recipe, nutrient blend, and a shopping list for the other ingredients.
Key Nutrients:
- 1,082 kcal/kg
- Protein: 33%
- Fat: 5%
- Fiber: 8%
How We Chose
The products featured here were selected based on a combination of our own hands-on testing and a comprehensive look at customer reviews across a wide variety of retail platforms. We prioritized AAFCO-compliant foods that suit common Beagle nutritional needs and issues, like weight loss, joint and coat support, and hypoallergenic and limited-ingredient recipes. We’re also guided by the experience of living and playing alongside our own much-loved and strongly opinionated pets, who are never stingy with their feedback.