Beagle Blues

[carolsumr42]

I have a 2 year old male beagle that I rescued from our county animal shelter. According to the shelter, he has had all his shots and tested negative for heartworm. He is afraid of every noise, especially gun shots. He eats grass and within a minute or two of doing so, will throw up. Just a little amount, mostly the grass and some white phlegm. He is very active and playful with our 3 yr. old Shih Tzu. Not the least bit lathargic. We have had him for 8 months and he is just a very sweet, loving little guy. Could the eating grass and throwing up just be caused by his nervous personality. There was no background on him, so he may have been abused too.

[agilitydog]

Some dogs eat grass because they like it.

Some eat grass because they have an upset tummy

And some eat it because they are lacking something in their diet.

[Aurezalia]

Good for you for rescuing! Anyway...
Eating grass is really not a sign of anything bad. Dogs just do it! It can be annoying - especially because they throw up if they eat too much - which is why I don't let mine do it.
As far as being afraid of noises - conditioning, conditioning. Expose him to the noises so he'll get used to them. Do NOT coddle him - no, "It's okay, it's okay." That makes it worse. Just act as though his fear is silly, and keep exposing him.

[charlie2012]

A friend of mine rescues severely abused animals and one of her dogs has anxiety issues. When they first got her she did the same thing. She was scared of everything and could not keep any food down. Since the dog couldn't keep food down, she was withering away, ribs clearly defined. The dog was put on prozac by a vet(yeah, weird) and on a homemade diet and lives in the country away from anything to provoke her anxiety and now she does just fine. She is still nervous and not "normal" but what can you expect with an abused animal. Abused people are never the same either. I would take your dog to the vet. There are many treatments they can try for anxiety disorders in animals. I would also be calm and not freak out about it. Dogs can sense when you're nervous and that can make them nervous. If the dog has been abused you want to keep scary situations away from him (such as gun shots), if possible. My friends dog never got used to people yelling or fighting or loud noises. These things would set her anxiety off and she wouldn't eat for a few days. If the dog is just young and inexperienced them slow exposure to the "scary situations" is good. Good luck!

[bdrcol22]

My dogs are aspiring to be cows... They will sit and graze in the backyard for hours. I think that they just like the taste, as I have my crew on a fantastic diet. I would not worry about it too much.

[alimel]

Beagles are wonderful, happy little dogs..I should know, I have a 4 year old that we rescued last year from a shelter. Mine was abused in his first home. He would not come out of his crate for the first few weeks and was very shy and timid for a few months. He had bald spots on his tail from stress.

It took him a while to come out of his shell, but when he did..oh boy!

Bless you for rescuing. Give him time, he may still be a little nervous. I would love to see a photo of him

[AtomicSkies]

i too am the owner of a rescue im almost positive previously abused beagle...and she is still nervous and weird but she is better then she was its been a slow sometimes infuriating process...as long as he is healthy just be patient

my beagle dosent but i call my other two...a lab/border mix and a beagle/border mix...the bovine girls they love to graze

[kshort49]

Maia is also a rescue-she is 2 now. But she also is part cow-there's a certain kind of grass that she likes, and will devour as much as she can. It doesn't seem to have any effect on her unless she gets a piece stuck in her throat and coughs it out. She is also mostly lab, so that pretty much explains.

[EmmaGirl]

As soon as mine are out..they start chomping on the grass. They get a proper diet and are in good health. I guess it's a 'vegetarian' thing.

[carolsumr42]

If you email me your email I would be happy to send a photo of Biff.

carolsumr42@yahoo.com

Thanks for responding to my question, it was helpful. I just have to stop worrying......