I need help on my beagle PLEASE

Question
Well i have a couple questions and I'd appreciate if U are willing to answer them. well to start out i have a 1 year old Beagle and we're having a problem leaving him at home when we're gone without him barking and we live in a condo so its hard because we have neighbors that can hear him when he does it. we tried a anti-bark collar but that didn't work to well. I would also like to know about the feeding schedule because we just took our dog to the vet today for heartworm testing and they said that he should lose about 7-8 pounds, we give him some of our food when we eat because he begs until we give him some... and then i give him about a cup and a quarter of dry food ... but in the last couple of weeks he only likes to eat at night i don't know if its because its hot outside, but we keep him inside, the only time he is outside is when we go on walks or to the dog park. I don't know if thats normal for dogs and it might be because we give him table scraps during the day that he doesn't want to eat his own food that much. I would also like to know what the best dry food is for dogs and if there is a specific one that beagles prefer over other dry foods but that are healthy at the same time. We are also doing some obedient classes at our local PetsMart, but i would like to ask you if there are ways to train a beagle to be off-leash dogs just around the house because most of our neighbors have dogs that are off-leash dogs and i also have seen beagles that are up for adoptions that are off-leash dogs, which convinces me that they are able to be off-leash trained even if their nose is their priority because most people say that thats not possible because of the nose but if they're hunters at the same time then that wouldn't make sense because they hunt without a leash... i think thats all the questions i have for right now, its a hand full but I'm just trying to find out whats best for my beagle through people that have experience with dogs and know how to deal with them.  Thanks

Answer
Jasmin, about the barking when you leave, could you tell me what kind of anti-bark collar you tried, and why it didn't work? Is he barking constantly when you leave, or just for a few minutes, or what? Have your neighbors actually complained yet?

As for the feeding schedule, I would recommend that you stop feeding him from the table/off your plate. Put him in his crate, or block him in another room so he cannot sit and beg while you eat. It is common when the weather heats up for dogs' appetites to slow down, and some dogs just don't want to eat more than once a day, so that behavior from your dog is pretty normal.

There are 2 varieties of Beagle, as recognized by the AKC. They are the 13 inch and the 15 inch, which is the measurement at the top of the shoulder (the withers), when the dog is an adult. How much he should weigh depends upon which type of beagle he is. How much does he currently weigh? I don't think more than a cup of food per day should be fed, but it depends again on what you're feeding. I feed a high quality, human grade dog food (Canidae), and my 60-pound dog gets 2 cups a day. You're feeding your dog almost that amount, but he should be nowhere near 60 pounds, even as an adult!

There is no one specific food that is best for all dogs. I would like for you to take a look at the article I wrote about how to choose a dog food, and when you have read it, please feel free to e-mail me at blueridgerescue @ gmail.com if you have any more questions. Here is the link to the article:

http://www.helium.com/tm/85619/foods-choose-kristen-topic


Generally, hounds should not be allowed off-leash in an unfenced area because when they hit on a scent that they want to follow, it's nearly impossible to get them to leave it. This can be dangerous. Yes, Beagles hunt off leash, but they are in a pack, following one scent, and with the hunter right behind them on horseback.