Beagle won't eat

sounds crazy right? I have a 2+ year old beagle, and he has always gone through periods where he won't eat his morning food until late at night. Weird, but not a huge deal i guess. but lately, he does this thing where he uses his nose to splash water from his water dish into his food dish(and all over the floor), and he also will nudge blankets, toys, shoes, etc with his nose into his food/water. sometimes, he will nudge something across the entire kitchen, but will never pick it up. he might spend fifteen minutes nudging a toy into his water dish. anyone know what he might be thinking?

It sounds like your dog might be showing his distaste for the food you're feeding him. Have you tried a different brand?

Your beagle is a very clever boy when taken out of the role he was bred for. Some beagles, depending on bloodline, will settle into domestic bliss easily. Others will NEVER settle - they are the proper working strain dogs, have to do the job and need a leader that has the same aim in life as they do - to kill as many things as they can catch in the shortest possible time.
You then are left with the middle ground animals that have not quite enough gumption to make a true working dog without correct handling and have too much instinctive stuff about them for a lay man to handle!

I suspect that you have a specimen of the middle type/lower type.

My feeling is....? There should not be a problem here.
You feed the dog, you leave it for five minutes, you take what is not eaten away.

Next feeding time - you put the feed down, you give the signal for the dog to eat, you leave it for five minutes, you take what is not eaten away.

Next feeding time - you put the food down, give the signal for the dog to eat, leave for five minutes, remove uneaten food.

If the dog does not eat for a couple of meals it doesn't matter. The dog will eventually eat enough to keep it alive. It will then get the idea that, as is natural, you eat now or you don't.

A beagle will go for 7 to 10 days in a battle of wills with you if you miss the timing. Strict timing and ignoring of the dog during feeding is vital. You MUST keep to the 5 minute undisturbed rule, then take away the food. Do not leave this dog to eat when it chooses to.