So Appa has started turning his nose at food in the morning, should I give him his breakfast with his lunch or if he skips just feed him less that day?

Hi! How much does he eat per day?

I'm not the one to answer this. I have always done a modified type of free feeding where I don't put all the daily food out at once but keep adding the next cup to the last cup if it's still sitting there. So that at the end of the day ALL the daily allowance of food might be in the bowl if the dog has ignored it all day.

If you feed and remove the bowl, I might do the same thing I do now.... I don't know....

Hopefully you will get some better advice!

i do not double it. he gets what he did not eat in the morning. since its still in the bowl. don't want to over feed and it teaches him if he skips then he is hungry the next day and eats boths meals they will learn. its also a way for them to regulate their own food so i would just feed the normal portion or what is left in the bowl + some to = a normal meal.

I feed him TOTW 1 cup 3x a day. He's 7 months and 59 lbs. (Mal).

rileyflorence wrote:

I feed him TOTW 1 cup 3x a day. He's 7 months and 59 lbs. (Mal).

3 cups total? Any additional treats?

Looks like TOTW has an average of 350 calories/cup - versus our 2 1/2 cups (plus about 50-100 extra calories in treats/day) we feed our huskies at around 420 calories/cup (Nature's Variety Prairie) - so sounds about right...

Is he less active in this heat? Ours are less hungry when it's hot out.

Riley, if he is just putting his nose up at breakfast but eating dinner he will be fine with the skipped meal. Jack will do this all summer long, a day or 2 missing breakfast then he is right back to eating both meals for a week or so. like i said earlier huskies/ Mals are very good about adjusting their food based on actively and will eat when hungry, or you get girls like sierra and mya that will eat all day long if you let them then they have to go on a diet! if your worried then maybe feed him some of his fav. treat in the morning before you need to go to work, you don't want him thinking that if he skips a meal he gets a treat so you need to space it out and make the treat about something other then missing a meal. this is normal summer time issues

Sounds good. Thanks! It confirms what I was thinking anyway.

I don't do meal "make ups". If any of my dogs don't eat what they are given at a specific feeding time within 20 minutes I pick it up and put it away. When the next feeding time rolls around they get their normal portions for that next feeding time.

Warmer summer weather does affect their appetites as has been mentioned. Before he had competition for food (i.e. before we adopted our chihuahuas) our sibe used to regularly skip meals, moreso in the warmer summer months than other times of the year. He used to be very good at self regulating. Once we added competition that went right out the window, these dogs are like siblings I tell you. Always gotta make sure one doesn't get more than the other.

jbealer wrote:

i do not double it. he gets what he did not eat in the morning. since its still in the bowl. don't want to over feed and it teaches him if he skips then he is hungry the next day and eats boths meals they will learn. its also a way for them to regulate their own food so i would just feed the normal portion or what is left in the bowl + some to = a normal meal.

This is what I do as well. Willow has really cut back on her meals since the heat came on. She skips a meal atleast once a day but it's not always the morning. I'm sure Dakota would be the same but his meds have upped his appetite so I really have to watch his portion control.

Same dish of food until it is eaten. Adobo with the summer heat is barely eating 1 1/2 cups of TOTW per day. If Appa skips a meal or two no big deal.

Huskyluv wrote:

Once we added competition that went right out the window, these dogs are like siblings I tell you. Always gotta make sure one doesn't get more than the other.

You're so right Val! Mya used to sit and guard her food before we got Kody. Wouldn't eat it, but wouldn't let me pick it up either. Now, she circles in the kitchen with Kody when it's feeding time and licks her plate like she's never eaten before...LOL