# Skipping meals.....is this normal?



## Evil-Twin-Tobias (May 15, 2012)

Toby has not been eating his breakfast now for 3 days now and I'm a bit worried. I've never had a dog not inhale their food as soon as I set it down. He does still eat his dinner and I do treat him during our little training sessions during the day. He was eating a 1/2 cup of Wellness kibble and a teaspoon of canned twice a day, but now just at dinner time. So I have a few questins. First of all, is this normal for havs and smaller breeds? Second, if he skips his breakfast do I feed him double at dinner or the same portion? And do you all leave out the food all day? Mine is mixed with the wet so I took it up after an hour or so cause it did not look good. 

Well, at least he doesn't poop as much. Any suggestions would be great. This Forum has been a wonderful resource and a comfort.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

good question , do you mind me quoting you to my friend ?


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## Evil-Twin-Tobias (May 15, 2012)

No problem. Thank you.


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## Jplatthy (Jan 16, 2011)

I can only go by my own experience and with the 3 I have it is very normal for them to "skip" meals sometimes.....mine only eat dry food and they only have about 1.5 hours to eat in the morning and at night.....usually if they don't eat the morning meal they eat at night ...they have never skipped more than one meal at a time other than when they were sick and not feeling well........it could be the treats at training...I do know when my bf is home and gives more treats they eat less.............


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

What does he weigh? You could always split that 1/2cup between two meals.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Kodi maintains his weight very well on 1/4 cup twice a day. It may be that 1/2 cup twice a day is just too much food for him.


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Yes,
Skipping meals is common, I would be way more concerned if they were not drinking water and no peeing showing signs of dehydration, but just skipping meals and acting fine..totally normal. The longest Gucci has gone is 2 days, most days she only eats 1 time a day, seldom does she want a 2nd meal and if she does she lets me know. I don't put it down unless she asks for it, It'd just waste perfectly good food. And over the years, I've found she prefers to eat around 11 am-1 pm

Kara


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## Evil-Twin-Tobias (May 15, 2012)

HavaneseSoon said:


> What does he weigh? You could always split that 1/2cup between two meals.


He weighs 14 pounds. When we first got him he only weighed 12 pounds and very skinny. The vet told us to feed him 1 cup of food a day split into 2 . Maybe we should try the 1/4 cup each time. I will try that. Thanks.


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## Evil-Twin-Tobias (May 15, 2012)

Yay! Toby ate his breakfast today. We came back from our morning walk, and he was pacing around in the kitchen so I figured he may be hungry. The only little difference this morning was that I pretended to take a little bite from his bowl before I gave it to him. Maybe he thought I would eat it if he didn't tuck in and finish. 

I guess I just need to go with the flow with him. He will self-regulate and eat when he's hungry. It's really very healthy if you think about it. Maybe I should follow in his paw-steps.


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## sprorchid (Mar 30, 2010)

my little guy is not a morning eater. never has been. He's more a late night eater, I'm talkiing 2am.

both my dogs that are not rescues skip meals all the time. all my rescues (all two) they never miss a meal, unless they are taking antibotics (upset stomach).


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

when my hav was on kibble she was not a good eater. I would leave it out all day and she would maybe eat 1/4 cup ALL day... just enough to survive. Come to find out 80% of what was in her food, she was actually allergic too! smart girl! Since I started home cooking for her a year ago, she hasn't missed a meal.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

yeah I checked with Sabine (dog nutritionist) and I guess she'd need more info, . She did say though ...."Unfortunately it's really difficult to comment without knowing more. It could be a health problem, it could be behavioral.

I would definitely not double the second meal if the first one isn't eaten. And food should *never* be freely available all day."

Sabine


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## tokipoke (Feb 13, 2012)

I don't free feed my dogs. I've been feeding Louis one meal a day now. He is fed pre-made raw food. He wolfs it down so fast he almost chokes! It is okay to feed a dog his full meal once a day. 

Maybe Toby gets full throughout the day and doesn't want breakfast. Or maybe he's hot or too tired to want to eat it. As long as he is getting dinner! At first I thought he was being fed one meal a day and skipping that! Dogs will eat when they are hungry. If you want to entice him to eat more, maybe you can try some different brands. Maybe you can feed him his full meal at night time? Louis has been doing great on one meal a day but he is not on kibble, so maybe other people can chime in.


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

maybe it's because I have a smaller hav at barely 9 lbs but I don't ever foresee a time when I would feed her once a day. I don't think her tummy would like having to fill up like that and then not eat for 24 hrs... I know I wouldn't like it! LOL

But maybe for the bigger havs with different foods it would work differently!


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