[ClamRetriever]

I started my Golden on TOTW, as recommended in a previous thread, mixing it half-and-half with his Hills's j/d. Now is he eating only TOTW and seems to like it. I was impressed with the list of ingredients in TOTW and certainly when compared to Hill's. If I have some cooked chicken I mix it in. The only problem I have is with his morning feeding. He doesn't eat like he used to and sometimes takes only a few bites before walking away from the bowl. This is unusual for him as he always eats his entire meal at once and usually spins the bowl with his tongue.

I used to add just a little water with the Hill's and he seemed pleased with that so I kept doing it with TOTW. Maybe I shouldn't add the water. I don't know.

Also don't know if I should be worried or just feed him less. He is 80 lbs and gets just under two cups of TOTW twice a day. His bowel movements have been normal.
Thanks all,
Robert

[Shaina]

Unless he starts dropping weight I wouldn't worry about it. Just give him what you think is the right amount of food and remove what he doesn't eat after 10-15 minutes.

I liked adding water to kibble too, but if he's not going to be finishing meals that would be a waste of a lot of food, as you almost have to pitch it once it's been soaked and refused.

[Kathyy]

He is a good sized dog. Maybe he only needs one meal a day. Try cutting down the morning meal to the amount he eats and see how he does. If he loses weight he needs then try making the dinner meal larger.

[briteday]

Or try one cup twice per day. Four cups of food per day sounds like a lot even for an 80 pound dog.

Remember, the amounts on the package are just guidelines. And when they say "one cup" they mean "one 8 ounce cup" not your Big Gulp cup.

[DobManiac]

Dusk ate 5 to 6 cups of TOTW a day when he was on it. He is 80 lbs, intact and reasonably active. 4 cups should be a good starting point for a neautered male. Just watch is build carefully. If he gets too thin feed more, if he is gets too heavy feed less.

But you could always reduce it by a bit, and see if that makes him hungry enough to eat both meals. I prefer adding water to their food, cause I think its easier on their systems. If he doesn't finish it, stick it in the refrigerater and feed it that evening.

[MaddieTheDog]

Maddie had some food problems in the last few months. We changed foods gradually, watered it down, put gravy mix in it, washed the bowl, got another bowl, change her eating times put the bowl down for 20 minutes, then put it away hoping she'd be hungry later. Nothing seemed to work.
We thought we'd wait it out, thinking she'd come around. 4 days past without food. She got weak and didnt want to get out of bed. I finally just bought some ground beef and fed it to her. Not the healthiest, but I wanted *something* in her body. This was before the gravy in the food and all that. It was literally an overnight thing where she stopped eating.
We had been taught to leave the food out for a certain amount of time before putting it away, letting her "have her chance", and to help her bowels be regular, but when that didnt work, we chose to really loosen up about it. We put slightly less in her bowl (she gets a bone and treats during the day, so she's filling up) and just put it down in the morning, let her know it's there, and let her eat when she wanted to. Then in the evening, put another bowl down. Funny thing, she started eating at her regular hours much of the time, not the later hours we tried. Sometimes, she'll go for her last potty break at 10, and then eat.

[Skeeski]

We've got a 75lb Golden and a 95lb Catahoula - We used to let them free feed because they never over did it till this last winter so switched foods and went to a meal in the morning and a meal in the evening. They ate both meals pretty good for about a week and then started refusing their morning meals. We tried things like canned toppers, some chicken, soaking it down some, etc - But they just didn't want to eat in the morning. So they get one meal at night (it really doesn't seem like they're eating enough but neither are dropping any amount of weight) Our Golden get's just under 2 cups and the Catahoula gets just over 2 cups, and they both get some canned or some yogurt or whatever.
Just my .2 cents since ours are doing fine without breakfast.

[LMH]

Since you switched him to a better quality food he probably needs less of it to keep him full. My dog is 150 and I feed him TOTW as well as some other grainless brands and he only has 3 cups a day. Sometimes 4 if he was extra active that day. I feed him 1 and a half in the morning and one in the late afternoon. I'd say for your 80 lbs dog 4 cups is definitely more than he needs. Oh and my dog is not overweight he has a very tucked waste line but the moment I start giving him 4 to five cups everyday he puts on weight fast.

[joeyjoe9]

I've been feeding my Beagle TOTW for a few months and suddenly he, more often than not, is skipping his morning meal. Reading somewhere the Wetlands formula was bland, I switched him to High Prarie. Still, no amount of treats on top, will get him to eat in the morning before I leave for work. He gobbles it up at night, however, as I give him just 1 cup for dinner as I want to realize when I put the food down in the morning, he should eat it up now and he won't get the full amount later at dinner.

[Inga]

Clam you might try feeding less at both the beginning and end of the day. Split that food up into smaller meals. Like I stated before your dog will likely eat a lot less of this food and still maintain his weight. The better ingredients are easier to digest and they can absorb all the good stuff rather then poop out all the fillers.

[Reacher]

I just changed over to ToTW and my dog is not eating much in the morning either. He eats a little and then leaves most of it in the bowl. In the afternoon feeding, he gobbles up everything I put down. I would think that after going without food for more than 12hrs he would be really hungry but he just doesn't seem to be.