My 20 month old patterdale has always been fussy with her food, in the fact that she'll go for about 3 weeks when she eats every meal and then spend another week refusing food.  I usually use the method of what is left after 5 minutes gets binned and then she sees her bowl is empty until the next meal time which eventually works as she is a clever girl and soon gets the message.  This just leaves me really frustrated though about the amount of food which we throw away.  Also, even though I stick to my guns and she doesn't get any chews/treats until she had eaten her meal, I feel really guilty of an evening at the time when she is usually chewing happily on a chew stick when I see her looking hungry and miserable, even though it's of her own making. 

So I was wondering that since we've only had her 6 months and she's our first dog are we feeding her at the wrong times.  Basically she has her early morning walk about 6.30am for a good half hour then she has her food which is half a tin plus mixer biscuits.  She then goes without meals until after the evening walk which again is  a good half hour long and I feed her afterwards about 7pm with again half a tin plus mixer biscuits.  I was wondering if I should feed her just once a day of a morning which will make sure that she is hungry enough to eat what she is given.   I was thinking if I feed her say a full tin plus mixer she will be more likely to eat, but the only problem is with this is that she gets overfaced and doesn't eat all of the food as it is too much in one go, so she won't be getting her daily amount,  I would be giving her a chew stick of an evening to make her not miss that extra meal.  Does this make sense?  Would this be a good approach?  Basically I am interested in how you feed your dogs, is it once or twice a day? and how if you do give them doggy chews how many and when.

That seems an awful lot for a patterdale. Its about the same amount that I feed my Labs, although I feed tripe not tinned meat. Have you tried her on tripe. If you read the label on your tinned meat you will see that it contains about 70% moisture. That's a very expensive way to give your dog water. I feed twice a day but split the overall amount up into two 'half' feeds, the amount you are giving her twice a day is two full meals. A good rule is to look at your dogs tummy and imagine how much it would take to fill it. I would imagine a Patterdales stomach is about the same size as a teacup.

That's useful to know, I was going off the measurements on the tin for a dog her weight.

One normal sized tin WITHOUT any biscuits added lasts me for 3 meals for 2 Papillons -one weighs 3.5 kgs, the other 4. I.e. I get 6 meals per dog out of one tin -when the tin says each dog should have half a tin per meal!

My dogs get fed around noon and then around 7 pm. All finish their food within 10 seconds or so.But there is a lot of competition of course, they know if they don't finish theirs somebody else will appear and try to take it. :)

I feed twice a day.  Once when I get up in the morning, and after the dogs have been let out (whenever that is, there is no rule on that.  Usually though around 9a).  Then they are fed again at 5 pm. 

They get fed 1/4 cup each meal, with some canned food ontop (about a teaspoon) in the evening meal.  Also, I add water to the dry food. 

If for whatever reason, they go off the food, I still take it from them after 20 minutes.  If they dont eat it, its their fault.  But, I differ in the way, they rarely get treats or cookies.  I dont make a habit, as to when they get treats, as they will come to expect that as well. 

They always have a rawhide though. 

I ignore the feeding guidelines on dog food completely; always have done so.  I judge by the individual dog - if I can just feel their ribs when I stroke lightly on their sides I am feeding the correct amount.  Generally that ends up being 1/3 to 1/2 of what the manufacturer recommends.

I too have a dog who can be iffy about eating but we have learnt to trust him.  He is pretty good at self regulating according to the amount of exercise he gets but is happy to miss a meal if he isn't hungry. He often drops meals in the hot weather, partly because he doesn't exert himself too much in the heat!

I used to feed him wet food but, like you, was often frustrated by the amount I was throwing away.  We now feed Arden Grange which he loves (although we now have a 2nd dog so competitive eating helps!!).  The advantage with dry food is that you can pick it up and reoffer it later without the risk of spoiling.  I use a plastic takeway carton to store uneaten food and if I am worried about the amount he is eating I can reweigh it to check.

He is now 5 years old, weighs 12.5kg and has 75g of AG per meal. Like Cairnmania I judge food portions by the feel of each dog but I do like to know their weight and I always weigh their portions for accuracy.  I feed at 8am and 5pm.  I pick up uneaten food after about 10 mins but he'll sometimes have another go at his breakfast after our morning walk.  On his non eating days I wouldn't offer alternatives like chews or biggish treats but I always have a pocket of tiny biscuits when we walk, to reward recall.  He is a terrier type mongrel with an eye for livestock so I need him to be very sharp at getting back to me if i call.  Another advantage with something like Arden Grange is that I can use these as treats too if I'm a bit worried he isn't eating properly at mealtimes.

Take care with some chews - I've always found they bung my boys up so they don't feel very hungry but they aren't delivering any nutritional value.  I often give a carrot or a piece of broccoli to my fussy one and that will usually kick start his appetite again.