We feed them twice a day. Morning and evening. We don't worry
whether Dakota eats or not, she'll eat if she's hungry enough. It
usually gets the better of her if she skips a meal or two and then she
eats everything in sight again. I know the experts say to take the
bowl up after 15 mins but the older dog has always been a slow eater,
eating a little now and a little later. Doesn't hurt anything so we
let her. Leave the bowl all day and if she's hungry (and it's
appealing enough) she eats. It's actually kinda funny to watch the
two dogs jockey for each other's (same) food. It always tastes better
out of the other dog's bowl.

No doubt many will disagree, but I have a hands off approach to aging
pets. My philosophy is that if I take her in and she's diagnosed with
virtually anything serious, I'm not going to subject her, or me, to
treatments. I'm going to let her go naturally, in peace and comfort,
without needles and unpleasant tests and so forth. At her age it
isn't like they can "fix" her. She's elderly. You get old, the body
starts to wither. Geez, I know the feeling with my own body and I
don't run to the doc for me, either. So it's pretty much a personal
philosophy all around.

As long as she's happy, comfortable, good quality of life and not
suffering, she lives her life in peace with us. The older dog and her
appetite issues, she's just gotten picky (and senile) in her old age.
She has lost a few marbles along the way. Pretty normal based on the
other old dogs I've encountered. Even people get that way. Right now
she's happy to eat if I add a bit of vegetable soup to her food.
Tomorrow she might feel picky again. And they always get carrots as
treats, she's never said no to a carrot or dog biscuit.

I had two old cats years ago. One I let go naturally, and she had a
good end, and I have happy (sad happy) memories of her end. The other
I took to the vet, and his end still tortures me to this day. The
tests, the poking and prodding, the treatments that left him worse
than when we took him in and shortly after, the final ending where
they couldn't hit his vein and kept sticking him over and over... no,
I'd rather let it be natural as long as there is no suffering for
beyond normal old folks stuff.

Shari