You will know how to tell a skipped meal from a refusal that matters, where to look first, and which signs move the question from the cupboard to the waiting room.
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The bowl has been full since this morning and the dog circles it without touching anything. Before changing the bag, there are a few places to look, in a certain order.
A healthy adult dog may leave a meal after a heavy day, in hot weather, or simply because it was given plenty the day before. If everything else is normal, that calls for nothing more than lifting the bowl and offering it again at the next meal.
What changes the picture is duration and context. A refusal that repeats, a puppy, an older dog, a dog on treatment or with a known illness: in those cases the margin is far shorter, and waiting is not a neutral choice.
A dog in pain while eating comes over, starts, then gives up. It may drop pieces, chew on one side only, drool, or have breath that has changed.
A broken tooth, an inflamed gum, a splinter of stick wedged across the palate: these are common causes, invisible until you lift the lip. If the dog stays calm about it, a glance is enough to point you somewhere. If it objects, do not force it, have it looked at.
A bowl moved, a slippery floor, a washing machine running alongside, another animal passing through during meals, building work: many refusals are refusals of the place, not of the food.
The test is easy and free. Serve the same thing, somewhere quiet, in another room, with nobody around. If the dog eats, the answer was never in the bag.
The fats in dry food go rancid with air, light and heat. A bag open for a long time, tipped into a container that is never washed, or stored near a heat source, changes taste without changing appearance.
The bottom of the bag is the usual suspect, and refusals often start exactly there. Two habits cover it: keep the food in its own bag, resealed, and write the opening date on it. A change of batch can also explain a sudden refusal of an otherwise familiar food.
Repeated vomiting, diarrhoea that lasts, a tense or painful belly, pale gums, a dog that lies flat, pants without effort, or stops drinking: the refusal to eat is then a detail in a picture that is dealt with elsewhere.
Two groups are not watched and waited on: the puppy, whose reserves are small, and the old or ill dog. When in doubt, a call to a practice costs less than a night of hesitating, and the phone often settles it in two minutes.
At the first refusal, the natural move is to improve the bowl: a little chicken, some gravy, a tasty pouch. The dog eats, everyone is relieved, and the lesson is learnt: waiting improves the menu.
A few repeats are enough to set the habit, and the bidding war has no end. As long as no worrying sign is present, the boring approach works better: offer it, take it away after a while, offer it again at the next meal, without comment and without negotiation.
Three pieces of information save time on the phone: the day and time of the last real meal, what the dog has drunk, and what the last stools looked like. Add whatever changed recently, food included.
These notes beat a general impression. They also stop you repeating the same attempt later believing you already tried it, and they let someone else in the household pick up the thread.