[yorkietalkjilly]

My dogs have never seemed to eat or drink much, if at all, while I've been away over a lifetime of having dogs, as I think they slept most of the time I'm gone. Unless your dog is ill and needs food or water every few hours, I'd let him set his own intake schedule. If he gets hungry and thirsty enough, he will eventually eat, drink enough to keep from starving, thirsting, etc. If you have to be gone overnight or in the hospital in an emergency, as I have once or twice, I found my dog at the time was probably upset by the change in the daily schedule and from the uncertainty of what was going on, didn't eat or drink a lot but it was obvious he did take enough to get him by. Plus, he peed/pooped on the pee pads, something he normally will never do no matter how long I'm gone during the day, saving it for when he can go outside. So unless your dog is old, senile, ill, I would let him do what he likes unless he's losing a lot of weight or getting sick from it.