I give her rice occasionally but not lately. I know less activity is less food. But in the back of my mind I still feel like she is starving just by the way she reacts when it's feeding time. She gets excited so much. Of course I calm her with the hand feeding and all. Guess it's just a back of my mind thought.


She's done begging now and just chewing bones in my face.... Haha I guess she is trying to share

And apples. And chicken....if I remember correctly?

Excitement at home or around feeding is only because there have been no clear expectations made for a dog to behave otherwise. That can be trained to stop, easily.

Dogs that eat food daily in people's home are not starving. They always want more and the excitement is just a lack of boundaries. They more often than not get more stuff by acting excited because people think that if they really want something they should have it.

It is always a good idea to gauge food amounts based on activity levels and bodily health, but she isn't starving.

Jeff is giving you good advice about feeding amounts - Ami loves to eat and it would be very easy to make him a chubby tubby. I count his cups of food, assess his activity level, the outside temperature and how much he has been outside for the the day. Also, at least once a day, I run my hands over his ribs, hips and spine to assess his body condition. And I view him criticallly to make sure I still see his tuck-up and waist (admittedly difficult with this boys wooly coat, especially the waist from above )

If I relied soley on how "hungry" he acts, he would be a round ball! Though last night he was acting famished when he finally decided to come inside - he spent most of the day outside and several hours in the evening just "surveying his domain" from the front porch. I wasn't going to feed him extra until I looked at the thermometer - it was 5° outside at 10:30 PM so he got an extra ration. I use a baseline of 2 cups of TOTW at 70° with 15% more for each 20° drop in temperature. He also gets 3-4 miles daily now, is outside most of the day, he romps and runs hard around the property with me for an hour or so when I do my outdoor chores, he plays tug with me and hubby randomly through the day, he schmies around by himself and several times a week he spends hours and hours running and playing with Archer. So while he is not "working" I believe he is quite active for a pet. The rest of the time he is a furry rug.

Should I ever stop hand feeding? She has this down so well and is a very different puppy lately

I'm kind of reluctant to reply since I've been in a funk all day long and most of what I've written comes out wrong - apologies ahead of time if it does.

After Sasha bit me last time I started feeding her by hand again, literally; holding her bowl while she ate; putting some food in and then picking up the bowl (er, after she ate what was in it) to add more; not really messing with her while she was eating, but making sure that she knew that the food was coming from me.

So now, six months down the path, she's been excellent about waiting for me to release her to eat, she won't wait forever, but will wait several minutes for me to release her then she'll go to her bowl and look at me - much better.
I've picked up her bowl while she's eating - but I always say something make sure that she knows I'm there before I do - with the degree of possessiveness *I* was encountering, I think we've made remarkable advances.

So, to answer your question *my* way, if you're reasonably comfortable that the aggression/possessiveness is a thing of the past (meaning you both have learned) then I'd gradually back off with the literal hand feeding. I'd still do it on occasion more for the bonding than anything else, but it never hurts to make sure they know that you're the bearer of all good things.

UPDATE:
I'd say this is going well. She is also so gentle when taking food too. Watch what I do in the end. I think that proves how gentle and relaxed she can be.

https://youtu.be/XZ5BDWiGPBw