Leaving dogs alone with a pile of meat?

[Senthe]

If I leave a dog in an enclosure and leave it a pile of meat, then can the dog stay there and not starve as long as there is spoiled meat available? If so, for how long (how much spoiled meat is needed per dog per day)?

[Plotinus]

The dog will never starve to death, so you don't have to worry too much about miscalculating. I think 1-2 cuts per dog per day to keep them fed.

There used to be a bug that the dog wouldn't eat unless you were there to watch them eat, and I'm not sure if it's been fixed. You should try leaving them with a pile of meat and seeing how much they eat and whether they're hungry when you get back.

[Plotinus]

I just tested with 3 of my dogs. I left them for a week with a 3 perches. They did not get hungry and they did not eat the perches. The perches did spoil in that time. So yeah, it's bugged.

[Senthe]

Oh, so I can just leave the dogs alone forever without any food and they'll still be alive whenever I return? How silly. But thanks for explaining

[Plotinus]

If you take a starving or badly injured dog hunting, they will whimper pitifully and refuse to chase the prey, but right now that's the only incentive to feed them, aside from roleplay.

[PALU]

And a starving hunting dog can eat from the prey, damaging the fur, if role playing and role playing decency isn't enough incentive.