We took on a German Shepherd cross Collie that was 6 months old that had been fed on a rawfeed diet. We decided to change this as it was totally alien to us and put her on a complete food. She seems to eat them for a few days and then eats less and less. We have tried removing the food and starving her for 3 days but her interest soon waines. We have now tried several different types of food and tried adding tinned and fresh cooked meat, oils, meat juices and gravy.  This has been going on for 8 months now and at one stage we thought we had it cracked but after four weeks on a certain food she went back to the beginning. She is exercised daily walking/running for a minimum of 2 miles and a lot of that is running off the lead so she is very fit. Our main concern is that she is constantly dropping any weight she may put on although her coat is excellent. We have had dogs for many years and this is the first one that hasn't eaten whatever has been put down (including roast dinners). Can anyone please suggest a way of combatting this? Desperate!!

seeing as how you are feeding her everything but raw, maybe try going back to it? You will get the hang of it, and it will be much easier knowing she is going to eat what you put down. There are tonnes of raw feeders that will be willing to help you start.

I'd advise you to go back to raw too. It's hard work at first but you soon master the quantities, and can organise meals in advance so it takes less time too.

Some dogs defy all logic when it comes to food.  The don't eat when you think they should and they like to eat the things you find least appealing!

I now raw feed after years with dogs on complete foods and my fussy eater is now much improved.  I can see how raw food might be difficult to consider at first but you may find the more you read, the more you research, the more natural it will seem.

You can start with simple things to see whether it makes a difference.  Lots of people report very good results with tripe so this might be a good first choice.  Most of the bigger pet shops sell tripe suitable for dogs and you can buy it frozen in 450g blocks or as freeflow mince.  I buy Prize Choice

I buy most of my other raw pet food in bulk from TPMS but it may be worth trying some supemarket meat to see what she will eat.  Chicken portions or wings may be another good option - most raw fed dogs love these and can munch through them with ease.  You don't have to decide right away but seeing as you've tried everything else then raw feeding has to be worth a go    Good luck

Why not feed raw with a good quality complete used as a "topper".

I feed my dogs probably 75% raw, which includes various meats (with and without bone), tripe, the odd raw egg, occasional pulped vegetables and a small amount of offal once a week. They get some raw lamb rib bones about 3-4 times a week. To their minces I add a small handful of Orijen.

I suspect your dog is telling you she prefers the raw, so why not try again and see how you get on. Other than remembering to get the meat out of the freezer it really isn't that complicated.

Various manufacturers also produce "complete" raw diets, so if you are unduly worried about getting the balance right, maybe one of those would be good for you, although they tend to be more expensive than homemade mixes.

To get use to the idea... maybe get some prize choice meats to try out. Once you see she loooves it, then you can get more. However, as she was already raw fed, the transitions in between different meats should not be a problem at all. Just make sure you give her the proper ratios and amount. There is tonnes of literature on it...

I agree with the advice here. my gsd is raw fed and I wouldn't go back it is nowehere near as complicated as it first appears particulaly if you choose raw meaty bones and not barf. I would start off with some mince either prize choice or forthglade (prize choice is cheaper) and maybe some chichken wings as long as she chew them and isn't so enthusiastic that she swallows them whole. I also use sainsburys  frozen basics chicken bits, then as miswager suggest add different meatsand bones from there. 

sounds to me like she knows whats good for her and raw (imo) is the best food a dog can have.  I would go back to it, its not hard atall when you get used to it and the benefits outway the inconvenience of it.  I have two GSD's both very fussy eaters when they were fed on complete, very lean and didnt look that great tbh until I switched to raw - no looking back and will never feed complete again.  You could start with mainly raw a little complete to top it up. Be careful with gravy etc as its very salty and salt isnt good for dogs, you may end up spending all your time trying to find a food to tempt her and swap n change which will just add to her becoming fussy. Why dont you try a little experiment.. Feed raw for a few months and see if she turns her nose up at, I would say she won't! Good luck anyway.

There are also companies out there that will provide the meat and veg combos already mixed for you if worried about what to feed? Not sure if I'm allowed to mention brands but Darlings Real Dog Food recently sent me a fab sample though usually I order off DAF.

> We have had dogs for many years and this is the first one that hasn't eaten whatever has been put down (including roast dinners). Can anyone please suggest a way of combatting this?

Have you tried adding raw tripe to the food? If you use free-flow tripe (it's minced), give it a good stirr into the other food, it can't easily be picked out, especially if you soak the food in water first and let the tripe sit in it for a few minutes before serving (so the smell & juices from the tripe permeates the kibble).

That's anopther thing, if you feed dry kibble, it must seem very different and un-apealing to a dog that is used to eating a raw diet, which will be moist.