I get my chicken wings from Tesco - own brand.
I know the `no dog will starve themselves` argument, but I don`t go along with it for a nervous or anxious dog, or one in poor condition. I think dogs like this need help to establish a good relationship with food again. I found tempting the dog to start eating was helpful. If I could just get Daisy to accept a bit of cheese, it seemed to get the gastric juices going and she`d eat `normal` food. Also, I found she liked to go back to it after a break. I have a feeling her food had been left down all the time.
I hope your dog improves. Daisy is now enthusiastic about her food, and isn`t miserable around it any more.

go have a look at TPMS (they have a website, I think .co.uk but if I put the link here it will be removed I think) or Landywoods (again they have a website).

TMPS is where I get Jess's food from.

I feed Jess offal, meat and bones. I don't add any veg (she won't eat it). BUT if you feed green tripe, you don't need to add any veg or stuff like that (as far as I'm aware)

Jen x

The prey-model diet sounds like it would suit you as it doesn't require any veg or carbs to make it a complete diet.

Here's some starter info I put together over the last year or two from advice sent to me and stuff I've learned myself, which I post from time to time.

There's loads of rawfeeders on here - so just post any questions you have and at least one of us will have the answer I'm sure!

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The "Raw Meaty Bones" or "Prey-Model" diet in simple terms is literally 80% meat/10% edible bone/10% organ - no veggies or dairy needed as it approximately mimics the kind of carcass your carnivore would be consuming in the wild.

With the prey-model diet, Mother Nature has done the work for you and provided our carnivores with the exact percentages of bone to meat required - it is based on the latest studies on wolves which have determined that contrary to previous belief, wolves shake out the contents of the stomach before eating the stomach (tripe) rather than eat the contents.

So how is 80% meat/10% edible bone/10% organ a balanced diet?

Bones provide biologically balanced minerals, especially calcium, but also copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, zinc, and manganese. The best and safest way to provide balanced calcium is by feeding raw meaty bones that have around 10% edible bone in them - e.g. lamb or mutton shoulder, lamb or mutton thigh, whole chickens, halves or quarters (with perhaps some extra muscle meat added in to allow for the bird having being processed i.e. parts missing!).

Muscle meat is a great source of protein, and protein contains essential amino acids, the building blocks of your dog. Muscle meat also contains a lot of phosphorus and is low in calcium. When fed with 10% edible bone you have the exact ratios of calcium to phosphorus required by a dog.

Once you have got your dog used to raw, start adding in small amounts of offal, until you build up to around 10% of the diet. 10% of the total diet should be a mix of organs (at least some liver plus either kidneys, lung, pancreas, brains etc - half liver and half something else would be fine). Liver is particularly important as it is the main source of water-insoluble vitamins in organs. Organs in general provide an enzyme-rich mixture of protein, B-complex vitamins, vitamins A and D, some vitamin C, and essential fatty acids EPA, DHA, and AA, along with minerals such as manganese, selenium, zinc, potassium and copper. Liver has a high iron, Vitamin A and B12, and folate content, as well as niacin and pantothenic acid. Like muscle meat, organs contain a lot of phosphorus (and potassium) and are low in calcium. Heart counts as a muscle meat more than it does as an organ. So do chicken gizzards. Vitamin E is also found in organs, (liver, heart, kidneys, brains) and in red meats in moderate amounts, and in raw eggs and fish in plentiful amounts. The essential fatty acid DHA (Omega 3) is also plentiful in fish and in organs like brains, kidneys, and liver. Eggs also have various vitamins and minerals and free-range eggs have lots of beta-carotene.

Green tripe is also a great food as it is the stomach from grass eating animals which contains beneficial bacteria, essential fatty acids and other nutrients, and it has a very good calcium/phosphorus ratio - however it's not an essential part of the diet; just a nice to have if you can get it.

For starting out, rawfeeders usually recommend choosing one meat (with bone) type only to start and then feeding the amount based on your dogs desired adult weight (the food should initially equal 2-3% of this weight and then adjust to suit the individual dog). Once the dog is used to one meat type, and poops are fine you can then start adding in a little liver plus maybe some kidney or heart (chicken, pork, lamb or beef whatever is available), monitoring the poop as you go until your dog is getting the proper 10% of offal in the diet. You can then progress onto a different meat type, gradually adding in the new type in bigger quantities each meal until a full meal of the new meat type is achieved without any upset to their poop!

Thank you everybody for your helpful advice. I agree with you "Claire and Daisy" about the starving thing. They may not starve but some dogs including my Ozzy will eat just enough to stay alive and that can't be good for them long term. When I think about it, he was thin when we got him, he's 14 months old now, he's always been thin and rarely seems to enjoy food. He is sitting beside me right now and i can hear his little tummy rumbling bless him. I like the idea of the Green tripe and will look up your suggestions, thank you x

A little off track perhaps.... but as I understand it, NO dog will starve itself to death - sounds like something might be going on with your dog, what exactly does your vet say?

No - but you don`t want an unhealthy, miserable dog - you want one that enjoys life. Dogs suffer from stress just as people do, which can affect appetite. And unfortunately a lot of rescues have baggage around food. They may have eaten infrequently, or had to fight for it, or they may well have been shouted at or hit while food was around. Some people seem to get their kicks by exerting their power this way.

Other than agreeing that he's very thin but not emaciated, the only advice I got was to put food down and take it straight back up if he didn't eat it, then try again an hour later. Anyway, the good news is I got some Lamb mince this morning, crumbled up a small amount of kibble that does'nt contain cereal, mixed it up and HE ATE IT ALL Definitely going to raw feed from now on

thats good news hes eaten something, hopefully it will continue, remember you can get the value minces ect, the fats in them are actually good for the dogs...
pets at home do frozen raw meat too and it is actually very good, and they do tripe !

Fantastic!!!!

That is great news It is so rewarding when they actually eat their food

Found chicken wings in tesco and gave him one today. He wasn't sure what to do with it at first and licked it for a while then started to tentatively bite around the edges then crunch crunch (I held my breath) he loved it and was fine so I have made a good start I think. Looked on TPMS and Landywoods and found them to be informative, thanks. Problem is you have to bulk buy and I don't have much freezer room but it has given me some ideas.