vicious circle

I am convinced I am one of these owners who are victims of their own inadequacies. I mean, feeding a dog should be dead simple. Except that feeding as a subject is like a minefield. So many different views and opinions all equipped with arguments which are very convincing to the novice.
My research on how to feed my puppy started a few weeks before I got him. We have a very good butcher who sells only Aberdeen Angus beef and all his products are made from this source. So it seemed to me at the time that a raw diet using the same meat we eat would be the ideal option. I also thought it would be the cheapest as it would only mean buying extra of what we buy regularly anyway.
However when I collected my wee pup, he came with a diet sheet, which included mostly Farley's rusk. Didn't have any of that but had some porridge oats. The breeder had also given me some puppy dried food, at which Oscar turned his nose up. Already the worry started to niggle - I didn't want to starve my wee pup! The breeder said he had been getting a little raw mince, so I tried that, but I guess he hadn't had Aberdeen Angus before. I was starting to panic already. Eventually I offered some cooked mince which he wolfed down and thoroughly enjoyed!
I decided to keep an open mind as I took him for his check up with the vet. 'Raw meat! Never!' he exclaimed and then proceeded to give me very intelligent reasons why. A convincing argument - just as convincing as those for raw feeding had been. What did he advise? Hill's Science Plan.
To be honest it worked really well at first, and I did everything as the vet recommended. But, gradually my wee puppy was less and less interested in his complete food. This was something I couldn't understand as he had been keen at first and now he was eating less than before.
Slowly the panic began to set in again - after all I didn't want to starve my wee pup especially at this stage when he needs the nutrition to grow and develop. It was around this time that I noticed that a wee bit of cooked mince or chicken put in with his complete made it more appealing to him, and I was delighted that he was clearing his plate again.
This sense of gratification only lasted until the next visit to the vet. Again I was instructed only to give the complete food - nothing else. It was balanced nutrition and I was causing an imbalance by adding to it. How guilty did that make me feel? Perseveringly refusing to give anything else I still could not understand how he could grow when he was leaving at least half of his feed. Adding water or gravy just caused him to turn his nose up completely and I ended up throwing out as much as I was giving.
Way back in the sixties, when I got my first wee dog - a miniature poodle - we fed her pedigree chum and that was that. Of course we know a lot more about dogs and nutrition nowadays. Of course way back in the sixties we gave all sorts of treats as well - chocolate etc. That was before we knew it was toxic to dogs.
So I shouldn't really be surprised to discover that my elderly mum was secretly feeding biscuits to the pup, should I?
So, here we are the two of us, totally besotted with the wee dog and both spoiling him rotten!

Feeding is a real minefield you're right!!!!
I hope you find the food that suits soon!!!!

well the bickies will fill up his little tummy making less room for the good stuff .........keep going M you will get there x

Yep feeding is a minefield. There are so many foods on the market these days that the mind boggles just over the ingredients. I'm sure there's a food out there to suit to your little pup.

ps I caught my grandfather feeding Tilly a biscuit yesterday no wonder she wasn't intersted in her bone lol