Gone off raw - what can I feed instead

I've been feeding Lana raw for the last 8-9 months but she seems to have gone off it. First with the chicken, then just picking at the tripe until she refused it then the same with the other stuff. I ended up cooking her mince a couple of nights, tried tinned dog food which she didn't seem keen on, then some dried food which she didn't want. The last couple of nights she's had tinned food with some sardines or a couple of times with some cheap Irish stew in it and she's eaten it quite the thing.

I would prefer to feed raw but she won't touch it so I want to get her the next best thing, if there is such a thing. I've read a lot of the threads on here but still haven't a clue. I think she would be better with a wet food than a dry one but really don't know where to start.

If I'm reading the tins, what sort of quantities of stuff should I be looking for and what ingredients should I avoid?

You are making a picky dog.

Decide what you are going to feed (raw is good) and stick to it. She'll eat eventually and won't starve although it may take 4 or 5 days. Put it down, leave it for 10 minutes, then take it away. Nothing till the next meal.

If you go on changing her diet to feed her what she likes, you'll go mad! Remember, you're in charge!

If she was happily eating raw before, & if she's now being very picky with her food, I'd be tempted to get a vet check just to make sure there's nothing causing this sudden change in her eating habits.

Are there any other changes in her behaviour? Does she seem well & "normal" in herself? Is she drinking more than normal? Is she pooing & peeing normally?

Provided that there's nothing physically wrong & if you want to go back to feeding raw, then the best thing to do would be to mix some of the food she does eat, with a small amount of raw, then gradually decrease the cooked/tinned food & increase the raw meat.

If you want to channge her diet to a cooked diet, then you can either choose a good quality proprietary food, e.g. Nature Diet, Denes, or you could look into feeding her home-made cooked diet (or a bit of both?). But tins of cheap Irish Stew won't be very good for her ~ too much salt & artificial flavourings, additives etc. (& probably very little good quality protein!).

But I would advise a vet check first.

One of my dogs doesn`t eat once a week. And another leaves her breakfast sometimes. Nothing wrong - they`re just not hungry. If you think about it, a carnivore isn`t designed for two square meals a day. I just take it up and offer it at the next meal.
It is very easy to overfeed - especially with Raw because there`s no waste.
Provided your dog is healthy, you could cut down the amounts and see if that makes a difference?

Where do you source your raw from? I've heard of dogs going off raw due to new suppliers or a new "batch" in at the new suppliers. Does the meat look/smell any different to usual? Kiki went off raw liver for a while but suddenly started being really keen to eat it again, either she got over her fussy stage or there was something different about the taste/texture of a couple of order's worth of liver.
As suggested, I'd probably go with the healthcheck to rule out a health issue causing a lack of appetite, and if she's perfectly healthy, I'd go down the stricter route of leaving it for 10 minutes and taking it up to the next meal time.
Alternatively, if she's eating cooked food better, perhaps research homecooked diets. Similar to raw feeding but I imagine there are a few significant differences worth reading up about - e.g. you definately can't cook any bones, so do homecookers feed the odd raw bone, do they use bonemeal instead, or a supplement instead? I've not looked into it much myself so can't help I'm afraid, but lots of people feed that way so I'm sure you'll find plenty of info if you have a dig.
If you would rather switch to a commercial food then I second the high quality wet - e.g. Naturediet, Nature's Menu, etc. (though be aware that Naturediet are going through some production issues apparently so stock is hard to get hold of - last time they had problems it was a good month or two before petshops were getting regular deliveries so now may not be a good time to switch to their food!). Alternatively, look into grainfree kibbles such as Fish4Dogs, Orijen, Taste Of The Wild, etc. though these can be quite costly. When looking at ingredients, the less ingredients the better really - a good company will be honest about its ingredients, e.g. Pedigree only state vague ingredients on their website which suggests they're not too proud of the actual ingredients. Those that list the actual meats they use (e.g. chicken meal, lamb meal, etc) are more likely to contain more of that meat and better cuts, on the whole. Avoid ones full of tons of grains and fillers, preservatives, e-numbers, etc. and don't rule out shopping online - not all premium dog foods are available in every petshop (some premium brands will cut costs by sticking to plain packaging, limited advertising and sticking to a few wholesalers or selling direct)

Thanks for all the replies. She's fine in herself, still the same Lana, running about and peeing and pooing well. I did at first take her food away after 10 minutes and didn't offer it to her again until the next meal time, either next morning breakfast or again at dinner time. She wasn't interested in it at all. After a couple of days she ate a small amount, to stop starvation setting in I presume

She did enjoy the first lot of raw she had, I swear she used to go skipping into the kitchen for her meal but they went out of business. I then started her on Prize Choice which she ate but never with any great enthusiasm. I then got some from DAF but again she wasn't keen. When she went off Prize Choice I ordered from DAF again and she did eat some of it at first.

I sometimes wonder at the freshness of the stuff I've had from DAF and also the beef of the Prize Choice seemed not so fresh last time. If I can think there could be something funny about it, it must be more obvious to Lana so it could be that which has put her off altogether.

Okay she has to eat to live and I am in charge but I don't see the point of forcing a dog to eat something it doesn't like which it is only going to eat when it's really hungry. Why shouldn't dogs enjoy their food as well as us humans.

I don't think it's because she's not hungry. My previous dog was very much like that, would miss out on meals a couple of times a week or just eat some of it and leave the rest but not because she didn't like it

I just want to feed her relatively healthy food but also stuff she'll enjoy. I don't think she's being picky as such, she's been eating canned dog food the last couple of times with some sardines in and no problem whereas when I put some tripe down for her she just walked away.

I'll have a good look at Natures Menu and Naturediet. At least when I buy it it's not going to be 'off' if that's what's causing the problem.

Thanks again for the replies and the suggestions and all the info about what to look for and avoid in the ingredients, it's much appreciated especially when there's so much choice out there and I couldn't think where to start.

Can you try some supermarket meats? Expensive to feed longterm but you'll know the quality is human quality and the meat isn't going to be "off" so it may give an idea of whether Lana's off raw entirely or just the raw you'd been given.
Also I would probably have the vet look over her just incase - animals are designed to hide pain and illness because in the wild, they'd have to to survive, weaker animals are preyed on. It could maybe be something like a dental issue where she's fine 99% of the time but eating the raw hurts her teeth, or something that's not immediately easy to spot but needs finding and treating.
It may just be that after the Prize Choice she doesn't find raw that appetizing, and I'm sure no one wants their dog to be bored on their diet, but raw is often considered the "ultimate" diet so anything may seem like a downgrade and people may be stuck on what to recommend. If I was unable to get raw anymore then I'm really not sure what I'd choose to feed as there's so many different commercial diets out there and so many views on what's good and what's not.
Not to mention that most animals tend to eat the same thing every day - predatory animals would eat whatever prey is most easily available, and prey animals choose a habitat where their natural diet is readily accessible. Grass, grass and more grass may seem a boring diet but it's one rabbits thrive on. I think it's easy to humanize animals and feel guilt that they don't enjoy their meals like a human does but some dogs just don't live for food, they eat to fulfill their appetite and that's it.
Hope you get it sorted soon anyway.

Krlyr, thanks I'll try and get a supermarket shop done soon and some mince and chicken wings and see how she goes with that and try her with the raw I have left. At least I know it will be fresh if I get it from the shop. I think I always feel I should be feeding her different stuff each day in case she gets bored with it. She was fine again with the tinned stuff with some pilchards tonight and she's had that for the last couple of days.

I'll see how she gets on before taking her to the vets as I find they aren't very helpful when you go with almost no symptons. lol

Just a word of warning - don't mix raw and complete/tinned foods at the same meal. They are digested at different rates and can cause tummy problems if fed together.

It is fine to feed raw at one meal and complete at another.

Good luck with finding the right food for your dog.

Cherry has never liked raw so I gave up as couldn't see the point in her not eating or only eating cos she was starving and that was all there was. I clean their teeth regularly and buy dental treats.

I feed them on either cooked lamb/fish/turkey mince plus brown rice/pasta, boiled egg and carrots and green veggies. I get stuff that is reduced in Waitrose. Today they had smoked mackerel, usually it is turkey mince or cod.
They also have tinned sardines and cottage cheese sometimes. I got a book about home-prepared diets for dogs and cats by a vet so it is not guess work.

Sometimes I feed them on Pero organic or Barking heads dog food as these are both good quality with a bit of naturediet mixed in. This is usually when I am round my Mum's house.

Parker has won quite a bit of dog food lately which is nice but it is cheapy brands (Pedigree/skinners) and I have noticed Cherry is being itchy/scratchy again.