Hi
I have a 15 month old staffordshire bull terrier(who is spoiled) but since we got him at eight weeks he has never been a great eater and goes from food to food. I have tried pedigree chum, winalot, butchers and we finally thought we had cracked it and he started eating tesco's premium for 9 month's, he then decided that he wouldn't eat for nearly 2 weeks unless it was toast and cheese( probably not the best thing for him) or tuna . He started losing weight, not to much but enough for me to be concerned, we took him to the vet's for his booster and she said not to worry as they can go a long time without eating as long as he had plenty of water to drink. I read some of your boards and i thought i would try him on tripe, he likes it and it is good to see him, for the first time in his life being really eager to get his food. (sorry this is long winded) the problem we have is trying to get a complete food that he will like to mix in with it. He has got james wellbeloved just noe and refuses to eat it and just eats the tripe round about it. Can anyone help me try and get my wee boy's appetite back

HI, I think the best thing to start with is stop spoiling him, as long as he has no health problems. 30 years ago my first collie had me buying different foods every month for a year until 2 vets had told me to "just starve her till she eats any single food" she lived to 19. My latest rescue was a 2 year old GS who would eat very little but also had the runs, after contacting the GS helpline I was told to buy a very cheap low protein food and only offer it twice a day. She went from only 20kg to 30kg in 6 months. I have now changed all 4 dogs to the same 20% protein complete food and the skin problems one of them had has now cleared up. Chris.

i also found that cheap foods are the best...dog food like pedigree chum goes straight thru them and they lose weight!

the best thing to do is keep her on the cheap food and offer her that...no change. remember a dog will eat anything if its hungry!!!!

With tripe you shouldn't really be micing a complete food, but a meal or mixer.

As he is fussy I would go for meal, which can be soaked at first so that once it is mixed with the tripe, it would be impssible to pick out.

If you have a Jollyes or a big pet store you should be able to get Hound Meal, or a good mixer.

Hi
From my screen name you can guess we own and breed Staffies.
We feed our dogs 5 days a week on minced beef with either pasta, rice or mixer - we vary over the five days.
1 day we feed a good complete food usually Bakers Complete
1 day tinned food with mixer.
Also 3 times a week we feed as an extra scrambled egg with cheese.
By doing the above you are ensuring he is getting a good balance of more or less everything, plus he is not getting bored. Pasta and eggs and cheese are all good for the dogs and many staffie owners/breeders swear by it.
Hope this has iven you some ideas.
ps. easy to boil te mince with the pasta/rice so you only need use one pan.
Let me know how you get on

Hi Staffie,
Thanks for the advice, that diet that you feed your staffie's sounds just exactly what duke would love especially the cheese and eggs. Is it beef mince from the pet shop or from the butchers? He had lamb mince today and i cooked that as he refused to eat it raw, i am not bothered about how long it takes or how much it costs to feed him i would just be glad that he is sitting at night with a full tummy and content. This is our first dog and i just want to do right by him as he is perfect in every other way i.e with obedience and with my kids and is very tolerant of other dogs. What tinned food do you use and also he is going into kennels for a week at new year when we go back to scotland so do i give him the tinned food then for that week? sorry about all the questions!!!! i would hate for him to be unhappy

We buy our beef from the butchers. I is the economy mince and costs £1.00 for 2lb in weight. Cheaper than pet mince!
The tinned food we use is either Chappie or Butchers Tripe.
When he goes into kennels check whether they will give him the minced beef as some kennels do prepare food too. If not then a mixture of the tinned and complete for the duration of his stay. He might miss a few meals anyway because of being in a strange place.
Would also advise you to get the Kennel Cough Vaccine before he goes into the kennels, have a chat with your vet to see how long before he goes into the kennels that he will need te vaccination.