I have a very fussy Miniature Poodle (9.5kg at the moment but probably needs to be 10kg) who was always very skinny on commercial food (i used to feed wainrights trays) 

I now feed him entirely raw food which he seems to enjoy and has gained lots of weight on it although is still fussy (for example despite loving fresh raw chicken he refuses the blocks of raw chicken for dogs) he also takes his sweet time when eating and can leave items such as poultry necks favoring easier to eat items such as minced food.

His main diet consists of
-minced tripe (he gets this a lot),
-tripe chunks (he likes this but not as much as minced tripe and tends to try to swallow the chunks whole rather than chew them, not because of greediness but more laziness, its like he can't be bothered to chew it which is a little concerning considering his size...not that it has ever caused him any problems),
-Natures Menu Banquet Nuggets (which contain Chicken, Tripe, Lamb, Carrots, Peas, Heart & Liver)
-beef chunks (i often cut this up into smaller pieces as again he tries to swallow it whole and they come in massive chunks)
-Sometimes I give him poultry necks but he tends to just carry them around and play with them instead of eat them, he might just eat a small piece
-any off cuts when i am cooking chicken
-i have given him chicken wings in the past but to be honest the bones scare me as they look so sharp.
-minced rabbit but would like to try get some whole rabbits too.

Is his diet ok?  Is this varied enough?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like you have quite a few meat varieties on the go so that is good. I don't know if any of the minced meats he likes contain any ground bone but with a dog so tiny i  imagine a wing would be the right size for him to tackle. Does he take his time with the bone in the necks and at least give it a go? It is important nutritionally that he gets bone with his meat so if you are really worried about the smaller bones in a wing, could he try a drumstick? Feed a whole drumstick so the bone is big enough that he is forced to crunch on it before swallowing and he can spend time tearing off the yum chicken too which is a good workout. My dogs eat raw but they are huge so my sense of scale may be off! To get him to finish off his boney meal you can just offer the meat on the bone, what ever you choose to give him, and save the usual stuff for later or when he is finished. Sometimes my dogs take half an hour working on their boney dinner but there is no rush, if they are relaxed and giving it a good crunch then i don't need to worry about choking etc.

If he prefers minced meats you could try the Natural Instinct range. I have a couple of dogs that wouldn't touch the chicken or turkey minces from Landywoods, Albion or Prize Choice. They eat every morsel of the NI chicken and turkey. IMO the quality is so much better. You do pay a premium but with only 1 small dog you shouldn't find it too expensive. The "Natural Instinct/Country Banquet" ranges are balanced complete minces and they also do the "Pure" range as well (these aren't balanced as such, you add veg/bone yourself). You can get bones from them too. http://www.naturalinstinct.com/

You don't mention how old this dog is so was wondering if the reluctance to eat bones or anything he has to chew is because he has problems with his teeth?

I was surprised that a poodle weighed as much as 10kg as my small breed[dachsies] are under 5kg ideally.

If your worried about bone it can be replaced by baked ground eggshell, you can make it yourself, 1tsp to 3lb of meat. You could also add some oily fish to his diet if he'll eat it, and cottage cheese.

I don't even bake the eggshells - just dry them and then grind them with a pestle and mortar.

Panda is 18 months old and is actually very large for a miniature poodle (17.5" tall to his whithers) so is technically a small standard. He is very slender and you can clearly feel his ribs but is solid muscle on his legs.

His teeth are fine so i dont think thats why he is lazy with chewing, I guess he just prefers to chew soft food rather than much threw a piece of meat. Silly boy!

Natural instinct does look very good!  They are not too far away from where I live so I might pop down and check them out.

Do you think he has enough variety in his food or should I be adding some other things to his diet, I have a can of sardines in the cupboard I could try him on them, he has had some in the past but often just walks away from his bowl if I give him sardines.

My friend goes rabbiting and says she will sell me whole rabbits for £1 each when she next goes.

ooo I will try grinding egg shells to top his food and try to coax him into eating the sardines again :)

I just want to make sure he gets everything he needs.

Does anyone supplement with any vitamines etc?

Panda has just been diagnosed with a papilloma on his tongue (a wart) which can happen with low immune systems so I want to make sure his diet is covering everything he needs.

My observation would be not enough offal...

I'd recommend you go back to good source material to check his diet - you'll get much more information than we can give you on a forum and it's very good to refer back from time to time.

I like Tom Lonsdale and Kymythy Schultze for good common sense advice :)

he just chews the chicken neck for a few chews (they are tiny pieces) and normally gets bored and just leaves it somewhere around the house, he likes to hide them in his bed best or he might play with it, i.e. throw it around and pounce on it but not eat it.  He ate one tiny bit the other day but i think he thought it was beef as he left the other neck bits.  I want to try whole rabbit as he loved the minced rabbit so may like to chew on the rabbit bones.  My freind said I should freeze them to kill any bacteria / parasites etc then chop them up into chunks fur and all and feed like that.

Do you feed the head though?

I worry about the bones hurting his throat and tummy as they look so sharp when he does actually bother to chew them. He is good and tends to chew the bone up properly but then swallow the wing either whole or in 2 pieces if he chews it in half. I guess I will get more comfortable with it with time....

I will get those books thank you :)

> he just chews the chicken neck for a few chews (they are tiny pieces) and normally gets bored and just leaves it somewhere around the house

What about investing in an old-fashioned mincer (Spong) and just mincing up the necks? That way you'll know he's getting enough bone. You could also try adding a bit of liver or kidney to it when you mince it up.

Good idea! I will have a look for one online thank you :)

Rabbits are fine to feed, but if your friend shoots them then be aware they will probably contain lead shot, which I've found are impossible to find, I'm not sure if the shot passes through or can be absorbed, anyone know ?.

I mince my offal as two of my girls wont eat it if its identifiable! Theyll just lick it clean and leave it. I buy minced chicken which has skin, bones and all sorts from a chicken farm and my eldest girl who doesn't have many teeth left manages this quite easily along with the minced veg & yoghurt.
Like dogs a babe i too recommend this book, The Ultimate Diet by Kymythy Schultze. Its easy to read and a great start to get your foot on the ladder with a raw diet. The other things that i add are keepers mix and garlic powder.
In the six months since i made the switch to my dogs diet the changes have been tremendous. My ageing BC is now like a spring chicken - no more aching joints. My rescue JRT who always had a bald patch on her head now has a full head of hair and all of my dogs have beautiful glossy coats! I will never go back to conventional methods of feeding!

> I will never go back to conventional methods of feeding!

I don't think I will either. It really does add an extra something, and they seem so much happier.

thank you for all the advice, it is always reassuring to hear from other raw feeders to know you are doing ok. :)

Another good tip to save you faffing about is put aside 30 mins a week perhaps, mince some suitable veg and freeze it in ice cube trays. When solid pop them into a bag in the freezer and take them out when needed. My lot just love peas, oh what they wouldn't do for a pea pod or two! I do the same with yoghurt freeze it in ice cube trays. I bought a load of yoghurt from here http://www.lawsonshop.co.uk/listproducts.php?cid=27 A £1 a packet because the sell by date was near but if you google yoghurt under shopping every now and then cheap offers do come up.

Have you ever tried giving whole hearts? My Giants love them! Also do you give any fish?
I've Barfed my last two Giants from a pup and like so many others I've seen the difference in my dogs and will never give kibble again.
My pup will probably be the first show Giant to be Barfed from 8 weeks old, so it'll be interesting to see how his muscle tone etc compares to the kibble fed dogs. At the moment he looks fabulous!

Good idea, Panda loves peas!  He will do anything for a pea!  I will try yoghurt too.  I have never tried him on heart but I saw tesco sell them.  I can buy some and cut it up into tiny pieces to introduce slowly.  Pandas muscle tone has developed so much since he started his entirely raw diet about a month ago.  He was so scrawny before but has bulked out a lot so his ribs are not so painfully obvious, his hip bones stuck out loads before now but they have a healthy covering of muscle now and his legs are so defined (cant see it as he is fluffy but you can feel it)

I make a 'doggy smoothie' for mine with yogurt, veg and fruit, so they have yogurt most days.
I also give them goats milk for breakfast, which is full of goodness.