flycow

eagle pack 15kg will last your pup a loooong time, definitely more than 1 month. They are very concentrated food, you will feed less than Optimum I'm sure. You can check out the recommended amount to feed on the bag, it's only a small amount.

Don't need to, it's a personal reason in answer to OP's question.

because I don't believe commercial foods have the best grade of ingredients Also to add flavours so that it taste different every so often Some ingredients in dry are in too small an amount and I like to give more, eg. Omega3/6. if any dog needs to lose some weight the dry food is cut and veggies added to give some bulk. etc etc. many many reasons.

Half fresh half kibble here. Using Nutrience and loads of fresh meat, fish, vegetables, fish oil and fruits. Fresh foods is still best but using commercial dry food occasionally is time saving. The poos are great, firm and crumbly, hardly any smell.

Maybe you can try www.k9katzkitchen.com.au ? I've ordered from them before, they do delivery, good service. If you want big crunch, Nutrience has very big kibbles for big breeds.

Natural balance as in Dick Van Patterns Natural Balance?

Just do a quick google. There are lots of information there. Here's some. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01590.html http://www.menufoods.com/recall/

My lab is on Nutrience kibble and doing very well on it, but after the US food scare I've decided to slowly switch her to home cook fresh diet. Nutrience cost slightly less than other Super Premium dog foods and is not affected by the US recalls at all be it wet or dry, but as it is imported from US, a place I don't trust anymore, it's safer if I know what goes into my dog's stomach. I'm changing my older Maltese into fresh as well.

thanks. I still think fresh is a better way to go, imagine the price you pay for the commercial one you can feed a very good barf diet for weight lost already.

Hmm... I'm looking but so far it didn't mention anything about things in gluten form, you find it lots in many dry foods... any idea where on the website has info on it?

This suggestion wouldn't help the original's dog to lose weight will it? I thought that's what she asked. ??? Poodle Wrangler, thanks for the extracts, it was informative without the other craps. So fresh foods is probably still the way to go for overweight dogs I see. I keep tracks of such information as I have a Lab who is prone to put on if I'm not careful with her diet.

how does it work? you just throw in mince? do they tell you what amount to add to make it balance? I'm looking at weaning off kibble slowly, am already cutting down now and adding more fresh foods, safer this way. Russkie, how's the poo like? (am always curious )

Nutrience and Proplan dont use by-products too. And zero food recall for Nutrience, not sure about Proplan.

well not all, my Nutrience smells like twisties to me. but then again, a lab eats anything. eta: Hey sonovagan, who did you get the gravy from? does it come with the pack? I'd love some gravy! LOL

do you have a ceramic bowl with a good bottom that is not glazed? Turn it upside down drip water under the tap and sharpen each blade pulling them towards you (with blade tip pointing outwards away from you)then turn to the other side and do the same, you must do it pretty quick. Do one side of each blade then turn it around to the other side. This is a traditional way. If you watch Jamie Oliver or some other chefs with their knife sharpener, it's made of ceramic. TIP: the scissors must be wet/oiled for this to work.

After the US contamination scare, I think I want to explore the barf option as well, kibble is really not worth the risk, so I want to wean Diva off slowly by going half barf first, see how she goes, then eventually into barf. You guys mentioned Dr Billinghurst's books, may I know which book is good as a start since he wrote so many books. Thanks. Edit: gosh I can't spell and write properly, one of those days.

I don't remember exactly when my lab stopped nipping but it was fairly early, perhaps around 3 or 4 months old. Water bottle, yelping and ignoring didn't work, so I combined yelping and total ignore and she got the message. Everytime she nipped I yelped really loud and leave the room or backyard. She hates to be alone. That did it in about a week. I set her up for correction during meal times as well. Handfed a few kibble one by one, if she bite, I yelped then try again. 3 nips I'm out of there, no dinner (for 10mins). Then try again. You need to find what works for your dog, and loads of patience and consistancy I think, gotta try everything. BTW I made sure she knew I was angry, when I left the room I slammed the door. A little harsh I know but that's me. She was a very stubborn dog.

First time puppy owner and Rhi, I was hunting for the kennel you guys mentioned today at bunnings in Melbourne, no luck. Can you guys let me know exactly which branch you saw it (in your state)? Rhi do you have the measurements of the kennel? Thanks!

thanks Saggs, those are excellent tips!

Hey thanks FTPO, but houndhouse won't be suitable, my lab will shred it within an hour. Akitaowner, LOVE LOVE LOVED your kennel! it's so pretty and special, wouldn't it be drafty with the two doors? OH and I are not good with our hands, and know nuts about tools, can't do one ourselves. Rhi I'm considering the kennel you bought, I have a stain with a similar colour to yours, what kind of stain do you have? If I eventually buy it, I might just let pup have a chew until she gets sick of it, THEN I'll stain it. BTW your pup looks cheeky, is he a staffy or lab? pardon me not very good at telling that from avatar. hee Thanks all for the input, please keep them coming if you have some suggestions.

I paid 79 in Melbourne after member discount from pup's school. It retails at around $83-86 per 15kg. I think some places you can get it around $80 but that's melbourne. There's a loyalty program buy 10 get one free or something as well. I didn't bother to get it. edited spelling.

Hello all, as topic, any suggestions? The weather is getting colder and my 10month old Diva is ready for a 'house' of her own. She sleeps in her playpen with bedding since young and I'm thinking of getting her a 'house' soon. I haven't decide on a kennel or crate thus I said house. Diva is a light chewer so I want something that lasts. When she has her hessian beddings, she will suck on the corners and pull out the threads over a period of time then chew the foam and sometimes eats them. If she has a blanket she will suck on them too and pull the threads. With the clamshell she will leave ugly bitemarks around the edges. But she will take at least a month to go through each item, so I'd say she's a light chewer. My current options and their pros and cons are, 1) Plastic Kennel (AUD250) - Pros, just need to add bedding and it's all cosy. Cons, will have unsightly teethmarks all over and won't last years. 2) Crate (AUD150) - Pros, lasting and portable everywhere, holidays and indoors. Cons, will have to add a thick blanket cover and probably tied them around the crate to keep out the draft. Pup will always pull in the cover and chew or pull at the threads. So blanket has to be replace often. 3) Wood (AUD 400) - Pros, cosy and solid, only need to add bedding Cons, difficult to clean/scrub, retain smell, pup might chew the edges and swallow the timber. Can dolers let me know what you think? I just want (hopefully) to spend a one time investment and not continuously replacing the kennel every few months, so don't really like the plastic ones. But I haven't decide and is open to all suggestions. Please help. Thanks!

Been feeding Nutrience for a while, pretty good for my big breed so far, the poo has been pretty small, dark and firm. I like the ultra big crunch as pup has to chew it so it cleans her teech, they also smell like twisties (donno why). The kibbles also doesn't swell up in water much, I've been worried about that as pup seems to have a problem with kibbles that swell in water, she'll throw them back up after eating and drinking, I have that problem with Eagle Pack but none so far with Nutrience. But to be fair, I must say it depends on dogs' individual response to ANY food. Eagle Pack didn't work for my dog but some dogs I know did very well on it. Nutrience on the other hand is really good for mine but a co-worker didn't agree, his dog did better on Royal Canin instead. He tried both with very different results compared to mine. Thus you must actually let your dog try a few brand to see a comparison. I forgot if they are from Canada or USA, the bag has been thrown out, will check next time. So far they hasn't been affected by the reacall I think (hope not). Their website said this, --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- News update: Nutrience foods WERE NOT affected by the recent product recalls. No wheat or rice glutens (rice protein concentrate) are used in the production of our foods. Dear valued customers, retailers and partners, Nutrience would like to assure all pet parents that our canned and dry foods WERE NOT involved in the recent product recalls. None of the Nutrience product lines are created in any of the recalled production facilities. * Nutrience uses only North American sourced grains and no animal by-products in all our dry and canned food formulas. * We take great pride in producing our dry foods in our very own state-of-the-art facility (Hagen Pet Foods), with stringent quality controls, regular feeding trials and multiple-stage nutrient testing. * No wheat or rice glutens are used to ingredient split the proteins in our foods. Only high quality chicken, lamb, duck or fish are used. While Nutrience foods were not affected by these recent unfortunate events, we, nonetheless, would like to extend our heartfelt sympathies to all pets and pet parents who are presently suffering. ----------------------------------------------------

www.k9katzkitchen.com.au is great, I've ordered from them before, excellent attitude and service, very professional.

I crate my 10mth dog using a puppy pen at night, during the day she preferred to sleep in the yard. But since last month I've discovered she'd go into the pen often to chill and have some privacy, and also jumping straight into it for bedtime without me asking. That was when I realised she is ready for a kennel. I think sometimes given time your dog would tell you when he/she is ready for one. Then some dogs never liked kennels their whole life.