Lasareina

That's what I thought too..

my partner has told me a story of one of his dogs he had before he met me... A few months after the dog passed, my OH heard the sound of him pounding up the stairs like he always used to - he rushed outside to see if he could see him and there were 2 guys in the front yard breaking into his van. He also tells me about how he used to have a dog that slept on the end of his bed and my OH would often dream that he was running through the bush at the back of his house as if he was the dog. He would wake up in the morning and the dog would have muddy paws :) I'm half convinced my OH is a animal whisperer or something... all animals especially dogs seem to love him

naw cute :) I bet she won't be doing much sleeping at puppy preschool :laugh:

There is a survey going at the moment to try and get more information from pet owners about issues surrounding dog theft and prevention... It might be the same group mentioned in the original post. From the facebook post: NATIONAL DOG THEFT SURVEY 2013 !! QADTFR was recently granted not-for-profit status - our first task as an organisation is to conduct a survey which is designed to collect reliable data on the extent to which dog theft is an issue in each state and territory in Australia and what impact this is having on our communities. The survey is anonymous and will be analysed by persons with tertiary studies in the social sciences and the law. A report will be prepared and released to the public in early 2014. This is our first real step in making a big difference in keeping our dogs safe from theft. Please help us and spend 10 minutes completing this survey. National Dog Theft Survey

I bought my Taste of the Wild from http://www.pawsforlife.com.au/ ... it was the cheapest I could find when I was looking around. Their first couple of deliveries were very late but it smoothed out. Which is American and next to useless. That's unnecessarily rude. Yes it's American but the info can be helpful. Thanks Sabbath. Since I was comparing Taste of the Wild and a few other brands which were all imported from America, I don't see how it being an American website made it any less relevant. I found it hard getting a breakdown of all the ingredients on some brands from their websites alone, and the analysis website also helped me interpret what the ingredients actually were and what benefits/negatives they brought to the food. It also taught me what to look for in products that weren't listed on the site which I could then apply to the feed available at my pet food supplier. As someone without prior experience in feeding premium kibble, I found it helpful.

love this thread!

i found this site useful when I was researching kibble... http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/

Thanks BlackJaq - your description of the staffy botton line fits Hunter perfectly. However, after reading this discussion, I went home and tested his ribs coverage again and he is getting a little more padded :laugh: it can creep up so quick! Time to cut his meat quantity back a bit I think! Or get my butt out off bed earlier enough to go for a decent walk in the morning like I have been telling myself to do...

another vote for Taste of the Wild ... we used the bison one. We are now feeding raw however and seeing great results on that. My boys rashes did clear up A LOT once we started feeding a grain free kibble so hopefully you have good results as well :)

it was interesting to see the photo of the beautiful lean lab that was posted a few pages back - I guess it goes to show how many overweight labs there are around, as I have never seen one in that condition! Looks like a completely differnt dog when you can see their waistline and lean muscle tone! I am one of those people who probably needs a little more education on this topic! I am confident that Juno is at a healthy weight now, but I am not so sure about Hunter. I was always concerned that Juno was a little underweight as a puppy... she is ones of those dogs that will leave half her dinner if she doesn't feel like eating it, and I was never confident that she was getting enough. Now that we have switched to a raw diet, this problem has been eliminated. Her ribs used to be quite visible, but they now have a light cover over them... you can feel them when you rest your hand against them but only the last rib or two are visible. She has a nice lean tummy with a tuck. Hunter on the other hand, could probably lose some weight? His ribs can be felt when you rest you hand on them, and the last rib is kinda visible, although not as defined as Juno. You can see a waist shape from above however he doesn't have a tuck. His whole build is overall more blocky. Going off his ribs coverage I would probably say he is fine... maybe at the higher end of the healthy range, but i am confused by the lack of tummy tuck. As he was growing I assumed that there was a difference in puppy shape and adult shape and that this would develop later. He is now 10 months old and looks like a mature dog but still doesn't really have the tuck. Maybe he does need to lose some weight? I think half my difficulty come when I compare the two dogs.. although they are both staffies, their builds are quite different. Juno is much more lean and athletic, whereas Hunter is a lot more solid and stocky. This seems to be muscle not fat though. Are there different criteria when looking at puppies and adult dogs, and what age would you start to apply the adult criteria?

cool thanks for all the info guys... I have also started looking into the VAN healthbooster which I think may also meet my objective of making sure all the necessary nutrients are provided in our home made diet... any opinions on what would be more suitable?

Hi Pirate Ipswitch will be hot... we are in Logan got to about 34 here today... Ipswitch is always at least a couple of degrees hotter. We haven't had any issues with fleas or ticks yet but we are in subburbia with limited garden and the dogs have tick collars on since start of Spring.

yay glad I checked this thread for updates - well done Staffyluv and Zippy :)

haha i think I have been away from school too long without doing anything strenuous with my brain :p i think I have a general grasp of what you are saying, but the terms are unfamiliar to me and I also lack the underpinning knowledge about the rules and regulations involved with the registries... trying to comprehend it is requiring too much concentration for my poor atrophied brain haha

Mish13 is that the showstopper , livamol or carrot root oil you are using? I've lost track :laugh:

aww glad you posted this ... I saw it a little while ago but didn't see the ending. very true

Thanks DesertDobes

haha thanks guys I will try contacting through their website :)

is anyone from VAN still on the forum?

Hunter had a similar sounding thing when we first got him... not sure if it was a contact allergy but has pretty much disappeared since we removed all grains from his diet. I did notice it came back a little bit last week (not as severe as it was). We also use Thoroughbred fix cream of it when it does come upwhich seems to clear it up within a couple of days. It seems to be very soothing, he goes all floppy and relaxed as soon as you put it on lol. The link for the cream is http://www.thoroughbredfix.net.au/ if interested :)

Cassie if I saw you out and about you would have to worry about me kidnapping tehm rather than just slowing you down for a pat :laugh:

I actually need to recruit some child victims volunteers to teach the pups how to behave correctly with children. They haven't had much exposure to small children but they LOOOVE them .. so they become over excited and boisterous when they do meet some. As Hunter in particular is 22kg this is a problem. My partner's 10 y/o daughter stays with us on weekends, but she needs more training than the pups in my opinion :laugh: She either ignores them, or stirs them into a frenzy ( watcha doing, watcha doing?!.. whos a good dog.. yes you are!! all in a high excited voice with two puppies clamoring to try and sit with her on the couch). Then she gets annoyed/scared of then when they get too excited. She has a "cavoodle" at mum's which is adorable, but weighs about a quarter of what Hunter does, and tends to express his excitement by running madly around in circles, rather than trying to crawl in your lap and wash your face for you

Hi I have a question ... We currently feed home made raw based on our interpretation of the BARF diet and am looking at a supplement of some kind to add in just to make sure that we are not missing any of the nutrients that they require, particularly as they don't get much offal. I had a look on the VAN website and it looks like the Health Booster product may fit this application? Just wanted to check I have that right... Do you think it is a good idea to be supplementing if you are doing home made raw, to cover any inadequacies we may be creating? The dogs are doing very well so far, and I have no concerns with their condition etc, just worried about long term issues I guess. The other question is, is it palatable? While my boy will eat pretty much anything, Juno is quite picky... one of the main things that convinced me moving to raw was a good idea was that she is actually eating all her dinner now, instead of leaving half like she was on the premium kibble we were feeding.

aww Stephm that sounds so cute :) ... we were joking that Hunter could pull Juno along when she gets tired, but in reality Juno will go about 10x longer and harder than Hunter in anything, so I don't think that is going to happen :laugh: It would be a bit mean making Juno pull hefalump Hunter around.

I am also usually uncomfortable talking to strangers/new people but I am fine if the topic is my (or anyone else's) dogs :-D