Gomez the Norfolk

I just got one, $39 on Clipperworls - and it gets a lot of hair out, but I'm not sure I should be using it on Gomez's coat, he usually gets stripped, never clipped and has a double coat - It does get a lot of extra hair out.... but he's not crazy about it! Poochie, I'm in South Yarra, if you're near here you are welcome to try ours...

Eagle Pack, Nutro and Natural Balance are made in the USA - Your petstore needs to do some research! Maybe they can order them for you, or you can contact the companies directly, they all have websites. I can find all of those brands in Melbourne easily, I guess it depends whereyou are, but I'm pretty sure there are several companies on the internet that will ship... As for the sizes, there is no breed specific food in these formulations - this is just a gimmick that RC uses... Have fun with the research!

Eagle Pack Holistic is most definitely a grade A++ product - Advance is probably C or D - bloss said it perfectly above, many vets are not well trained in nutrition - If you're not convinced by what we say here, do your research - it's all on the web - look up the ingredients of EPH and Advance and do a comparison - if if you're still not sure, come back and askus more questions or email the companies - lately all pet food companies are pretty good about answering questions! You can also try this website: http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=betterproducts it has a lot of good information. Please don't let your vet discourage you from finding a better food for your little friend

Totally. Do It. If you're near Sydney, we'll be your first customers....

Dick Van Patten, yes, as in "Eight is Enough"!

Jo, If you like the results with Royal Canin, you would be amazed at the results of you feed a super-premium food - In my opinion, Royal Canin, Eukanuba, Science Diet are not in the same category as super premium foods - they are full of chemicals and additives and sometimes questionable ingredients. If you want a really good food for your doggies, try the Eagle Pack, Nutro, Nutrience or Natural Balance - all natural ingredients and better quality control. The vet's recommendation of "3 cups of food" is not necessarily the best, it depends on the food - with the super-premiums, for example, you will be feeding less because the nutrients are densely packed and there are way less fillers - so you will pay a bit more, but the bag will last longer. The fillers that are used in cheap brands can cause all sorts of skin and digestion problems. A good link for researching dry dogfood is here: http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=betterproducts

yes, but some people don't like to or can't feed raw and it's better to feed a good kibble than one full of crap...

Amazing what crap goes into some foods, isn't it? Once you know a few basics, it's not difficult to research this stuff - have you read this website? http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=intro Great information there, especially the page on what to avoid -

Conchy that's the best thing you can do - read all the labels, do your ingredients research and choose what you think is best for your dog.

I would disagree - the premium foods have less fillers so you feed less, the cheapo foods have more fillers, therefore you need more of them to get the good stuff - therefore bigger, sloppier poos. You mentioned grey poos also - the other day I saw a big pile of grey green poos that some pooch had left on the side of a tree... I wonder what he was eating??

It works 100% better than freshener... try it, you'll see... With freshener it just smells like farts with flowers or fruits - with matches, it just smells like a match burning, the fumes eat up the bad smells - I'm sure there is some kind of scientific explanation, but.....

I'm telling you...matches Carry them iwth you at all times...!

IMO Science Diet is not a very good food - the first 2 ingredients of r/d are "ground maize, ground peanut hulls" and it gets worse from there, all types of soy and gluten that your dog doesn't really need. The vet is not always the best source for food recs, as he probably sells a few at his practice, and those are usually not the best... I would suggest you are better off getting a good quality kibble, i.e. Nutro, Eagle Pack, Natural Balance and reduce the amount of food you are feeding while increasing excercise... Gomez came out of quarantine with an extra kilo, which for him is A LOT! We managed to get the kilo off him in 2 months. He weighs 7.5 kilos now - The premium brands may cost a bit more, but b/c they are so densely packed with good nutrients, you end up feeding less, especiallyon a weight control diet...

Gomez strated the EPH on the 23 of March, and so far no farts! He's gone through a bag of chicken and now working on the fish... Kristie, all they all farting? Better keep some matches handy!! daccies, I have also noticed he poos twice a day, but smaller and denser than his 1 before, if that makes sense... His coat has more luster and he is scratching a bit less on the fish, but his breath is fishy! For the next bag, we will try the duck...

Here is Gomez, the water terrier - Notice the "retriever" who is not retrieving!! http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w242/sp...nt=CIMG1127.flv

You didn't upset, no worries! I can see where you're coming from, but the fact is that all these shows made in America show American people - and how many viewers would they get if they showed nice, responsible people! I lived in America for many years and I can tell you there are many responsible pet owners there... Still, I agree with you, I would have taken that poor pup to the vet ASAP...

Larry I watch too much animal planet which have a lot of American dog rescue programmes which are full of dogs owned by people who couldn't look after a teddy bear let alone a dog - thus the cynicism when he didn't take his dog to the vet when it must have been very sick. Poor dog. Trying not to be judgemental though ..... It's not just American pet owners - There is a large percentage of Americans that are over-sensitive to their pet's needs and visit the vet when the dog sneezes funny... There are owners all over the world who are not clued in as much as the regulars on these types of forums are.. wether in America, Europe, Asia, etc etc....

yep - meat meal is the meat with the water taken out, os you get more protein and more, well, meat! Have a look through this website http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=intro It has a lot of very valuable information, including what ingredients to avoid...

Premium holistic brands that take accountability for their ingredients - Of the brands I have found here they include Ziwipeak, Eagle Pack, Nutro, Natural Balance and Innova Look through their websites, read their ingredients and email them with questions of necessary -

Woohoo! great news! Gomez also like the crunching bits, when he can be bothered to chew! The eating of concrete and other non-edible objects has a name, it's called pica, you can do a search- in a nutshell, the puppy is trying to get nutrients he is not getting from his food - (it could be that, it could not be that) if it is, however, it should pass after a few weeks on the Nutro, which is better than the other stuff. What a cutie, she just wants company for her mealtimes!

I don't think vets are always the best source of information regarding pet food - most of them will recommend a food they sell at their practice - and a lot of the time that food is Science Diet... The best thing to do is research yourself the ingredients that are in the food you have chosen for your dog - and make sure you know what each and every component is, ifyou don't know what "magic oil" is, ask the company, if it says "bone meal" ask the company what or whose bones they are using in their food... the internet is a fabulous resource for doing this kind of research... As for the dogs in the wild consuming the grains they prey has already eaten, well, it's also already also digested. Totally agree that different dogs do well on different foods, but that is no excuse for feeding your dog poor quality food - You would not eat McDonalds every day, your dog should not either...

"But Paul Henderson, president and chief executive officer of Menu Foods, defended the company earlier this year as a "quality manufacturer" before the U.S. House of Representative's subcommittee on oversight and investigations." Riiiight, a "quality manufacturer" using crap ingredients, some of them tainted, and with no qualty control... that's my kind of company, eh?

Gomez always has had dry kibble, even from when he was 9 weeks old... maybe she doesn't like mushy?

Poor quality control on the part of Royal Canin. This brings me back to my previous point - if one company has even 1 product recalled, I can no longer trust them to have the quality control necessary anywhere in their formulas, in any part of the world...

Miranda, Hesap and a Bear*, and Sagittarian - thanks for putting so eloquently what I have been stumbling about trying to say - And Holly, you feed whatever it is you judge the best for your puppy! Read the labels, do the research, make your own choices!! *I can't stop reading it like that!