Sagittarian

Unfortunately, any creature with teeth can be dangerous, add to that a massive frame and often an inability to understand its strength (certainly mine are like that lol). St Bernards are no different from any other dog - an individual can inflict considerable damage under the "wrong" circumstances. Our children have never been at risk from our dogs. If a dog ever mouthed my child it would be the last time they considered doing so. Nipping is not acceptable. Please get some professional advice to help guide you while Boris is still young and not so large and set in his habits that you really do need to separate him and the kids. First point of call is always your breeder as you have done. But if for any reason you need more help, please either call a behaviourist, or take Debbi up on her kind offer. It is not worth taking chances with your children. Sags

Heard the sad news today that one of our "babies" - Tia, has left us. When Tia's litter was only a fortnight old, a family came to visit and fell in love with her. At that time, they had an older male Saint and after some discussion, they reluctantly decided that taking Tia into their lives was not the best option. We kept her - intending to send her to a breeder/exhibitor in Scandanavia who had waited a while for a suitable pup. At almost 4 months (and after a couple of shows where she performed beautifully), we got a phone call out of the blue from the family who had wanted her originally. Their old boy had passed away, and they hoped we might consider them for a future litter. I suggested they visit - and while they were driving over - made a quick call to Europe. The family arrived and still adored this little one, who shared their enthusiasm. Our lovely friend in Scandanavia agreed that the need of this family outweighed her need at this time. We were able to send Tia home with the people who loved her and were obviously meant to have her. Almost 7 years later, it was their heartbreaking decision to let her go to sleep after a short illness. Tia had a wonderful life on a thoroughbred property and ruled the roost. She was the image of her mum Christie - who we lost just over a year ago from kidney failure. I hope that they are reunited somehow and remember us all fondly. Vale, my sweet Tia. Portway Truly Madly Deeply. Sags

Another great post!!! Nutrience is a great food, Royal Canin is a great food, Nutro is a great food, Hills is a great food, Advance is a great food, Euk is a great food (get the drift?) and BARF is a great food!!!! It is all about the best choices for your own doggies. If your pet is overweight - then you need to ask yourself what you did to contribute. If skin and coat are an issue then address it - there is a lot of info out there about various options. Heck, I went into a cosmetics area the other day enquiring about a more suitable foundation for my very dry skin (have no thyroid) and came away with great info about flaxseed. Do we ever stop learning? Sags

Hope this is okay. I want to remember Sue Johnson - beloved wife and mother, as well as dear friend to many. Sue was an all breeds judge in Queensland. That, of course, is only one very small part of who she was. Sue and Allan had Lympne St Bernards, as well as Clumber Spaniels. Always enjoying success as an exhibitor and breeder, in recent years Sue's "heart" dog was the beautiful Jack from the USA. He currently leads the breed for the dol pointscore. I had the incredible pleasure recently of judging the North Island St Bernard Championship Show this year and was delighted (after the event) to find I had placed first in a strong Puppy bitch class a daughter of Jack. Rest peacefully dear Sue... you will never be forgotten. Just very recently - Anne Roger Clarke - all rounder from the US/Canada? who has many times visited our shores. In 1982, she judged Saints at Sydney Royal show and I had the great privilige of my gorgeous girl winning Challenge bitch - Aust/Nz Ch Sedna I'm Sigrid. Bill O'Hehir - who oversaw the Vic judges training program for so long. RIP Bill - I miss our conversations. Please feel free to add your favourite people to this page... we need to honour and recall those who have influenced us in any way. Sags

Great post. The thread was about what worked for dolers dogs, and it has made for informative reading. Finding a food that your dog enjoys and does well on can sometimes be a challenge - sometimes it comes easily. Over the course of almost 30 years in my chosen breed I have tried almost every type of feeding regime available - from Barf to a raw/dry combo to mainly dry. We currently have 4 older St Bernards who all have different needs. Finding a food that is satisfying, provides the expected results, and is cost effective is a cause for celebration! Sags

If there are health concerns then of course your vet is an important source of knowledge and experience. Some vets really do understand nutrition - while others have only undertaken the basics. Keep in mind that several petfood companies are closely involved in the nutrition side of vet training (please understand I am not saying this applies to all vets as my own vet, for example, has educated himself in many other facets of nutrition post graduating). This sometimes means that when it comes to issues such as weight, that a vet will go with the prescription diets that are readily available to them. Not a bad thing, but certainly not the only option.

While Hills r/d is the choice of many vets, our experience with many obese doggies coming in has been that using Hills Light or another quality light product - and using it properly - will always work. Dogs are no different from people - restrict the calories, increase the activity and lose the weight. Sags

Have sent you a pm!

Thank you! I'm full of good ideas... or something!

:cool: Quick.... someone tell my girls that! Hmm... most of the reps we deal with have a good knowledge of the other brands on the market and can easily discuss points of difference... but that's a bit different isn't it? Couldn't agree more. Now for the OP - A few bigger sized kibbles include Nutrience (look for Large Crunch on the bag); Royal Canin Maxi Giant (particularly Adult which is huge); Hills Oral Care; Nutro Large Breed varieties. As a suggestion, make a concoction of kibble, plain yoghurt and other goodies, pack firmly into the treat ball, then refrigerate overnight. Wrap first in cling wrap (and remember to take the cling wrap off LOL). The Everlasting Treat Balls can be treated like a Kong in many ways, so you might find more ideas on the kong website. Have fun! Sags ;) edited because I can't spell!

Quite like Wahl myself - not the cheapest but do a lovely job and can be sharpened. Sags

Also had one who would only eat if and when it suited her. We resorted to only offering a high energy dry food so that whatever did go down had the optimum amount of calories. These days she's the opposite, loves whatever is on offer! Most premium foods have a high energy version - Hills Active, Royal Canin 4300, Nutrience Active, Euk Performance, Eagle Pack Power, Nutro Performance etc. Some dogs just don't want a bulky meal so a smaller, but more calorie dense option may be worth trying. Good luck with it!

2 months to clear customs.... Anyone here who works in the area who can shed light on this very long time to clear? I know that getting a berth at the docks can take a while, but this does seem extreme - perhaps EP should be talking to customs about the loss of trade etc they are suffering, as when customers can't get what they need, they tend to look for alternatives. Not good!

We do have limited stock of EP so if anyone does need some feel free to pm me to see if we have your product. Goldielover... have pm'd you.

Hehe.. did someone call my name? Yes, the lady Phoebe looked a million dollars at Seymour! InspectorRex - have emailed you. :D

We range all three (plus a number of others) and have to say... it depends. For example, we've had great success in the past with Hills Oral Care for one dog. Eagle "Fishy" food was a godsend for one who had been speyed and had skin issues following the operation. Having said all that, three at home are on Nutro Large Breeds Senior and won't let me change them! I have to warn anyone using Nutro (particularly Lamb & Rice) that they might need new sunglasses to ward off the glare from the shine on their dogs coat LOL.

Tollersowned... have posted several samples today so here's hoping!

Try any of the retailers on this website for Nutro. www.nutro.com.au - a big list for NSW and QLD - they haven't got arount to adding Victoria yet LOL.

Nutro Performance is an excellent food for high energy dogs, or fussy eaters who need nutrition from every bite. Will pm you and am happy to post some samples. Sags

Will email you about our freight service.

Think you'll find that Danni has moved on to another company recently. We had some trouble getting Large/Giant Breed puppy for a couple of weeks, but have that back in stock as well as the Holistic Large Breed Adult (bonus bags), Holistic Chicken, Small/Med Breed Puppy, Holistic "Fishy" (Salmon/Sardine/Anchovy mix) etc. For very sensitive tummies, we've had good results with Nutro Chicken & Rice in particular. For skin and coat the Nutro Lamb and Rice is just awesome (have bonus bags too). Sags

Aw Jed... don't go back in the kennel - unless of course TBCSITW is in there (Evie sends her love and great desire). Anyway, back on track. I did the whole raw feeding thing for two years and it just didn't suit my dogs as much as a premium dry - with extras - did. However, I know many people who find it is perfect for them, and always suggest people find the best balance depending upon their own lifestyle, doggies needs, and so forth. Nobody should be pushing one thing over another. I'll happily talk about what has worked for us and our dogs... as well as what we've seen work for others. Pity if people use their position to push a product. Sags.

:D I think you've hit the nail on the head... if you become a regular Nutro buyer then that store misses out on your $$ - unless they eventually stock it. I guess that with anything "new", there can be a certain degree of suspicion or caution, but it is a bit harsh (and short sighted, and possibly not good customer service ) to say they couldn't be paid to touch a product. We knew very little about Nutro until a few months ago. But, as with everything, we approached with an open mind, trialled the food on a couple of our own dogs, and fell in love with it. After all, it's all about the results. I might add that we also looked at another product at the same time and that it fell well short of Nutro regarding palatability and all round conditioning (and particularly skin and coat improvement). Good luck with whatever you try TM... sometimes it takes a few different attempts to find the most suitable foods for your pet, but well worth doing when you eventually get one that the dog/cat not only loves, but does well on (and I'm including natural diets in that). Sags

cassie the bernese lover... to answer your question, PP appear to have an exclusive distributor arrangement with Innova - no, I don't have that in writing, but my own enquiries with the Canadian company lead to dead end after dead end. Other people who have enquired direct to Innova have been referred to PP. Thank goodness there are other great brands available to customers who won't support PP. Hope that helps. :rolleyes:

We're just about to put a few bags of the Ecopet dry food next to the Ecopet fridge and see what the customers think. Will give some feedback once I have more to tell. The rolls are very popular and the Ecopet fresh meat is also excellent. Someone mentioned the 5kg slabs - these are the Ottway slabs made by Ecopet. Sags :rolleyes: