Staff'n'Toller

I don't, but there's lots of clients who do, so don't feel bad about it. Many of our clients go overseas for extended periods.

I just wanted to know which State it was made in and my question has been answered so all good.

You can check a thread in general without signing in though.

Always trying to evade my video camera....my birthday lunch on that day. :D

Hi Jules! I am not a rep, i am a part owner of Hungry Hound, the formula is exclusive to us, no one else is able to reproduce it without our consent if you have questions please bombard me! Im happy to answer, we are wholesalers, so we do not see the consumer to be able to answer questions. Ok I'll bite, because it's a slow Friday! HH where do you source your lamb? Whose factory do you share to make it in or is it your own production factory? (Or some shed down the back of your yard). :D

Which is where? APFE dont make it but APFE DID develop the formula for it and it is exclusive, it is manufactured in NSW and distributed by Hungry Hound, we have received no complaints so far, so this is a great way of seeing what consumers want and provides us with feedback to improve this product for the dogs we all love! Curiouser and curiouser. So who does make it? Who to believe? It's getting a bit odd. Agree! :D

Years ago, my dad used to breed, train and race greyhounds. He was passionate about his dogs....which is where I think I must get it from, cos mum hates animals....and he only ever used to feed them what was deemed to be the most nutritious meat.....sheeps heads. Which he stewed up with vegetables, rice and god knows what else...but it was the whole head, skinned but not "gutted". He did it in his shed because it made the worst stink, and he used a big pot that looked like a witches cauldron. And I'd often peer in there only to find an eyeball or two peering back up at me from the stew pot. Now that's the stuff nightmares are made of. being an ex grey breeder/trainer/racer I can tell you half of them don't bother with all the hype of "premium" dog food. Very few use it unless it's given to them and then used as an endorsement. edit: I can't spell Yeah I've seen what's been pumped out of greyhounds stomachs...mostly large amounts of 4x2 biscuits, I doubt that they have ever picked up a Billinghurst book either.

Since I've had financial control over what my dogs eat I choose not to feed the supermarket brands or anything that's in the lower range as the ingredients list reflects the quality of the proteins and carbohydrates used. Generally these are meat by-products, in that way the company dodges having to be truthful about the continuity of quality of the meat they are using- they can choose whatever meat by-products they wish. There are generally lots of carbohydrates as the large % of the food. If a company has to state Lamb or Chicken or Beef sans by-products then it must be actual meat. They are bound to do so. They can't decide 'this batch will be wings, heads, eyeballs and feet' where it has previously been muscle meat. You can ring any premium foods manufacturer and ask where their food is manufactured, they should be happy to tell you. This isn't info privy to the Veterinary industry. They all have 1800 lines, and for us they have Veterinary help lines as well. I'm really passionate about food miles, date of production of dry food, and Aus made products. I am stoked that a company has taken on the project of creating a holistic food with good quality ingredients, I just want to know a few details, otherwise I don't feel I can recommend it to anyone. ;) I'm very happy with the price, I'm more than impressed that it was delivered a day early and I'm actually ecstatic that it was only cooked two weeks ago! I can't wait to open the bag. I feel really ripped off when I pay full price for Eagle Pack holistic and it's got 3 months of freshness left, I know it's spent 15mths sitting on shelves or ships or docks. It's not good enough.

Why? Retailers of generic brand products are under no obligation to disclose who makes their products. By law they have to state an ingredient list on the pack and the country of manufacture, but they don't have to state which factory or company produces it. Other dog food brands such as the ones you list don't advise who makes their products, where they source their ingredients etc. so why should the distributors of Black Hawk have to? My questions have always been answered by Advance (Masterfoods) Hills and Royal Canin, Royal Canin reps have told me which area in which country the blue whiting comes from in their formulas- I didn't even ask for that info!!! My previous statement still stands. I asked the question via email and it was not answered.

Both Bob and Ray are great, very down to earth, common-sense type of practitioners. I would still be using Bob if I wasn't nursing and using our great Vets here. If I stop nursing I would be going back to Bob.

I feel the same way. I like to make educated and informed decisions and don't just consider how well the dog does on it, but who manufactures a product, where it's made etc. There are other foods that I won't use because of who makes them, where they are made or who distributes them. I'd like to know Black Hawk is manufactured in Australia, it is an exclusive formula, kept in plain packaging to keep costs low so that its affordable for all. What we would like to know IS which State? Whose factory do you share to manufacture it??? Masterfoods or somebody else? ETA: I have been to masterfoods and the staff there are happy to talk about their food production, Black Hawk needs to be ultra transparent if you are hoping this will catch on. Particularly since you don't have traditional representatives like RC, Hills, Pro Plan, Advance. Consumers expect to get an answer to their questions...

See Bob Cavey or Ray Ferguson (or associates) at Monash. They are worth travelling to.

And that is the problem with a lot of dogs. They think I'm not breaking my stay if I lie down, I'm still staying! My next dog I think I will teach maintaining a position, not maintaining a stay. Much like ness is doing with Kenzie, if she says sit, it means sit there until released. Not sure how I'll go with that though, hard to break old habits using stay commands I have done a bit with Ruby already, and she is getting the idea. Correct, we actually decided to remove it from the syllabus in a private club I was working at, all the trainers dogs were adults at the time and didn't really have a problem with it as their release command knowledge was crystal clear prior to this anyway. I have a hard time now that I run my own classes, people want to use it and I explain the stay command is for YOU - if the dog knows it's job it doesn't really need it - some clients look a bit bewildered.

For my Stafford girl I use RC Sensitivity Control (prescription diet) ingredients are Tapioca, dehydrated fish (blue whiting), vegetable fibres, hydrolysed poultry liver, animal fats, minerals, soya oil, Fructo-Oligo-Saccharides (FOS), fish oil, L-tyrosine, DL-methionine, taurine, marigold extract (source of lutein). We don't seem to have a problem with the poultry liver as it's hydrolysed, it works well for her stomach and her skin so she won't be changing over to Black Hawk.

I've had a bag delivered this week but I have quite a bit of RC to use and then I'll be doing a 50/50 changeover for a while. I hope that it continues to be available, and that my dogs like it & do well on it!

She is not properly hydrated then, she still needs to be on maintenance fluids at the very least.

I have to agree with the other posters on this page that are concerned. Your original post made it sound like you are in the middle of nowhere hours from the nearest city - is this the case? I also have to say it was a strange thing for your Vet to say if you were quoting directly, we would be warning that there is a SLIM chance that something terrible could happen but you would have been well informed about when you needed to take one or both of the dogs to emergency for a transfusion. If we thought you weren't good at identifying gum colour we would have you bring the dogs in daily for checks +/- PCV. Perhaps there is something else going on with your dog but the fluid therapy sounds too quick, and was there no blood profile done yesterday???? You still haven't stated what dose of Vit K they are on, I hope it's not something like 1 or 2 tablets daily............

Ask for Onyx's owner. I have a vague recollection that he came from NSW. He is the bottom pic in the first post of this thread. Yes, Onyx, I want to steal him.

I know Mandela has had lots of weight issues in the past but you might have to get 'tough love' on the dry food training, dry food will never be as good as cooked chicken for a picky eater. I wonder what he would do if had some competition for food...not a situation you can easily set up. I am always telling clients whose singular dogs don't eat they can come to my house for a few days and they will eat! Maybe I'm just a mean mother...although I am indulging Gypsy's turning her nose up at food that may be slightly stale (getting to the end of the bag) now she is an old lady. The other thing that came to mind is continuing on with a chicken loaf or satin ball recipe variation (I do a variation for my old cat) and supplement. Berigora Farm does these supplements: Vegies plus for dogs and cats Ingredients: desiccated coconut, beetroot, carrot, pumpkin, spinach, apple, apricot, banana, paw paw, pineapple, barley grass, broccoli, pumpkin seeds. Everyday Extra supplement Ingredients: ground flaxseed, ground sunflower seed, dolomite, vitamin C mixture (ascorbic acid, calcium ascorbate, sodium ascorbate), gelatine, kelp, spirulina, lecithin, turmeric, bentonite clay, crataeva, dandelion, green lipped mussel, shark cartilage, MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) nettles, olive leaf, alfalfa, garlic, hawthorn berries, mullein, aniseed, cinnamon, fruit pectin, ginger, peppermint, rosemary, parsley, sage, thyme, cleavers, copper sulphate. They are both in dried form and can be frozen.

There is a nurse that works at http://www.woofpurnay.com.au/index.php mostly in the dog pool section who has the most stunning black male, quiet, lovely manners, smarty pants. She did some flyball with him. I don't know the lines sorry, I think they may have been Vic breeders. But if you wanted to make a random phone call, the desk staff would put you on to her I'm sure. :p

You can call one of the animal emergency centres in your State anytime and check the dosage of Vitamin K is correct julzjc, a nurse or vet there should be happy to help you out on the phone.

What dose rate of Vit K are you giving? I'm assuming they're the big white tablets that look like smarties? It would be worth asking if he actually has a centrifuge (the machine they use to spin down blood) if he doesn't then specialist centre care is required- particularly if you need to do blood or plasma transfusions. PCV measurements need to be done several times a day and you need to have that machine in house to do it- you don't want to have to be sending it off to the lab and waiting 12 hours. After the first transfusion your dog's blood needs to be typed so they can crossmatch and use the correct blood, it lessens the chance of transfusion reactions, perhaps he is getting transfusion reactions and losing dogs that way? Transfusion reactions are very serious. Saying that my girlie had one before major surgery and was perfectly fine.

It may be worth running Bonnie in to a clinic open on the weekends run a PCV - packed cell volume on her if you are concerned. However they should not haemorrhage if they are on Vitamin K.

If you want to use comfortis regularly, just buy interceptor. Drontal does make dogs vomit, both should be given with food, comfortis stinks, I wouldn't crush it- the smell probably turned your dogs off.

One of my clients was in the same sort of situation, husband:dog relationship going quite well now. She has started contacting breeders about a second dog...not sure when she is going to talk to him about it though..."oh look a puppy appeared in our yard, how cute!!"