[nickydwuk]

Our dogs are arriving in about 10 days :clap so we need to find a pet shop that sells a good variety of food. They have sensitive stomachs (some of the time) and in the UK we fed them on Chappie complete which seemd ok for them. Any suggestions of pet shops that have a wide selection so we could find the best food for them using trial & error. We went into one locally but they only stocked Eukanuba & the Science diet which are both excellent but twice the price of most others. As we have 3 dogs to feed it can get expensive.

[Moorf]

Animates sell a good range - or you could try the local vets as they often stock a good range, too.

http://www.animates.com/default.aspx?x=our%20stores

[lockstock]

Try NutraGold - it has a website and is excellent quality without the cheap and nasty cereal bulk. Look how good Duke looks on it!

There are a couple of stockists in ChCh and if you talk to them niceley you may get a hefty 'buy-direct' discount.:nice1

[Janey]

Hi Nicky
not sure what you have brought with you but our dog arrived without its blanket and toy MAF destroyed both all other bedding in the container yet to arrive so it was a mad dash to find something cheap to Aminates for the next couple of weeks not been able to find a suitable replacement, just to warn you Ben was not at all jet lagged and promptly wanted his walk and ball the minute he came out of his box so be prepapred!

[sbinder]

Nicky-
While Animates seems to have a good variety and high profile, I am told by a couple other dog owners here at the office that their prices are not the best. It cannot hurt to sign up for the Animates mailing list as they send out deals maybe once every two weeks so you can see what is on offer or what coupons they may have. One coworker recommended Wrightsons (not sure I have that spelled wright) on Blenheim Rd for Tux Working Dog that she feeds her German Shorthair, but I haven't tried it myself - I am still working off the bag of Eukanuba the quarantine folks sold at discount!

We ought to have an ENZ dog park day some nice 20-degree weekend; my golden retriever needs to get out and meet some new friends...

Shane

[lockstock]

Nicky-
We ought to have an ENZ dog park day some nice 20-degree weekend; my golden retriever needs to get out and meet some new friends...

Shane

Oh how I'd love to be back there for that!


And this is now officially my 1000th post!

[Moorf]

We ought to have an ENZ dog park day some nice 20-degree weekend; my golden retriever needs to get out and meet some new friends...

Great idea!! :clap

[BkyMonster]

We ought to have an ENZ dog park day some nice 20-degree weekend; my golden retriever needs to get out and meet some new friends...

Shane


Sounds good!

As for dog food I'm still puzzling that out. My nearest mall (Eastgate) has a pet shop that sells meat and bones, but for now we are on some kibble and a dog roll.
Pet shop near our house (Ferry road) had a decent selection of kibbles but I didn't check the prices as we were walking and didn't want to lug a bag home.

[sbinder]

Just got the Animates weekly-ish email today - they're having 50% off specials on bedding, kennels, pens and crates. Nothing particularly edible, I'm afraid. I think I was looking at ~NZD140 for a 17kg bag of ProPlan, although I haven't priced it in a month or two, so forgive any potential memory loss.

[BkyMonster]

Just got the Animates weekly-ish email today - they're having 50% off specials on bedding, kennels, pens and crates. Nothing particularly edible, I'm afraid. I think I was looking at ~NZD140 for a 17kg bag of ProPlan, although I haven't priced it in a month or two, so forgive any potential memory loss.

hmm. Good news for me. I haven't been in an Animates yet but my dogs are more or less bedless as MAF tossed all their blankies that were in the crates with them :( and for *some* reason we didn't bring old ratty clothes with us.... :D

[nickydwuk]

I'm going to check it out tomorrow as our dogs arrive on Tuesday and we need food as well as leads (they got packed in the container accidentally!!).

[lockstock]

Don't expect to find any leather leads. They're mostly nylon over here. I wish i'd brought all ours with us. We got a bit paranoid about living in the country and contamination so we left everything behind.

[seattle]

Just got the Animates weekly-ish email today - they're having 50% off specials on bedding, kennels, pens and crates. Nothing particularly edible, I'm afraid. I think I was looking at ~NZD140 for a 17kg bag of ProPlan, although I haven't priced it in a month or two, so forgive any potential memory loss.

NZD140 for a 17kg bag of ProPlan? wow- that is shocking! I pay about $35USD for a 35lb bag here in the U.S. I guess owning a dog in NZ can be expensive!

[nickydwuk]

Went into Animates today and was disappointed at the lack of choice of food. Mainly Eukanuba & Science plan with maybe one other. Most over $100 for a 10kg bag (or maybe 20kg). Also quite expensive with leads & bowls. Ended up going to Woolworths and getting 10kg of Tux for $23. Should have got my bowls & leads there as they were much cheaper.

[sbinder]

NZD140 for a 17kg bag of ProPlan? wow- that is shocking! I pay about $35USD for a 35lb bag here in the U.S. I guess owning a dog in NZ can be expensive!

My folks are coming over for a visit from Maryland at the end of next month and we have been discussing them smuggling in a couple of the big bags of ProPlan from Petsmart. Somehow, though, I think they might get sniffed out by the beagle at customs. ;)

Seriously, though, yes, dog products are quite a bit more expensive here, especially dog food. Registration is also quite a bit more expensive than what I remember from Seattle.

[seattle]

My folks are coming over for a visit from Maryland at the end of next month and we have been discussing them smuggling in a couple of the big bags of ProPlan from Petsmart. Somehow, though, I think they might get sniffed out by the beagle at customs. ;)

Seriously, though, yes, dog products are quite a bit more expensive here, especially dog food. Registration is also quite a bit more expensive than what I remember from Seattle.

Hmmm, I guess we couldn't smuggle some food on the moving truck either. Well I hope the weather in Christchurch is a bit better than Seattle? :-)

[veronica]

We feed Chippie and Flash Iams large breed, we get it from Animates and pay about $100 on average for the large sack which I think is about 18 - 20 kg. that lasts a month for the two of them and they are big dogs (36kg and 48kg)
If I see it on special ( lowest I have paid is $79)I will pick up 2 or 3 bags and if you spend over a certain amount you get vouchers (usually $10) so they get used against the next food bill. Often they have specials that you get a free something, once it was a big food bin, another time dog towels (they were a bit small for the boys but usable) and last time was the winner as far as I am concerned we got car seat covers for them.
Its cheaper to buy leads and things of that ilk at the warehouse though, and toys at the $2 shop, soft toys which get shredded pretty quickly given the size of the dogs we get from any of the charity shops, picking out the grubby sort that you wouldn't want to give to a kid. Bones, once a fortnight treat come from the butcher round the corner, sometimes have to order them $1 each for the big bone shaped! sort.

[veronica]

forgot to say that if your doing a dog day, then we would be up for that, Groynes is probably the best area.

[sbinder]

Hmmm, I guess we couldn't smuggle some food on the moving truck either. Well I hope the weather in Christchurch is a bit better than Seattle? :-)

That would be a most emphatic yes, but given that I found Seattle to be the most depressing place after 29 straight days of rain, well, it's all relative. We just had a winter that, by all accounts, was unusually rainy, and I rather enjoyed the change. Now that spring is in full swing, I think back to all of my poor friends in Seattle who have winter still coming, and have to :bluebanana

[Moorf]

http://www.petfood2u.co.nz/index.php

Found this pet food delivery service - how do the prices compare to what you're already paying?