Welcome!

Welcome to our September issue of the 4legs Newsletter.

In this month's edition, resident Animal Nutritionist, Jonathan Woodroofe, continues his series on 'Pet Food and Pet Health' - this month concentrating on 'Nutrition for the Older Dog.'

Puppy Pre-School instructor, Jean Murray, gives us some fantastic tips on training your dog or puppy.

Plus, introducing Mal Lynch, our new Dogabout co-ordinator. You can read all about Mal's fantastic Treasure Hunt that took place in August and register for her upcoming fun day!

We've also got all our regular features like Walk of the Month and Did You Know?

We are always interested to hear your feedback and comments on our products, website and newsletter, so feel free to email us.

Happy reading,
The Team at 4Legs.

Have something to say?

We want you to be involved! Send us your stories and photos and we'll publish them! Have you been on a great walk recently, found some excellent pet-friendly accommodation, tried something new, or has your dog celebrated their birthday? We want to hear it all, so send us your news to contact@4legs.com.au.

Delicous Doggy Treats!

If you haven't tried them yet, here's your chance! This month you will receive a free 50g trial of Doggy Cool Munchy Meat Treats (Beef) in every 900g pack of our 4legs Home Cooked varieties.

Doggy Cool Munchy Meat Treats are the delicious treat made from 100% fresh and natural meat and are available in Beef and Chicken varieties.

This offer runs from 18 September until 5 October (or until sold out), so don't miss out!

4Legs Factory Outlet

The 4legs Factory Outlet is now open! We now sell direct to the public, so why not drop by and pick up some of your favourite 4legs products, including:

• 4legs Home Cooked varieties
• Doggy Cool Munchy Meat Treats
• 4legs Kennel Food (perfect for larger dogs)

Plus, we also stock a great range of Doggy Cool apparel, including coats, jackets and bandanas. For our full Doggy Cool collection, click here.

4Legs Pet Food Factory
8 Strezlecki Avenue
Sunshine, VIC, 3020
Ph: 03 9310 2600
MELWAY REF: 40 G6
Open 9am - 4pm MON - FRI

Featured Walk Of The Month

The days are getting longer and the weather is getting warmer, so stop making excuses and head out for a walk today! This month's featured walk is in Reservoir in Melbourne and is the location of our next Dogabout! To find a fabulous walk near you click here.

C.T. Barling Reserve is the location of Mal Lynch's next Dogabout, see below for further details.

Nutrition and the Older Dog

This month, our resident Animal Nutritionist, Jon Woodroofe, continues his new series on 'Pet foods and Pet Health.' This month, Jon talks about 'Nutrition and the Older Dog' and discusses how you can make healthy choices about what your older pets eat.

If you would like any further information on this topic or would like to ask our animal nutritionist a question, please email contact@4legs.com.au.

Dogabout.com.au Update:

We've got lots of Dogabout news this month! We'd like to introduce you to Mal Lynch, our new Dogabout co-ordinator. Some of you might have already met Mal and her Jack Russel, Daisy, at one of our Dogabout walks.

Mal is a fully qualified Canine/Feline Myofuntional Therapist, providing a range of massage therapies for her clients. To find out more about the treatments Mal provides, click here.

Our last Dogabout was a treasure hunt organised by Mal and Daisy and took place at Redleap Reserve, Mill Park. For full details of this walk and to see some fantastic photos of the day, click here.

To find out more about anything to do with the dogabout program, visit www.dogabout.com.au or email contact@dogabout.com.au

Your Queries Answered!

If you have a query that you would like answered, email us or go to our contact page on the 4Legs website.

A. According to Jean Murray, Puppy School Instructor, "the easiest way to train any animal, be it dog, cat or dolphin is to use Operant Conditioning."

Operant Conditioning is training an animal to perform a task in order to receive a reward. This reward, or positive reinforcement, can come in the form of food, praise or patting.

Whilst praise is a sufficient motivator for some dogs, most dogs require an additional motivator, such as a food treat. Only a small piece of food is necessary and Jean recommends using Doggy Cool Munchy Meat Treats, as they can easily be broken into small pieces and dogs love them.

Here are some of Jean's tips for training your dog or puppy.

Dogs learn fastest when:
• They are rewarded every time
• The reward is desirable
• The reward is given immediately (i.e. within half a second)

Other than food and treats, some other rewards are:
• Your positive attention - this is one of the most important rewards of all.
• Friendly eye contact
• Touching or petting (rewarding to most, but not all dogs)
• Social interaction/play
• Permission to get on the bed/chair/couch

When training your dog remember, behaviour that is rewarded is repeated. So, by carrying food treats with you, you can reward your dog or puppy each time he displays good behaviour!

Jean Murray runs Puppy Preschool Classes in Niddrie, Fitzroy, Essendon and St Albans.
To find out more, about Puppy Pre-school, click here.

For stockists of Doggy Cool Munchy Meat Treats, click here

Did you know?

The first seeing eye dog was used in April 1938.
(Source: http://www.bestfriendspetcare.com/pet_facts/petfacts-dogs3.cfm)

A cat can run at speeds of up to 20 kilometres per hour.
(Source: http://www.bestfriendspetcare.com/pet_facts/petfacts-dogs3.cfm)

Stockists

To find your nearest stockist of 4Legs, anywhere in Australia click here.

Please note that Coles stockist information is not yet available online, please call us on 1800 655 687 for any Coles enquiries.