I've been buying Northern Biscuits for my Vizslas for years. They get 12 paws up from our 3 Vizslas! Not only are they proudly Canadian-made ("O Canada, we stand on guard for thee") but more importantly, they are "functional treats baked without preservatives or artificial ingredients" according to their website and "ideal snacks as part of a HOLISTIC diet". My dogs love these cookies. I love them because I know what goes into them; I trust the company (very important these days!) and I know they use human-grade quality ingredients.
Since multiple dogs share our house and we often have quadruped Vizsla visitors (relatives and friends), the large bulk boxes (4 KG) are what I usually purchase. Yesterday I opened up the latest box of beef liver flavoured treats I bought from
Ren's Pet Depot (Aberfoyle, ON store). I must admit, I was rather surprised at what I saw and felt.
- The cookies weren't enclosed in plastic.
- There were lots of broken pieces.
- They weren't as hard-baked as the ones I've bought in the past.
- They were more floury and felt a little dampish.
For that reason, I didn't give any to my dogs. I intended to return them to Rens but knew the probability of finding my receipt was slim although they could probably look my purchases up in their system. Instead, I went to the Northern Biscuit website at
http://www.northernbiscuit.ca/ and clicked on the "Contact Info" link. I telephoned the company and - hold onto your hats now - I reached a human being immediately!!! That in itself was a miracle after having recently dealt with another Canadian superglomerate company whose name shall remain anonymous but begins with B and ends with L and has 4 letters and specializes in telecommunications and whose dealings are enough to drive you to imitating the spectacular finish in "Thelma & Louise". No prizes for guessing that company.
Anyway, I explained the situation to the very nice gentleman on the telephone. He knew immediately what the situation was - the box shouldn't have been made available for sale to the public. He said the cookies were perfectly OK to serve to my dogs but the reason they aren't supposed to be sold is because many were broken and perhaps it was because they were trying out a new recipe. As an example, he explained they were trying grain-free but finding the mixture wasn't binding well at first so the cookies weren't perfect but certainly edible. But the second I told him they weren't enclosed in plastic, he knew what was up. It meant they were intended for shelters, humane societies, trade shows etc. rather than for commercial sale. He also explained that the company doesn't like to waste food and that's why they make their perfectly acceptable 'duds' available to needy organizations.
So he said another bulk box would be on its way to me for my dogs. He asked the name of my dog and I said, "I have 3 of them". "Who's Top Dog?", he asked. "Miska is!". So the box will be addressed to Miska but she has to share the contents with her half-brother Tyro and her daughter Diva and any other Vizsla relative or friend which visits before the cookies run out.
All I can say is, "What a GREAT company Northern Biscuits" is!!! They care about their customers - the quadrupeds that eat their biscuits and the bipeds that buy them. I'm sorry I didn't get the name of this nice man. (Maybe he was the CEO!!) Of course, if their replacement cookies don't arrive, I may have to change my tune but I'm singing their praises right now. "O Canada!" I am so grateful for the
Northern Biscuit Bakery!
PS - I now haul 2-3 four Kilo boxes of Northern Biscuits to Arizona since I can't buy them there. Definitely beats anything I can buy down there.
