Matina Butcher

Matina’s dedication to dogs wasn’t so much a choice as a calling. In one of her oldest and most prized photographs, she’s pictured as a toddler clutching an inflatable Saint Bernard toy that stands taller than her. When a friend serendipitously bred a litter of Saint Bernards after Matina’s 18th birthday, she didn’t waste any time welcoming her first one home.

A journey around the world

When Matina first started exploring dog shows, she was focused on soaking up as much information as she could about Saint Bernards. This thirst for knowledge led her to travel across the globe, including a six-month pilgrimage through Europe where she stayed at the Great St Bernard Hospice in Switzerland; the birthplace of the breed.

Saint Bernards are a wonderful breed with a fascinating history, which I think is what led me to them. As luck would have it, the day I arrived in Switzerland was the first day the Great St Bernard Pass opened for the year. The nuns in the hospice took me in and I stayed there for 10 days.

After returning from her travels, Matina went on to become the president of The Saint Bernard Club in Australia and lobbied to bring the Swiss standard for judging to our shores.

“Saint Bernards are really where I developed my identity in the dog show world,” she says. “They were the cornerstone of everything I did.”

From powerful to pint-sized

Today, Matina is kept busy on her 50-acre property in the Southern Highlands.

She recently brought home three American champion Fox Terriers that are already winning Best in Shows around the country.

“Foxies are a really dynamic, fun little dog, and they’re heaps of fun to show,” Matina says. “It might sound corny but it’s always rewarding getting recognition and earning respect for the work you’ve done.”

A scientific approach to nutrition

A pharmacist by trade with a background in chemistry, analysing the ingredients and nutrients in dog food is a personal passion for Matina.

“When I open a bag of dog food, I pick it up and roll it around and smell it – like someone with a glass of wine,” she says.

She tried Black Hawk a few years back and found that Black Hawk Original Puppy Lamb & Rice offers the right balance of ingredients to give her dogs a complete, nutritionally sound diet.

Before using Black Hawk I’d use a base kibble and add my own ingredients to make sure I was happy with what they were getting. Now I don’t have to add anything. The ingredients are all in there and they’re bioavailable.

As for the benefits of feeding her pups Black Hawk, Matina believes the results speak for themselves.

“You can see the results in the dogs,” she says. “Their breath doesn’t smell, their coats are beautiful, they’re muscled, the puppies are in wonderful condition. To be able to give the dogs a kibble and know that they’re show-ready – that’s a big thing.”

Matina Butcher

Stiniyasu Kennels