Alpha Sporting Maintenance review

It settles into our Average band, a step below the Good band where the typical adult dry food finds itself. Protein and processing reads Poor, since the meat is a meal that never declares its species and cereals supply the majority of the recipe, with nutritional balance a rung higher at Average. Transparency holds up far better, at Excellent. None of this makes the bag hard to feed, and for a fit working dog with no sensitivities it does exactly what its name promises.

Ingredients, as declared: Poultry Meal (28.0%), White Rice (26.0%), Whole Barley, Whole Maize, Poultry Oil, Sugar Beet Pellets, Salmon Oil, Chicory Root Extract (as a source of Prebiotic FOS) (0.3%), Extract of Yucca Schidigera.

Poultry meal at 28% leads, and as a dried meal it is protein-dense, so protein finishes at a healthy 26.4% of dry matter. The catch is the word poultry, a category that spans the farmed birds without ever committing to one. For most dogs that is no problem, but it makes life difficult for the few who react to a particular species.

White rice at 26% comes next, with whole barley and whole maize behind it, so this is a cereal-carried kibble; the estimated carbohydrate lands at 52.2% of dry matter. Sugar beet pellets contribute fibre, and the de-sugared pulp is a well-established digestive aid.

Salmon oil is a welcome touch on a label this plain, a named fish oil bringing ready-made marine omega 3s, and chicory root extract at 0.3% supplies the prebiotic FOS. Poultry oil handles the everyday fat duty.

For a food with sporting on the bag, the fat is moderate at 12.1% of dry matter, so it feeds more like an everyday maintenance ration than a high-octane one. The trace minerals are dosed in print, from zinc at 100 mg/kg down to selenium at 0.15 mg/kg, in the simpler oxide and sulphate forms.

£2.27 a kilo, sold in a 15kg bag.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition would get through roughly 244 grams a day on the standard maintenance estimate (110 kcal × bodyweight^0.75), which is about £0.55. The label's own table asks 200 to 270 grams for dogs between 10kg and 15kg, so the two agree closely.