Applaws Adult Large Breed review

Our Excellent band is where this food lands, a step above the typical adult dry food in its Good band. The gap is earned through construction: a large share of named chicken, a restrained carbohydrate load for a kibble and joint support dosed in print rather than implied.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken 43.6% (Chicken Meal 34%, Freshly Prepared Chicken* 9.6%), Potato*, Dried Beet Pulp*, Poultry Fat 4%, Poultry Gravy*, Dried Peas*, Dried Egg Powder*, Dried Brewer's Yeast*, Vitamins & Minerals, Salmon Oil, Vegetable Fibres*, Dried Chicory* 0.35% (a Source of Prebiotic FOS), Dried Seaweed*, Lucerne Meal*, Yeast Wall (a source of Beta-Glucans and Prebiotic MOS), Dried Tomato*, Dried Carrot*, Dried Parsley*, Dried Peppermint*, Glucosamine 300 mg/kg, Chondroitin Sulphate 300 mg/kg, Dried Yucca Schidigera*, Dried Rosehip*, Dried Basil*, Dried Turmeric*, Cranberry Powder*, Dried Carob*, Dried Ginger*, Dried Dandelion Root*, Inactivated Lactobacillus Helveticus 0.005%, Inactivated Lacticaseibacillus Paracasei 0.005%, Dried Paprika*. *Natural Ingredients.

The 43.6% chicken is mostly chicken meal at 34%, with freshly prepared chicken at 9.6% behind it. Leading with the meal is quietly honest, because meal goes into the oven already dried and its weight survives cooking in a way fresh meat's cannot. The finished analysis backs the headline up: protein stands at 33%, or 35.9% of dry matter, and estimated carbohydrate converts to 36.4% of dry matter against the 46.2% typical for adult dry food.

Potato does the binding with dried peas in support, and there is no grain on the list at all. Dried beet pulp brings steady fibre, dried chicory at 0.35% supplies prebiotic FOS, and yeast wall adds MOS and beta glucans, a pairing aimed squarely at the friendly bacteria in the gut.

The large breed thinking is easiest to see in the joint support: glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate both at 300 mg/kg, each with its dose printed. Salmon oil supplies omega 3 in its marine form, while egg powder and brewer's yeast round out the amino acid picture and bring B vitamins along for the ride.

The long botanical tail, from seaweed and lucerne down to paprika, is seasoning and nothing more, joined by two inactivated Lactobacillus cultures at trace level. One transparency niggle is that the vitamins and minerals are declared as a single entry with no individual doses on show. The recipe stands on its chicken, and that part is declared clearly.

Sold in 4kg and 12kg bags.

As a rough guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition would get through about 226 grams a day. The daily need behind that is around 840 kcal (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). Most dogs on a large breed recipe will be heavier than that, and the label's own table starts at 280 to 380 grams a day for dogs between 20kg and 30kg.