Ava Breed Health Bulldog Dry review

This recipe reads Good on our scale, and that is also where the typical adult dry food finishes, so think of it as holding the middle of the market rather than rising above it. Transparency lands at Outstanding, with protein and processing, nutritional balance and value all at Good. Its genuine strengths, a restrained carbohydrate load and a mineral panel dosed line by line, are balanced by a meat share that leaves the potatoes carrying a substantial part of the recipe.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken 34.9% (Chicken (18.3%), Chicken Meal (14.1%)), Sweet Potato (18.3%), Dried Potato (18.1%), Beet Pulp (6.7%), Brewers Yeast, Tapioca (4.2%), Egg, Chicken Fat (3.9%), Chicken Gravy (2.5%), Salmon Oil, Pea Starch (1.9%), Minerals, Chicory Root Extract (a source of Prebiotic Fructooligosaccharides (0.2%)), Yeasts (as a source of Beta-glucans and Prebiotic Mannanoligosaccharide) (0.14%), Marigold Meal, Glucosamine (0.025%), Yucca Extract (0.025%), Cranberry Extract (0.018%), Chondroitin Sulphate (0.017%), Pomegranate Extract (0.009%), Green Tea Extract (0.009%)

The 34.9% chicken headline splits into 18.3% fresh chicken and 14.1% chicken meal, with chicken fat at 3.9% and chicken gravy at 2.5% following on. Fresh meat cooks down to a fraction of its listed weight, so the meal, which arrives already dried, ends up shouldering much of the protein duty. The analysis is respectable for it: protein converts to 31.0% of dry matter, and estimated carbohydrate to 38.5%, comfortably under the 46.2% typical of adult dry food.

Sweet potato at 18.3% and dried potato at 18.1% form the starch base, and tapioca at 4.2% and pea starch at 1.9% support them. Not a grain appears on the list. Tapioca brings little beyond its starch, but here it is a binder rather than a headline act. Beet pulp at 6.7% looks after fibre.

Egg and brewers yeast add quality protein and B vitamins in supporting roles, while the gut gets a proper prebiotic pairing: fructooligosaccharides from chicory root at 0.2% and yeast-derived mannanoligosaccharides at 0.14%.

The functional extras are printed with their inclusion rates, which is more honesty than many labels manage. Glucosamine appears at 0.025% and chondroitin sulphate at 0.017%, modest amounts but declared ones, and L-carnitine is dosed at 300 mg. Every added trace mineral arrives in chelated form, the version generally credited with better uptake. Each carries a printed dose: zinc at 100 mg, copper at 10 mg, manganese at 25 mg, iodine at 1.59 mg, iron at 60 mg and selenium at 0.2 mg.

Salmon oil supplies the omega 3s. It is a worthwhile inclusion, though it does mean fish is present in the bowl, something to note if you are keeping track of every animal your dog eats.

£4.17 a kilo in the single 12kg bag size.

For a 15kg adult in moderate condition, expect around 239 grams and £1.00 a day, working from the usual maintenance sum of roughly 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75). The bag's own table asks 200 to 250 grams for a dog between 15kg and 20kg.