Calibra

Calibra Expert Nutrition Energy review

Name: Calibra Expert Nutrition Energy
Brand: Calibra

72.4/100Excellent

DryAdult

Calibra's working-dog recipe, in our Excellent band, and it does not pretend to be anything else. Chicken protein at 50%, fat at 22% and 420 kcal per 100g are numbers for dogs that earn their dinner. Starch is held low, so most of the energy comes from fat and protein.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Working and sporting dogs, from gundogs to canicross partners
Dogs that find it hard to hold condition
Big daily miles on smaller portions, since the density means less volume per meal
Joints under load, with glucosamine at 260 mg/kg and chondroitin sulphate at 160 mg/kg
Chicken-tolerant dogs. Chicken protein does the bulk of the work

Worth watching

Weight piles on fast for a dog whose exercise is a turn round the garden
Poultry fat and hydrolysed poultry protein name no bird
Salmon oil and rice, so neither fish nor grain is absent

Written by our editorial team. Independent guidance, not veterinary advice.

How this scores

How we score

72.4/100Excellent

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceExcellent

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueExcellent

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adult dogs of every size, and meant for those in real work. A dog in work needs a fair bit more than the label's figure, so feed to the workload and the waistline.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Calibra Expert Nutrition Energy 72.4

All one Excellent. Typical dry food: Good.

Judged as fuel for a dog in work, it is well built, with half the recipe as chicken protein and carbohydrate held far below the typical kibble.

What's in it

Chicken protein50%The headline, and an honest one.
Rice, brewer's rice16%, 6%Held deliberately low for a kibble.
Poultry fat14%The energy engine, and the label's one vague entry: any bird qualifies.
Hydrolysed poultry protein5%Again, no bird named.
Yeasts
Hydrolysed chicken liver2%
Salmon oil2%Marine omega 3.
Dried apple pulp, fulvic acid1%, 0.2%
MOS, beta-glucans, FOS, inactivated Lactobacillus120 mg/kg down to 70 mg/kgThe range's prebiotic package.
Glucosamine, chondroitine sulphate, rosemary, thyme, yucca260 mg/kg down to 80 mg/kgJoint care for a dog under load.

Vitamins and organic trace minerals all dosed, with L-carnitine at 200 mg, an apt touch where fat is the main fuel.

Calcium converts to 1.65% of dry matter. It is listed for adults only.

Named ingredients

Chicken protein (50 %), rice (16 %), poultry fat (14 %, preserved with tocopherols), brewer´s rice (6 %), hydrolysed poultry protein (5 %), yeasts, hydrolysed chicken liver (2 %), salmon oil (2 %), apple pulp dried (1 %), fulvic acid (0.2 %), prebiotics (mannan-oligosaccharides 120 mg/kg, β-glucans 100 mg/kg, fructo-oligosaccharides 70 mg/kg), glucosamine (260 mg/kg), dried rosemary & thyme (200 mg/kg), chondroitine sulphate (160 mg/kg), Mojave yucca (80 mg/kg), Lactobacillus acidophilus HA - 122 inactivated (15 × 109 cells/kg).

Against the range

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

420 kcal/100g

Protein

32%

Fat

22%

Fibre

Ash

Moisture

Dry weight

Protein

35.2%

Fat

24.2%

Fibre

2.2%

Ash

7.7%

Carbs

30.7%

As-fed composition

Estimated breakdown of the finished product by ingredient category, from the declared ingredient list and ingoing weights. These are estimates, not measurements.

Meat

57%

Carbs

22%

Veg

Oils

16%

Other

Pricing & size