Concept For Life Large Breed Adult review

Set against the Good band where the middle of the dry adult market settles, this one comes out a step below in our Average band. Protein and processing reads Average, and the reasons run consistently through this brand. Two working entries say poultry instead of a named bird, maize does a lot of the plant work, maize protein props up the protein figure and lignocellulose supplies purified fibre. The scale hands nothing back for the things a large breed owner is actually shopping for, and those are real here. Carbohydrate is the lowest in the family at 43.9% of dry matter, against 46.2% for a typical adult dry food. Every gram carries enough energy to feed a big dog from a sensible bowl. Nutritional balance and transparency both read Good.

Ingredients, as declared: 23% Poultry Protein (Rich in Chicken, Partly Dried and Hydrolysed), 20% Fresh Chicken Meat, Rice, Maize, Poultry Fat, Dried Beet Pulp (Desugared), Maize Protein, Linseed, Lignocellulose, Monocalcium Phosphate, Sodium Chloride, Brewer's Yeast (Dried), Egg (Dried), 0.3% Salmon Oil, 0.3% Sunflower Oil, 0.1% Chicory Inulin, 0.04% Glucosamine, 0.02% Chondroitin Sulphate, Antioxidants.

Poultry protein at 23% and fresh chicken meat at 20% open the list. Poultry protein is partly dried and hydrolysed, and the label describes it as rich in chicken. The fresh chicken meat names the bird outright. Poultry fat follows almost immediately, and its position that high is the reason this recipe reaches 17% fat where the rest of the family sits lower.

Protein converts to 28.3% of dry matter and fat to 18.5%, with energy declared at 395 kcal per 100g against 357 for the typical adult dry food. Moisture is not printed, so the dry matter figures assume 8%.

Rice and maize carry the starch, with maize protein behind them. Maize protein is a concentrated plant protein, useful for lifting a protein figure but not the equal of meat in the amino acids a dog needs most. The reward for the way the recipe is balanced is that carbohydrate finishes at an estimated 43.9% of dry matter, under the 46.2% a typical adult dry food runs.

Fibre is thin at 2.0%, coming from dried beet pulp and lignocellulose, the purified powdered kind. The prebiotic on this label is chicory inulin at 0.1%.

Salmon oil and sunflower oil are both at 0.3%, the most generous helping in this family. One brings marine omega 3s and the other vitamin E and linoleic acid, with linseed adding the plant omega 3s. Glucosamine at 0.04% and chondroitin sulphate at 0.02% make up the joint pair, which is exactly what you want declared on a food for dogs whose frames carry weight.

The vitamin and mineral panel is dosed in print, including zinc twice over, 100mg/kg as the sulphate and 60mg/kg as a glycine chelate that tends to be taken up better. Brewer's yeast and dried egg sit behind the meat as smaller protein contributors, and monocalcium phosphate is the added calcium and phosphorus source.

Sold in 1.5kg, 6kg and 12kg bags.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition needs about 213 grams a day, on maintenance of around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75). That is the smallest daily amount in this family, because every gram carries more energy. A large breed weighs far beyond 15kg, so scale up from there and portion to the ribs.