Millies Wolfheart Peak Performance review

Peak Performance takes our Good band, the same rung the typical adult dry food reaches. Named meats with percentages, a printed mineral panel and dosed joint support all count in its favour. The shape of the analysis holds it there: protein converts to 26.1% of dry matter and sits well behind fat at 28.3%. For a dog doing genuine work that ratio is a design choice, not an oversight. The pillars read Good for protein and processing, Average for nutritional balance, Outstanding for transparency and Good for value.

Ingredients, as declared: 65% Turkey, Duck, Fish (Turkey Fat (13%), Freshly Prepared Duck (12%), Freshly Prepared Salmon (12%), Dried Turkey (11%), Dried Duck (10%), Duck Fat (4%), Turkey Gravy (2%), Salmon Oil (1%)), Potato (14%), Sweet Potato, Chickpeas, Tapioca, Minerals, Tomato Pomace, Joint Pack (Glucosamine 177.5 mg/kg, Methylsulfonylmethane 177.5 mg/kg, Chondroitin Sulphate 125 mg/kg), Yucca Extract, Mixed Herbs, Dried Apple, Burdock Root, Dried Camomile, Dried Carrot, Dried Cranberry, Dried Dandelion, Aniseed & Fenugreek, Dried Seaweed, Dried Peppermint

The 65% headline rewards a closer look, because the bracket beneath it contains fats as well as meat. The four meat entries are freshly prepared duck and freshly prepared salmon at 12% each, with dried turkey at 11% and dried duck behind them at 10%. Sitting alongside them are turkey fat at 13%, duck fat at 4%, turkey gravy at 2% and salmon oil at 1%. Add those four together and the meat itself comes to 45%, with the remainder made up of fat and gravy. That is not a criticism of a food designed to deliver energy, but it is the honest way to read the front of the bag.

Every fat on the list is named, which matters more than the total. Turkey fat and duck fat are identifiable animal fats, and salmon oil brings marine omega 3 along with them. Together they push fat to 28.3% of dry matter and energy to 432 kcal per 100g. That means a smaller bowl covers a working dog, and a quieter one needs the scoop watched.

Protein deserves a line of its own. At 26.1% of dry matter it is perfectly respectable, but it is plainly the fat doing the talking in this recipe, so read the name as a promise about fuel rather than about muscle.

Starch duty falls to potato at 14%, with sweet potato, chickpeas and tapioca alongside. Estimated carbohydrate finishes at 34.7% of dry matter, comfortably below the 46.2% typical of adult dry food. Ash converts to just 8.2% of dry matter, which is low and tells you the dried meats are bringing more meat than bone.

The joint entries are declared to the milligram, 177.5 mg/kg of glucosamine, 177.5 mg/kg of methylsulfonylmethane and 125 mg/kg of chondroitin sulphate. No trace mineral goes undosed: zinc at 48 mg, iron at 48 mg, manganese at 34 mg, copper at 12 mg and iodine at 0.96 mg per kilo. Closing the list are yucca extract and tomato pomace, then a trace level tail of apple and burdock root, camomile, carrot and cranberry, dandelion and peppermint, with seaweed last.

£5.17 a kilo, sold in 700g, 4kg and 12kg bags.

Because the energy is high, the scoop is small. A 15kg adult dog in moderate condition needs roughly 195 grams a day, which works out at £1.01, assuming about 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate).