Pro Plan Large Athletic Adult OptiBalance review

This recipe reads Average with us, and the typical adult dry food sits a step above it in the Good band. The distance between them is made of ordinary things. Wheat sits second and corn fourth, while wheat gluten and corn protein meal lift the protein figure without contributing any meat. A great deal of this recipe rides on dried poultry protein and animal fats, and neither ever says which animal it came from.

There is another side to it. Carbohydrate converts to 39.6% of dry matter against the 46.2% typical of the shelf, protein reaches 30.4%, and the mineral panel is dosed line by line. For a big athletic dog in regular work, this remains a straightforward and energy-dense bowl.

Ingredients, as declared: High quality chicken (including back and chest) (19%), Wheat, Dried poultry protein, Corn, Rice (8%), Animal fats, Soya meal, Dried beet pulp, Digest, Corn protein meal, Corn grits, Wheat gluten, Dried salmon protein, Minerals, Dried egg, Fish oil

High quality chicken at 19% opens the list, with the label naming back and chest so you know it means frame meat. Fresh chicken goes into the oven carrying water and comes out much lighter. That is why wheat in second place and dried poultry protein in third shape the finished kibble as much as the headline does.

Fat at 18.0% as fed and 19.6% of dry matter comes mostly from animal fats sitting sixth on the list, and that entry is the label's plainest gap because no animal is named. Fish oil and dried salmon protein bring the marine omega 3s, which is a thoughtful touch on a food for hard-working joints and weathered coats.

Behind the chicken, corn, rice at 8%, corn grits and beet pulp share the starch and fibre work. Carbohydrate converts to 39.6% of dry matter, comfortably below the 46.2% typical of adult dry food. Fibre is on the light side at 2.0%. A dog that would rather not stop halfway round will be glad of that.

Wheat gluten and corn protein meal are worth understanding. Both are concentrated plant proteins that raise the protein figure on the panel without adding meat to the bowl, and a dog uses them less efficiently than the animal proteins above them on the list. They are not harmful, they simply mean the 30.4% of dry matter that protein reaches is not all doing equal work.

The micronutrients are printed rather than implied, with zinc at 140 mg, iron at 150 mg, manganese at 56 mg and copper at 16 mg per kilo, and vitamin E at 550 IU. Tocopherol extracts at 51 mg per kilo keep the fats from turning, a natural preservative doing the job a chemical one would otherwise be asked to do.

Sold in a single 14kg bag.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition would eat about 210 grams a day, assuming around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). That is a smaller dog than this bag is written for. The label asks 300 grams a day for a 25kg dog and 600 grams for a 70kg dog at under an hour of activity, with more again for a working day.