Specific CAD Active review

Our scoring places this in the Average band, a step under the Good band that ordinary adult dry food occupies. It is worth understanding why before you read anything into that. A working ration is designed around energy density first. That is why pork fat is the opening ingredient, why wheat and maize protein carry the structure, and why the protein at 29% is topped up from several directions. Our scoring reads named meat share and label detail, and a food constructed this way will always come out low against that measure. For the genuinely working dog this was written around, it does what is asked of it. The taurine, the L-carnitine and the yeast beta-glucans show a recipe that has been thought through, not simply drowned in fat.

Ingredients, as declared: Pork fat, wheat, maize protein, fish meal, egg powder, rice, potato protein, minerals, yeast (including source of ß-1.3/1.6-glucans), dextrose, animal protein hydrolysate, fish oil, vitamins and trace elements (including chelated trace elements), psyllium husk, methionine, taurine, L-carnitine, rosemary extract. With natural, antioxidants (tocopherols and vitamin C).

Pork fat opening an ingredients list is rare, and here it is the whole point. Fat carries more than twice the energy of protein or starch weight for weight, so putting it first is the shortest route to a dense ration. The result is 441 kcal per 100 grams against the 357 typical for adult dry food, which is why the label's portions look small next to an ordinary bag. Naming the animal behind the fat is also better practice than most makers manage.

Wheat and maize protein follow, with rice and potato protein further down, so the protein declared at 29% is assembled from animal and plant sources together. Potato protein is a byproduct of potato processing and is a good deal less digestible than meat protein, which is worth knowing when you are reading a headline percentage. Methionine added by name at the end is the usual signal that the plant side needed balancing.

The named animal proteins are fish meal and egg powder, and egg is close to a complete protein, about as good as a dog can be given. Animal protein hydrolysate appears further down without a species attached. It is there for palatability, not for nutrition, though it does mean the label is not fully specific about every animal ingredient in the bag.

The functional entries are where the thinking shows. Yeast goes in for its beta-glucans. Taurine is an amino acid that makers usually add with the heart in mind. L-carnitine helps turn fat into usable energy, which is exactly what a dog on a ration this rich is being asked to do. Psyllium husk brings soluble fibre, useful given crude fibre is only 1.1% as fed.

There is dextrose midway down the list, and it deserves an honest word. It is a fast sugar, and fast sugars have a real place in a hard-working dog's diet, but it is still a sugar and the amount is not declared. On a dog that is not working, this is one of the reasons the ration needs portioning carefully rather than filling to the brim.

Sold in a single 12kg bag size.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition would eat about 190 grams a day, assuming around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). The label's own chart puts a 15kg dog at 205 grams, which is a working dog's ration rather than a resting one. Start from the lower figure for a pet dog and adjust to the waistline.