24.9.2015

I've trialled various Purina pet foods with different dogs and dog-owners and so far they've all been received by the dogs with great relish. There have been no turned-up noses - and no upset tummies or runny bottoms! So, a winner with all the dogs and converts won among the owners. This particular food is no exception - happy dog, happy owner.Complete foods are a convenient way of giving your dog all the nutrients it needs for a heathy balanced diet (and also dry foods mean drier stools that are easier to pick up in a doggy waste bag!). The pack contains a helpful feeding guide based on activity level as well as weight. The packaging is well-designed with a good-sized opening,a grab handle and a re-sealable top (to prevent the food going stale or smelling out the kitchen - though the food isn't smelly) which is easy to use.Purina is a premium brand that comes in at a premium price, though this larger pack is certainly better value - RRP £54.25, currently selling at £52.91 or £3.78 per kilo (a better price per kilo than the 3 kilo bags, which seem to be far more expensive than feeding your dog 100% chicken!).This is a chicken-based food, though chicken content is only 18%. The majority of the food consists of dehydrated poultry protein (which I don't have a problem with), wheat and maize, and there's also soya and gluten (both known potential allergens) in there as well as a mystery ingredient simply called "Digest", unnamed minerals and fish oil (which means there's no need to mix it in with the food separately). Total protein content is higher than other foods in the range at 30% as is fat content at 21%. In comparison, over half the RSPCA dog food is chicken meal and rice (£35 for 12 kilos).This complete dry pet food is part of the new Opti-nutrition range from Purina designed to meet the specific needs of different sizes, ages and conditions of dogs by the inclusion of targeted combinations of nutrients given names such as OptiPower, OptiAge, OptiDigest, OptiHealth and OptiDerma. It can be hard to know whether the claims made for various dog foods are valid or not without being a doggy nutritionist, but of course the starting point has to be whether your dog(s) will eat the food or not!I do worry a bit that the enthusiasm with which dogs wolf down these dry foods means they're a bit like MacDonalds - food that has a lot of science in it and is engineered to taste great so you want more and is healthy up to a point, but shouldn't be relied on as the main source of food, just as a treat. It isn't explained what some of the ingredients are or what others are for. There may be good reasons but I'm afraid I can't tell the difference between a helpful additive and a cheap filler that's bulking out the product, hence 4 stars despite the dog's enthusiasm.Loses a point because, although good value compared to smaller packs in the same range, I don't understand (because it's not explained) what the various ingredients are for, and some of them aren't specified in any detail.

22.9.2015

Purina PRO PLAN Dog – all sizes Adult Performance OptiPower – Chicken14 Kilo sackWell Purina are very much to the fore at the moment in the dog food stakes, complete with an extremely cute and entertaining TV Advert.Having two adult rescue dogs, it is always a pleasure to try and review new food. Both are active and love to run around, especially "Maisy" the 5½ yo petite Border Collie.• This OptiPower Performance food has a focus on supporting healthy joints, rapid muscle recovery and increased endurance – all areas of importance for the active dogs in your life. It is also suitable nutrition for gestating and lactating bitches. The food is suitable for all sizes of adult dogs.• It is higher in fat and protein than some other complete dog foods,but this is necessary to keep high performance active dogs, fit and well and energetic.• The protein is provided by quality Chicken (18%) and dehydrated poultry protein. Fats are Animal Fat. Fish Oil is included for mobility and Rice is easy to digest. Other ingredients are Gluten, Maize, Soya Meal, Dried Beet Pulp, Maize Grits and also Minerals and Vitamins.• This kibble has a reasonably hard crunch to it and the triangular shaped pieces will fit into a lot of activity feeder toys. (see photo below please) Crunchy foods are also helpful for keeping teeth healthy, so the harder the better. However, should you prefer to serve it moist, it can be soaked in a little water and left for an hour or so.• There is a tasty gravy type aroma on opening the bag, and because it is higher in protein and fat, there was a slight residue left on my hands after putting the kibble into an activity toy or the dog bowl.• This 14 kilo pack of complete dog food is well presented in a sturdy sack, which, while not re-sealable, is easy to open and can then either be decanted into another container or simply fold the top of the sack over a couple of times and shut with a wide bag clip or a couple of plastic clamps. (Pets at Home have wide clips.)• Plenty of information is provided on the sack including an easy to follow Daily Feeding Guide which is guided by the weight of the dog and the level of activity – Active, Highly Active or Intensely Active. The information is multilingual.• This food is a really good price, particularly when buying the 14 kilo sack (at time of review works out to £3.78 per kilo). It also has a long sell by date – mine being January 2017."Amber" and "Maisy" both really enjoyed this food and neither had any adverse tummy reaction to it. However, please always remember that when changing over your dog's food, you do need to do so gradually, by slowing introducing the new food into the old and then gradually up the quantity of the new food and thus reducing the quantity of the old food.When in doubt about changing your dog's diet, ALWAYS check with your Vet if you are unsure.I really recommend this all in one complete dog food and so do "Amber" & "Maisy".

18.9.2015

It would probably be more accurate to say the dogs (two Springers, f. 9 and m. 2) love this, I like it because they love it so much, although I can read the label, and I'm less easy to impress. They aren't the most discerning of consumers but this is a premium dog food, and much more expensive than their usual brand, or even similar brands made by Purina.A good proportion of chicken and rice ensure that the kibble will be generally well tolerated by dogs with sensitive stomachs.This isn't particularly high in protein compared with some premium dog foods, the protein source is chiefly the aforementioned chicken.Regarding its suitability for all sizes, the food probably won't suit mini breeds as the kibble pieces are just too large,

10.9.2015

Great quality dog food from Purina, as well it should be for the current price of £60. That's about £4.30 a kilo, which is very expensive when you are buying a bulk bag of this size. My 7 year old Spaniel just loves it though, and during periods when I have fed him on Pro Plan, he seems to be more alert, and have more energy. I'm not entirely sure why, because the ingredients list doesn't read a great deal differently to many other leading (and cheaper) dried complete dog foods. I know that this bag is going to last him about 6 weeks, so roughly £10 a week, which in the great scheme of things isn't so bad. I'm just glad there's just one of him, and he's not a much larger breed!!

10.9.2015

As with the other kibble foods my dogs have sampled in the Purina PRO PLAN range, their bowls are emptied with vigour and they show are no signs of stomach upset and continue to produce their regular well formed stools. But as with the other foods we've used in his range it is difficult to assess how well the claims made on the packet regarding the longer term benefits are achieved. The only judgement I can make is to compare the ingredients and nutritional values listed with other similar kibbles. In the respect this Purina for active adults is about on a par with other well known brands who sell in this mid to high..ish price range, and make similar claims.

21.9.2015

We're feeding this Nestle Purina Pro Plan Optipower to Billy our two year old lively but slightly nervous German Shepherd.He's not an overly fussy dog in terms of what he'll eat, but without going into too much graphic detail there are some foods that make his stools a little less than straightforward to scoop up in a poo bag. Fortunately this Purina kibble presents us with no unusual challenges when we're out for a run over the park. A quick scoop and we're done.Given that this 14kg bag is a bulk buy there doesn't appear to be any cost saving which is a little surprising. Maybe at some stage Amazon will offer it at a bigger discount to make it more appealing. Maybe this is a price that is well within your budget.

14.9.2015

A straightforward, standing tall, big 14kg sack of complete dog food. Only fresh cold water required to accompany it.Read up on out how many handfuls you should dish up twice a day to your active dog, and you're both sorted. Also suitable for lactating bitches, really it's meant for working dogs, for whom it can provide 'increased endurance' and 'rapid muscle recovery'.Slightly sticky triangular shaped, fingernail sized pieces. Easy to eat but still requiring some crunching. This food contains high quality pieces of chicken (18%) and some dehydrated chicken protein. It's jolly convenient to have it delivered to the door. I am not great at lifting (working?) and have less in the way of 'endurance'

20.9.2015

Of late Trig's been test driving a number of different dry foods with a number of them being from the Purina Pro or BETA range. He would come under the pretty active dog category most days with the other days as highly active. I always take the manufacturers claims as to why their particular brand is different as read; they've done the research. In our case Trig clears the bowl and doesn't have any digestion issues, which to me is the important consideration. If this on its own makes a difference to his joints and muscle recovery after a day in the fields that's a bonus, but Trig likes a bit of variety and I expect only long term use of this would yield the results claimed.

9.9.2015

A great, consistently sound, quality dry dog food from the trustworthy brand of Purina. My brothers Malamute Huskies remained underweight/too slim despite feeding them high amount of quality food (Royal Canin, Arion, Hills, James Welbeloved etc). After the switch to Purina Pro Plan they steadily put on several kg's, the conditions of their coats have improved to a healthy, glossy and strong, plus they really enjoy the food! In addition, and quite interestingly, they have gone from eating around 600g of the other brands to around only 460g of Pro Plan (and still maintaining a healthy weight without over feeding). The other dogs throughout our close and extended family (ranging from Labradors and Springers to a collie and a tiny Dachshund)

3.9.2015

The dog loves it, no complaints from her end. As feeding her this has been a change of food from her usual Bakers, we haven't noticed any coat/health changes from the switch.Of course however this is a mid-range dog food, better than supermarket own brands but there are better quality ones out there. The ingredients are mostly rice, wheat, gluten and grains (fillers) with some animal fat and 18% chicken. This is fairly synomous with a lot of similar priced brands, and we've fed all our dogs on this type of stuff and they've all been fine and healthy, though of course in an ideal world I would like to feed them something of purer quality.However, it is great value for money for 14kgs,

21.9.2015

This is a fair bit more expensive than a lot of 14kg bags of 'quality' food, and it's hard to substantiate some of the claims made. My dogs (Beagles) are active, but I didn't really notice any difference in their behaviour, recovery or stamina, but that is not to say there aren't longer term benefits.Nevertheless the dogs loved it, and my slowest eater certainly ate a lot quicker than normal! Nice size kibble bites but smaller portion size than their usual food, and the dogs certainly looked at me in a way one could imagine was saying 'where's the rest?'! Smaller portions offset the price difference but not to a huge extent.I found that while it didn't upset their stomachs in any way their stools were softer than usual,

14.9.2015

Good quality food, it seems high in meat content according to the manufacturer but only 18% when looking at the ingredients. The dog seems to enjoy it, but then again my greedy lab will eat anything you put in front of him. Changing his food usually results in him being a bit loose when he goes to the toilet for the first couple of days but so far I haven't noticed an issue since he's been eating this.Comes in a large bag and fairly heavy at 14kg, easy to open and reseal, which is needed around my dog as he has a tendency to get into the bags if you're not careful. Retails for £55, which seems a lot for dog food. In the past I've paid around the £30 mark for a bag of dog food that usually lasts a month,

12.9.2015

Really good quality dog food. Our Lab can be a bit fussy with her food, and some lower quality brands have not gone down well. However she loves this Pro Plan dog food. It contains a higher level of protein and fats which make it great for active dogs or even working dogs that need to extra energy. It's also great for more mature dogs as it's promotes healthy joints with a mixture of vitamins and nutrients.This is a 14 kg bag which will last, comes with larger triangular biscuits, which hopefully means they get chewed (although our dog tends to just scoop up the pieces like a vacuum). The food contains high quality pieces of chicken. The bag is resealable, if you are careful how you open it,

21.9.2015

We have tried this biscuits on my mum's 8 year old labrador as time is slowly catching up on the old girl and she's no longer as quick to recover from exercise as she once was. She has also recently had a small operation that has left her a little bit out of shape and in need of some muscle building. This dog food seems to have helped in her recovering and she seems a bit bouncier than she has over the last 12 months. They haven't turned her into a greyhound, but she doesn't appear to be any the worse for eating them. That said, she doesn't seem as enthusiastic about these biscuits as her usual feed (Wainwright's) but she's not leaving any either so none are being wasted.

16.9.2015

I have been feeding our dogs with this for a few days now and have nothing negative to say, they are not really fussy eaters to be fair.Some of the claims about helping muscle repair and helping lactating mothers I am unable to comment on but our dogs have eaten every single piece and don`t seem to be so restless in between meals, they are all adults but vary greatly in size.The bag is good value and doesn`t work out any more expensive than other brands I have tried and with this there has been no waste. I haven`t noticed any change in "Regularity" and these are pretty active dogs who do use up a lot of energy.So far so good, happy dogs mean happy owners.

Purina Pro Plan Opti'Power with chicken (14 kg) - Reviews

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