Two large white padded envelopes arrived towards the end of last week and it did not take long for us to realise they were for us.
Charlie, using his extra large sniffer was the first to work out that the two packages sitting on reception were for us and that they appeared to contain food.
Contained within were two trial bags of a new probiotic dog food, called ProBiotic LIVE .
One was a senior blend of chicken and rice made for me, and the other was adult chicken and rice for Charlie.
Mum cut open each of the bags and tipped a little in to our bowls. Our first impressions were favourable and we soon polished off our first morsels.
Over a period of a few days, she gradually increased the amount of new food we could have mixed with our usual one, so as not to upset our tummies.
Along with our test supply was a leaflet with lots of words on. Whilst we munched away mum read it, and here is what she spotted as key points:
- ProBiotic LIVE is designed to contain enough probiotic bacteria to make a difference that we should notice in a few weeks.
- The food works by flushing potentially harmful bacteria out of our tummies.
- It is the first dog food to contain live probiotics
Here is our report and review of ProBiotic LIVE
Smell
The pellets did not smell too strong. Many foods really stink when you have a bowl full just below your nose. Humans seem to forget that doggies noses are hundreds of times more sensitive than theirs.
Mum also noticed that they did not make any smell whilst they sat in the bowl. Close up they smell a little meaty.
Taste
We have to say we quite enjoyed the new tastes. Charlie munched his way through quite a few before coming up for a drink and I had mine mixed with a bit of water to soften them.
Chewability and size
They have a crunch and as with all dry foods you should have a bowl of water nearby. We found we could eat about a human hand full at each meal time. Even with my few teeth missing I was still able to chew on them with my back teeth. Charlie had no problem with them.
Each pellet is a little over 1cm wide and just under 1cm deep. These make them ideal for our small mouths. They also have a flat bottom and a domed top – like one of mums cakes – making them easy to hold between out teeth.
Mum also put a few in a small bag when we went for a walk as a sort of training treat. A bit sneaky we thought, but we went along with it.
Feed amount
For the senior chicken and rice these are the recommended feeding amounts
| Dog weight, kg | Maintenance (g/day) |
| 2-5 | 40-85 |
| 5-10 | 85-140 |
| 10-20 | 140-235 |
| 20-30 | 235-320 |
| 30-40 | 320-400 |
| 40-50 | 400-470 |
| 50-60 | 470-540 |
| 60-70 | 540-605 |
| 70-80 | 605-670 |
Further details about ingredients and other nutrition values can be found here
ProBiotic LIVE range
The full ProBiotic LIVE range includes:
- Puppy with chicken and rice
- Adult with chicken and rice
- Adult with lamb and rice
- Adult with salmon and rice
- Senior with chicken and rice
We did note the addition of a fish flavour to the range. This was good to see, as we suggested that we would prefer alternative dog food flavours in a blog entry way back in 2008.
Prices per pack seem to be around £8.50 – 1.5kg, £18.50 – 4kg and £41.00 for 12kg. This does sort of make them a premium product. But we are worth it 🙂
Probiotic dog food
Probiotics are live microorganisms often referred to as the good bacteria because of their health benefits.
Mum and dad often have yoghurt with probiotics in to help their tummies, so why shouldn’t we.
The boffins say that we need these happy bacteria to help reduce the effects of stress, tummy upsets, make our coats shiny and just to make us feel good.
We will let you know how we get on with our samples over the next few weeks. It will be interesting to see if I feel a little better and if it helps my kidney complaints along with my special food.
Mum would like to pint out that if you are on a special diet like me, it is important that your human consults the Vet before changing your food and that in all cases, new foods should be introduced gradually or we could get very upset tummies.
Until next time
Buster and Charlie