Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete Adult Dog Chicken and Rice: our recipe review

Diamond Naturals · Extreme Athlete Adult Dog Chicken and Rice · Dry food · Adult maintenance

On the facts printed on its own label, Diamond Naturals Extreme Athlete Adult Dog Chicken and Rice scores 79 out of 100 on our rubric: a solid mid table label. The panel opens with Chicken meal, and the first ingredient signal earns 16 of its 20 points. At 32% crude protein it ranks 1 of the 19 Diamond Naturals recipes we scored for protein. Crude fat reads 25%.

At 466 kcal a cup it is calorie dense: small measuring errors become extra meals over a month, so this is a food to weigh rather than eyeball. Its adequacy claim rests on formulation: balanced on paper against the AAFCO nutrient profiles rather than fed to dogs in a trial. The brand carries one FDA posted recall event in our check, set out below with its date.

The panel runs to 56 ingredient lines. 4 of them are animal source lines and 14 are plant lines. The first added fat appears at line 4, so 3 lines sit ahead of it in the recipe by weight. Salt appears at line 12 of 56: ingredients listed after salt are present in small amounts, a standard reading aid for long panels. The vitamin and mineral pack begins around line 34; the 23 lines from there on are mostly supplements, preservatives and functional extras rather than staple foods.

Its closest relative in this brand is Small Breed Adult Dog Chicken and Rice, sold as Dry food: the two panels share most of their ingredients. In the first ten, this recipe has ground Miscanthus grass, where its relative has grain sorghum. The full comparison is on the relative's own review page.

The label facts

How the score breaks down

Ingredient notes: the first ten, one by one

Definitions below are written from AAFCO's ingredient definitions in our own words. They describe what an ingredient is, never what a brand claims about it. Names that appear in our ingredient dictionary link to it; the dictionary counts how many scored recipes carry each ingredient.

• Chicken meal. Chicken meal is the named animal rendered and ground, with water and most fat cooked off before it is weighed. Per kilo it carries far more protein than the fresh meat does.
• chicken. chicken is the named meat in fresh form. Panel order is set by weight before cooking, and fresh meat is mostly water, so its share of the finished food is smaller than its place at the top suggests.
• white rice. white rice is a milled grain used for energy and to bind the kibble. Whole grain forms keep the bran and bring gentle fiber with them.
• chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols). chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols) is rendered fat from the named source. Fat is the densest energy in the recipe and carries much of its flavor.
• cracked pearled barley. cracked pearled barley is a whole grain rich in beta glucan fiber, which feeds gut bacteria and slows digestion.
• egg product. egg product brings protein with a complete amino acid profile and is easy for dogs to digest, which is why it turns up in most strong panels.
• ground Miscanthus grass. ground Miscanthus grass sits on the panel as a functional ingredient: a binder, supplement or processing aid rather than a nutrient base.
• dried plain beet pulp. dried plain beet pulp is the fiber left when sugar is extracted from sugar beets. It is a fermentable fiber that feeds the bacteria of the large intestine.
• natural flavor. natural flavor is a flavoring: a spray or powder added so the food tastes stronger to the dog. It is not a protein source and our rubric does not count it as one.
• flaxseed. flaxseed is a plant seed bringing fiber and ALA, a plant omega 3. Dogs convert ALA to the active forms poorly, so it does not do the job fish oil does.

The brand's recall record

2012: Diamond Naturals dry dog foods made at the Diamond Pet Foods plant in Gaston, South Carolina (including the Lamb Meal and Rice and Small Breed Lamb and Rice formulas) were recalled in April and May 2012 over possible Salmonella contamination. The FDA posted the recall notices. The same plant event covered several brands made at Gaston in those months; we count it once, as one event, the same way this database counts it for the other Gaston brands.

The single event is from 2012 and sits with the Gaston plant that then made these dry foods. We count it because quality systems belong to the maker, and we date it plainly so readers can weigh its age.

See the full dog food recall tracker for recent events across all brands.

Other Diamond Naturals recipes we scored

Those are the twelve highest scoring of the 18 other Diamond Naturals recipes we scored. The full comparison, flagship review included, is on the Diamond Naturals brand review.

Feeding it

Switch foods gradually over about a week, mixing more of the new food into the old each day. Portion by calories, not by the look of the bowl: our feeding calculator works out a daily amount from your dog's weight, and this recipe's calorie line above is the number it needs.

What that means at the bowl, for a typical neutered adult (resting energy 70 times body weight to the power 0.75, times 1.6; treats come out of the same budget):

Puppies, pregnant dogs and very active dogs need more; older and weight watching dogs need less. The calculator linked above adjusts for those cases.