Professional Plus Dog Food receives the Advisor’s mid-tier rating of 3.5 stars.

The Professional Plus product line includes the 4 dry dog foods listed below.

Each recipe includes its related AAFCO nutrient profile when available on the product’s official webpage: Growth, Maintenance, All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

• Professional Plus Lamb and Lentils [M]
• Professional Plus Chicken and Pea [A]
• Professional Plus Chicken and Lentils Senior [M]
• Professional Plus Chicken and Lentils Large Breed Adult [M]

Recipe and Label Analysis

Professional Plus Chicken and Pea was selected to represent the other products in the line for this review.

Ingredient Analysis

The first ingredient in this dog food is chicken. Although it is a quality item, raw chicken contains up t 73% water. After cooking, most of that moisture is lost, reducing the meat content to just a fraction of its original weight.

After processing, this item would probably account for a smaller part of the total content of the finished product.

The second ingredient is chicken meal. Chicken meal is considered a meat concentrate and contains nearly 300% more protein than fresh chicken.

The third ingredient includes peas. Peas are a quality source of carbohydrates. And like all legumes, they’re rich in natural fiber.

The fourth ingredient lists lentils. Lentils are a quality source of carbohydrates. Plus (like all legumes) they’re rich in natural fiber.

The fifth ingredient is pea flour, a powder made from roasted yellow peas.

What’s noteworthy here is that peas, lentils and pea flour all contain about 25% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

The next ingredient is sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are a gluten-free source of complex carbohydrates in dog food. They are naturally rich in dietary fiber and beta carotene.

The seventh ingredient is dried yeast, which contains about 45% protein and is rich in other healthy nutrients.

Fans believe yeast repels fleas and supports the immune system.

Critics argue yeast ingredients can be linked to allergies. This may be true, but (like all allergies) only if your particular dog is allergic to the yeast itself.

What’s more, a vocal minority insist yeast can increase the risk of developing the life-threatening condition known as bloat. However, this is something we’ve not been able to scientifically verify.

In any case, unless your dog is specifically allergic to it, we feel yeast should be considered a nutritious addition.

The eighth ingredient is chicken fat. This item is obtained from rendering chicken, a process similar to making soup in which the fat itself is skimmed from the surface of the liquid.

Chicken fat is high in linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid essential for life. Although it doesn’t sound very appetizing, chicken fat is actually a quality addition.

From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.

But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this product.

With five notable exceptions…

First, flaxseed is one of the best plant sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Provided they’ve first been ground into a meal, flax seeds are also rich in soluble fiber.

However, flaxseed contains about 19% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

In addition, we note the use of salmon oil. This item is naturally rich in the prized EPA and DHA type of omega-3 fatty acids. These two high quality fats boast the highest bio-availability to dogs and humans.

Depending on its level of freshness and purity, salmon oil should be considered a commendable addition.

We also find taurine in this food. Taurine is an important amino acid associated with the healthy function of heart muscle. Although taurine is not typically considered essential in canines, some dogs have been shown to be deficient in this critical nutrient.

Since taurine deficiency appears to be more common in pets consuming grain-free diets, we view its presence in this recipe as a positive addition.

Next, chicory root is rich in inulin, a starch-like compound made up of repeating units of carbohydrates and found in certain roots and tubers.

Not only is inulin a natural source of soluble dietary fiber, it’s also a prebiotic used to promote the growth of healthy bacteria in a dog’s digestive tract.

And lastly, this food contains chelated minerals, minerals that have been chemically attached to protein. This makes them easier to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually found in better dog foods.

Professional Plus Dog Food Review

Judging by its ingredients alone, Professional Plus looks like an above-average dry dog food.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 29%, a fat level of 17% and estimated carbohydrates of about 46%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 28% and a mean fat level of 14%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 51% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 51%.

Which means this product line contains…

Near-average protein. Below-average fat. And above-average carbs when compared to other dry dog foods.

When you consider the protein-boosting effect of the lentils, pea products, dried yeast and flaxseed, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing a moderate amount of meat.

Bottom line?

Professional Plus is a grain-free dry dog food using a moderate amount of named meat meals as its main source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 3.5 stars.

Recommended.

However, it’s unfortunate the company chose to include so much plant-based protein in its recipe. Otherwise, we would have been compelled to award this product a higher rating.

Professional Plus Dog Food Recall History

The following list (if present) includes all dog food recalls since 2009 directly related to Professional Plus. If there are no recalls listed in this section, we have not yet reported any events.

• Diamond Issues Yet Another Dog Food Recall (5/18/2012)
• Diamond Dog Food Recall Summary (5/6/2012)
• Diamond Dog Food Recall Expands Again (5/4/2012)
• Diamond Dog Food Recall Widens (4/30/2012)
• Diamond Dog Food Recall Expanded (4/26/2012)
• Diamond Dog Food Recall (4/6/2012)

Notes and Updates