Unrated

Techni-Cal Dog Food receives the Advisor’s second-highest tier rating of 4 stars.

The Techni-Cal product line includes eight dry dog foods.

Although each formulation appears to be designed for a specific life stage, we found no AAFCO nutritional adequacy statements for these dog foods on the company’s website.

The following is a list of recipes available at the time of this review.

• Techni-Cal Lifestages Adult
• Techni-Cal Lifestages Puppy
• Techni-Cal Lifestages Mini Adult
• Techni-Cal Lifestages Mini Puppy
• Techni-Cal Lifestages Senior (2 stars)
• Techni-Cal Lifestages Adult Large Breed
• Techni-Cal Lifestages Puppy Large Breed
• Techni-Cal Lifestages Adult Lamb and Rice

Techni-Cal Lifestages Adult Large Breed was selected to represent the other products in the line for this review.

The first ingredient in this dog food is poultry meal. Poultry meal is considered a meat concentrate and contains nearly 300% more protein than fresh poultry.

Although the word poultry doesn’t clearly identify the species, poultry meal is most commonly sourced from chicken and turkey.

The second ingredient is corn. Corn is an inexpensive and controversial cereal grain which — aside from its energy content — is of only modest nutritional value to a dog.

For this reason, we do not consider corn a preferred component in any dog food.

The third ingredient is wheat. Wheat is another cereal grain and subject to the same issues as corn (previously discussed).

The fourth ingredient is ground rice, another name for rice flour. Ground rice is made from either white or brown rice and is considered a gluten-free substitute for wheat flour.

The fifth ingredient is poultry fat. Poultry fat is obtained from rendering, a process similar to making soup in which the fat itself is skimmed from the surface of the liquid.

Poultry fat is high in linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid essential for life.

However, poultry fat is a relatively generic ingredient and can be considered lower in quality than a similar item from a named source animal (like chicken fat).

The sixth ingredient is beet pulp. Beet pulp is a controversial ingredient, a high fiber by-product of sugar beet processing.

Some denounce beet pulp as an inexpensive filler while others cite its outstanding intestinal health and blood sugar benefits.

We only call your attention here to the controversy and believe the inclusion of beet pulp in reasonable amounts in most dog foods is entirely acceptable.

The seventh ingredient is whole dried egg, a dehydrated powder made from shell-free eggs. Eggs are easy to digest and have an exceptionally high biological value.

The eighth ingredient is flaxseed, 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.

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 three notable exceptions…

First, 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.

Next, this recipe includes an item identified as vitamin K. Is this the safe natural version of vitamin K. Or is this a cleverly disguised version of the synthetic (and controversial) form of the vitamin also known as menadione?

Without knowing more, it’s impossible to judge the nature of this ingredient.

And lastly, we find no mention of probiotics, friendly bacteria applied to the surface of the kibble after processing to help with digestion.

Techni-Cal Dog Food
The Bottom Line

Judging by its ingredients alone, Techni-Cal Dog Food looks like an average dry product.

But ingredient quality by itself cannot tell the whole story. We still need to estimate the product’s meat content before determining a final rating.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 28%, a fat level of 15% and estimated carbohydrates of about 49%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 29% and a mean fat level of 17%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 47% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 58%.

Near-average protein. Near-average fat. And near-average carbs when compared to a typical dry dog food.

Even when you consider the mild protein-boosting effect of the flaxseed, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing a moderate amount of meat.

Bottom line?

Techni-Cal Dog Food is a plant-based kibble using a moderate amount of poultry, chicken or lamb meals as its main sources of animal protein, thus earning the brand 4 stars.

Highly recommended.

Please note certain recipes are sometimes given a higher or lower rating based upon our estimate of their total meat content.

Notes and Updates