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Precise Holistic Complete Grain Free Dog Food Review (Dry)

Rating:

Product May Have Been Discontinued
Unable to Locate Complete Label Info
On Company Website1

Precise Holistic Complete Grain Free Dog Food receives the Advisor’s second-highest tier rating of 4 stars.

The Precise Holistic Complete Grain Free product line lists 2 dry dog foods.

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

Important: Because many websites do not reliably specify which Growth or All Life Stages recipes are safe for large breed puppies, we do not include that data in this report. Be sure to check actual packaging for that information.

Click the links below to check prices and read reviews from actual buyers at an online retailer.

Precise Holistic Complete Grain Free Lamb Meal and Turkey Meal Formula was selected to represent both products in the line for this review.

Precise Holistic Complete Grain Free Lamb Meal and Turkey Meal

Dry Dog Food

Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content

Protein = 30% | Fat = 19% | Carbs = 43%

Ingredients: Lamb meal, garbanzo beans, spring yellow pea flour, spring yellow pea starch, turkey meal, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and ascorbyl palmitate), citrus fiber, dried egg product, natural flavor, flaxseed, lecithin, menhaden fish oil, fat product (natural source of omega-3 DHA from algae), chicken cartilage (source of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate), dried kelp, dried apples, dried carrots, dried cranberries, dried blueberries, chamomile, dandelion, peppermint, rosemary, turmeric, dried Bacillus coagulans fermentation product, chicory root (a source of inulin), potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, Yucca schidigera extract, calcium ascorbate (source of vitamin C), zinc amino acid chelate, iron amino acid chelate, biotin, manganese amino acid chelate, cobalt amino acid chelate, calcium carbonate, vitamin E supplement, vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, niacin, pyridoxine hydrochloride (B6), thiamine mononitrate (B1), vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, dl-methionine, copper amino acid chelate, folic acid, selenium yeast, calcium iodate

Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 3.9%

Red denotes controversial item

Estimated Nutrient Content
MethodProteinFatCarbs
Guaranteed Analysis27%17%NA
Dry Matter Basis30%19%43%
Calorie Weighted Basis25%39%36%
Protein = 25% | Fat = 39% | Carbs = 36%

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

The second ingredient includes garbanzo beans, also known as chickpeas. Like peas, bean and lentils, the chickpea is a nutritious member of the fiber-rich legume (pulse) family of vegetables.

However, garbanzos contain about 22% protein, something which must be considered when evaluating the total protein reported in this food.

The third ingredient is pea flour, a powder made from roasted yellow peas. Pea flour contains as much as 25% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.

The fourth ingredient is pea starch, a paste-like, gluten-free carbohydrate extract probably used here as a binder for making kibble. Aside from its energy content (calories), pea starch is of only modest nutritional value to a dog.

The fifth ingredient is turkey meal, another protein-rich meat concentrate.

The sixth ingredient is chicken fat. Chicken fat 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 ingredient.

The seventh ingredient is citrus fiber. Citrus fiber is a by-product obtained from the waste of citrus juicing operations. This item is most likely included here for the usual benefits of dietary fiber.

The eighth ingredient is dried egg product, a dehydrated form of shell-free eggs. Quality can vary significantly. Lower grade egg product can even come from commercial hatcheries — from eggs that have failed to hatch.

In any case, eggs are easy to digest and have an exceptionally high biological value.

After the natural flavor, we find 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 four notable exceptions

First, we find menhaden oil. Menhaden are small ocean fish related to herring. Their oil is naturally rich in the prized EPA and DHA type of omega-3 fatty acids, two high quality fats boasting the highest bio-availability to both dogs and humans.

What’s more, in their mid-depth habitat, menhaden are not as likely to be exposed to mercury contamination as is typical with deep water species.

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.

In addition, 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.

And lastly, this recipe includes selenium yeast. Unlike the more common inorganic form of selenium (sodium selenite), this natural yeast supplement is considered a safer anti-cancer alternative.

Precise Holistic Complete Grain Free
Dog Food Review

Judging by its ingredients alone, Precise Holistic Complete Grain Free dog food looks like an above-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 30%, a fat level of 19% and estimated carbohydrates of about 43%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 29% and a mean fat level of 18%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 45% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 60%.

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

When you consider the protein-boosting effect of the garbanzo beans, pea flour and flaxseed, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing a moderate amount of meat.

Bottom line?

Precise Holistic Complete Grain Free is a dry dog food using a moderate amount of named meat meals as its main source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 4 stars.

Highly 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.

Please note certain recipes are sometimes given a higher or lower rating based upon our estimate of their total meat content and (when appropriate) their fat-to-protein ratios.

Precise Dog Food
Recall History

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

You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls sorted by date. Or view the same list sorted alphabetically by brand.

To learn why our ratings have nothing to do with a product’s recall history, please visit our Dog Food Recalls FAQ page.

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Notes and Updates

  1. “Last Update” field at the end of this review reflects the last time we attempted to visit this product’s website. The current review itself was last updated 01/20/2019
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