Clearly, this is a meat based dog food. 81% is amazingly high. Note also that the various meats are in "meal" form. So a food that lists "chicken" as the first ingredient has a very high water content in the weight of chicken used (70% !); it will have much less actual chicken than an equal amount or even much smaller amount of chicken meal. My dogs don't do that well on just water.
The alfalfa meal is down the list, it's ingredient #8, behind #1 beef meal, #5 blood meal, #6 chicken meal and #7 pork meal. There's a lot of meat meal before you get to the alfalfa; that's how they get to 81% protein. As for alfalfa, if ALL the plant protein in this food came from alfalfa, it would only amount to 3% of the total protein. Any individual ingredient before the alfalfa weighs more than the weight of the alfalfa. I have no idea of the weight of the alfalfa but it can't be all that much "filler".
In addition, alfalfa is a good source for calcium, potassium, magnesium, beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin B12, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, and even vitamin K.
Seaweed meal; always differing opinions. Again, seaweed meal is #17 on the list of ingredients. It's unlikely that it contributes very much of the bulk of this dog food. Again, can't be much of a "filler". There isn't much there.
Kelp contains over 60 minerals, elements and plant hormones. Richard Pitcairn, DVM, Ph.D., author of Dr. Pitcairn’s Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, suggests kelp can help dogs with with arthritis, heart disease, skin and respiratory problems, cancer and more. Further, a study by veterinarian Alfred J. Plechner study that showed dogs fed kelp experienced fewer food allergies, glandular imbalances and scratching issues.
https://pets.thenest.com/seaweed-mineral-food-dogs-10668.html
So, I'm not too worried about "filler". First, alfalfa does have benefits. Second, Meat Meal in general makes up most of this dog food. Third, Seaweed also has benefits and it can't be much "filler" in this case.
