Bakers Meaty Meals Small Dog: Rich In Beef review

Both varieties land in our Poor band. For context, the typical adult dry food sits two bands clear of it, in our Good band, and the distance is mostly about how little meat the recipe names. Grouped cereals, grouped derivatives and unnamed oils leave protein and processing reading Poor, with nutritional balance no better than Average. None of that stops a small dog thriving on it day to day; it just limits what anyone can verify from the bag.

Ingredients, as declared: Cereals (wholegrains 36%), Meat and animal derivatives (of which 4% beef), Vegetable protein extracts, Glycerol, Oils and fats, Minerals, Derivatives of vegetable origin

Wholegrains sit at 36% in the beef variety and 40% in the chicken, declared as a group without naming the grains involved. Estimated carbohydrate works out at 43.0% of dry matter, a little under the 46.2% typical for adult dry food.

Meat and animal derivatives carry the animal side, with the front-of-bag species pinned at 4%. The cut and the species mix behind that term stay out of sight, which is the label's biggest omission. Protein still converts to a respectable 29.4% of dry matter, helped along in the beef variety by vegetable protein extracts.

Moisture is declared at 15%, roughly double what a conventional kibble carries, and glycerol holds that softness in the piece. It is the feature the range is named for.

The additive panel does its regulatory duty in print, with standard sulphates throughout and selenium arriving as sodium selenite.

Wholegrains drop to 36% here and vegetable protein extracts join the list to shore up the protein. Beef is the named share at 4%.

Each variety comes in a 1kg bag.

The label asks 40 to 120 grams a day for dogs up to 5kg. Between 5kg and 10kg it suggests 120 to 195 grams on the beef recipe and 120 to 190 grams on the chicken.