Bakers Senior review

On our scale this food reads Poor, and the typical adult dry food reads Good, so it is fair to ask what this label gets right first. The answer is disclosure. Transparency reads Outstanding. A 4% named meat behind the wholegrain cereals holds protein and processing at Poor and nutritional balance at Average, and that is what puts the distance between this food and the typical. The senior-friendly touches, lower fat and added fibre, are real, and a settled older dog need not be moved off it on our account.

Ingredients, as declared: Cereals (wholegrains 55%), Meat and animal derivatives (of which 4% chicken), Derivatives of vegetable origin (of which 2.9% dried beet pulp), Oils and fats, Glycerol, Vegetable protein extracts, Minerals, Vegetables* (of which 0.3% dried pea and 0.3% dried carrot), Spirulina* (0.2%), *natural ingredients, equivalent to 4% rehydrated vegetables

Wholegrain cereals at 55% do most of the carrying, with estimated carbohydrate reaching 53.8% of dry matter against the 46.2% typical for adult dry food. Which grains they are is not said.

Meat and animal derivatives supply the animal share, with chicken pinned at 4%. Protein converts to 26.4% of dry matter, though how much of that arrives from meat rather than from grain and vegetable protein extracts, the label cannot tell you.

The senior tailoring is mostly about energy. Fat is held at 8%, converting to 8.8% of dry matter, sensible for a dog burning less than it used to. Dried beet pulp at 2.9% adds the soluble fibre older digestion tends to appreciate.

The vegetable presence is honest about its own size: 0.3% dried pea, 0.3% dried carrot and 0.2% spirulina, the blue-green algae that looks striking on a label and contributes very little at that dose.

Vitamins and trace minerals are all dosed on the label, in workaday sulphate forms with sodium selenite covering the selenium.

Bags come in 1.1kg, 2.85kg and 12.5kg sizes.

A 15kg dog in moderate condition works out at about 251 grams a day. That comes off a standard maintenance estimate of roughly 840 kcal, using 110 × bodyweight^0.75. The label's own table spans 165 to 310 grams for dogs between 10kg and 25kg, so split the difference by watching the waist.