Burns Large & Giant Breed Original review

The Average band reading deserves a word of explanation, because nothing on this label should alarm a careful owner. The typical adult dry food finishes in our Good band, and the gap comes down to construction. Two rices sit ahead of the chicken, so protein lands at the gentle end and carbohydrate runs well past the category norm. Burns has always argued that big, steady dogs do well on precisely this sort of plainness. For a giant breed that gains weight at the sight of a full bowl, restraint is closer to a feature than a flaw.

Ingredients, as declared: Brown Rice (44%), Dried Chicken (23%), White Rice (13%), Chicken Oil, Oats, Peas, Sunflower Oil, Dried Fish, Seaweed (0.5%), Minerals.

Brown rice at 44% and white rice at 13% together set the tone, with dried chicken at 23% the recipe's one meat headline. The chicken goes into the mix dry, so that 23% is a concentrated figure. The rice still wins the argument, though: protein converts to 20.1% of dry matter and carbohydrate to an estimated 62.8%, where 46.2% is typical of adult dry food.

Dried fish appears in the back half of the list without a species attached. It will be topping up protein and adding a little marine interest, and most dogs will be glad of it. It does mean, though, that neither a chicken-only nor a fish-free requirement can be met from this bag.

The fats are all named: chicken oil first, sunflower oil behind it, the latter bringing vitamin E along naturally. Oats and peas add fibre and a little plant protein, and seaweed at 0.5% is the traditional Burns touch, a natural source of iodine and other minerals.

The additive rack is thoughtful for a big-breed recipe. Taurine goes in at a dosed 1000mg per kilo, and vitamin C at 50mg. Taurine is the amino acid that matters for heart muscle. Every trace mineral is chelated, a form most dogs take up easily, with zinc at 50mg, manganese at 20mg, copper at 12mg and iodine at 1mg per kilo. Calcium works out at 1.2% of dry matter, a comfortable level for heavy-boned adults.

£5.58 a kilo, sold in a single 12kg bag.

For a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, feeding translates to roughly 254 grams and £1.42 a day, assuming about 840 kcal daily (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). The bag's own table is written for far bigger frames, asking 300 grams a day at 30kg and rising to 650 grams at 80kg.