Carnilove Active Adult: Lamb & Wild Boar review

The duck, lamb, salmon and venison versions all make our Excellent band, a step clear of the typical adult dry food in Good. The gap between siblings is small, so pick on protein and let the bands look after themselves.

Ingredients, as declared: Fresh lamb (26%), lamb protein (26%), yellow peas, beef fat (10%), wild boar protein (4%), hydrolysed liver (3%), chickpeas, dried apple pulp, linseed, pumpkin, salmon oil (1%), carrots, potassium chloride, pea flour, dried sea buckthorn (0.2%), dried ginger root (0.1%), dried blueberries (0.1%), dried rosemary (0.1%), dried cranberries (0.1%), dried thyme (0.1%), hydrolysed crustacean shells (source of glucosamine, 0.022%), chicory root (source of fructo-oligosaccharides, 0.0163%), cartilage extract (source of chondroitin, 0.014%), brewer's yeast (source of mannan-oligosaccharides, 0.013%), Mojave yucca (0.0085%).

Every recipe starts with 26% fresh meat and then does its real building with concentrated proteins. Lamb protein runs at 26% in the lamb recipe, salmon protein at 15% in the salmon, with hydrolysed poultry proteins across the range. The result is genuinely protein-dense kibble, converting to between 37.8% and 38.9% of dry matter.

Yellow peas and chickpeas carry the starch with pea protein and pea flour in support, and estimated carbohydrate runs from 27.8% to 33.2% of dry matter, well under the 46.2% typical of adult dry food. There is no grain and no white potato.

Beef fat, at 10% to 14% depending on the recipe, is the main energy source, with salmon oil at 1% bringing marine omega 3s. It is an effective pairing for hard-working muscles, but it also means beef and fish reach every bowl regardless of the flavour on the front.

The additive deck is thorough. Taurine is at 1,500 mg/kg for the heart and choline at 2,400 mg/kg, with a full run of B vitamins behind them. The joint stack is glucosamine and chondroitin with MOS, declared in tiny but printed percentages.

The botanical tail sits at 0.2% and below, from sea buckthorn to ginger and blueberries. They read well on the bag, but the meat concentration is what this range is really selling.

The biggest named-meat total in the range, 26% fresh lamb doubled by 26% lamb protein, with wild boar at 4% as the accent. The one to pick for a red-meat dog with a working day to fuel.

Per kilo the duck and pheasant is £6.08, the lamb and wild boar £6.16, the salmon and turkey £6.25 and the venison mix £6.50, each sold in 1.5kg, 4kg and 12kg bags.

For a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition the day rate spans £1.33 to £1.38 across the flavours, at around 210 to 222 grams a day. That uses the standard 840 kcal maintenance basis (110 × bodyweight^0.75). The bag's own table assumes more for a dog in genuinely hard work.