Dachshund Superfood Adult: Lamb review

All four varieties reach our Excellent band, a step clear of the Good band where the middle of the adult dry food market sits. The construction earns it. Every recipe declares 65% named animal and breaks the fresh and dried shares out, carbohydrate estimates between 36.5% and 38.6% of dry matter against a 46.2% typical, and transparency reads Outstanding on every variety. The spread between them is a matter of analysis, chiefly protein and the ash figure, and the recipes barely differ. Choose by the animal your dog gets on with, and ignore the order they finish in.

Ingredients, as declared: 65% Lamb (35% Freshly Prepared British Grass Fed Lamb, 22% Dried Lamb, 5% Lamb Fat, 3% Lamb Gravy), Sweet Potato, Beans, Beet Pulp, Dried Superfood Blend* (Including Mint, Pomegranate, Mulberry, Broccoli, Fennel), Omega 3 Supplement, Minerals, Fructooligosaccharides (192 mg/kg), Mannanoligosaccharides (48 mg/kg), Olive Extract (0.01%), *Each equivalent to 4% Fresh Ingredients

The 65% headline is the same in every variety, and it is unusually well broken down. There is 35% freshly prepared meat and 22% dried, then the fat or oil and a stock or gravy, each named to the same animal. That breakdown matters. A fresh meat is mostly water. After baking, it is the 22% dried entry that supplies a good deal of the protein in the bowl. The analysis agrees, with protein converting to between 29.9% and 35.9% of dry matter across the four.

Sweet potato and beans do the binding. The fibre comes from beet pulp. No cereal appears in any of the recipes. Carbohydrate estimates at between 36.5% and 38.6% of dry matter across the range, comfortably under the 46.2% typical for an adult dry food. Taking the grain out has genuinely left more room for meat.

The superfood blend is a different set of plants in each variety, picked to suit the meat, and the label notes each is equivalent to 4% fresh ingredients before drying. Read it as a well judged flourish. Olive extract at 0.01% belongs in the same category, an antioxidant at the very finish.

The gut side comes with doses printed. FOS at 192 mg/kg and MOS at 48 mg/kg are both prebiotic fibres. They feed gut bacteria that already live in the large intestine, and the beet pulp gives those bacteria something to work on.

One entry stays vague across the whole range. The omega 3 supplement is never given a source, so whether it comes from a marine oil or a plant one is not on the label. That makes no practical difference to the great majority of dogs, and in the salmon variety the question is academic. For a household keeping a dog strictly off fish, it is the one line worth a quick question to the maker.

Lamb at 35% freshly prepared British grass fed lamb and 22% dried, with lamb fat at 5% and lamb gravy at 3%. This is the mineral heavy one, declaring 12.0% ash with calcium at 2.61% of dry matter, the highest in the range, which comes with the bone content that dried lamb carries. Mint, pomegranate, mulberry, broccoli and fennel make up the blend. Lamb suits a small dog that is happier off poultry.

£6.17 a kilo across all four varieties, sold in 2kg, 6kg and 12kg bags.

Across the range, a day comes to between £1.36 and £1.44 for a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, working from about 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). These are small breed recipes though, so most dogs eating them will take a good deal less than that. The label puts a dog of 7kg to 10kg on between 100 and 145 grams a day depending on the variety.