Dinky Dog Wet Food: Chicken & Lamb review

All six trays settle in our Outstanding band, separated by almost nothing. The choice between them is purely a question of which animal your dog prefers. Most of the adult wet shelf ends up in our Excellent band, and these trays go a step beyond it on the strength of a high declared meat share and almost no starch. Nutritional balance and transparency read Outstanding on all six, and protein and processing reads Outstanding on the two chicken trays and Excellent on the rest. For a range this small and this plainly written, that is a strong showing.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken 35%, Lamb 30%, Broth 28.7%, Carrots 3%, Peas 2%, Minerals 1%, Olive Oil 0.1%, Greenlipped Mussel 0.1%, Goldenrod Herb Powder 0.1%

Each tray declares 65% animal content and shows its working. Four of them name a single meat, beef, chicken, lamb or turkey. The other two split the total, chicken at 35% with lamb at 30% on one and turkey at 55% with pheasant at 10% on the other. Broth follows at 28.7%, which is a generous share for a wet food to declare rather than list as water. Protein converts to between 38.5% and 51.0% of dry matter across the range.

The plant side is two entries and no more, one at 3% and one at 2%, running from green beans and parsnip to pumpkin, apple, broccoli, cranberries, sweet potato and blueberries. Carbohydrate converts to between 8.5% and 15.8% of dry matter, so even at its highest this range only matches the typical adult wet food. No label declares that figure, so we work it out by difference.

The tail of each list is three entries at 0.1%: olive oil, green-lipped mussel and goldenrod herb powder. These are trace amounts, and none of them is why you would buy the tray. The olive oil is still a decent source of vitamin E, and the mussel is the usual wet food route to glucosamine and chondroitin. Goldenrod is a traditional herb rather than a working dose of anything.

Minerals come in at 1%, and calcium converts to between 0.84% and 1.43% of dry matter depending on the tray, a comfortable spread for adult feeding. The added panel is short and dosed. Every tray carries vitamin D3 at 200 I.E., zinc at 25 mg and manganese at 1.4 mg, and three of them add copper at 1 mg and iodine at 0.75 mg.

The one tray that pairs a bird with a red meat, chicken at 35% and lamb at 30%, with carrots at 3% and peas at 2%. Calcium runs highest here at 1.43% of dry matter, and its feeding guide is among the most generous in the range.

Sold as an 85 g tray, singly and in packs of 12.

We do not hold a per kilo figure for this range at the time of writing, so there is no day rate to give here. For a 3 kg dog the label's own guide asks 170 to 340 grams a day, and for a 10 kg dog 340 to 680 grams. The exact amount depends on which tray is in the bowl.