Dr John Grain Free review

Going grain free is what carries this recipe into our Good band, the same band that holds the typical adult dry food. It gets there on construction, not flourish. A third of the food is declared as chicken, protein converts to 27.5% of dry matter, and a carbohydrate estimate of 50.1% keeps the starch side in proportion. Nutritional balance reads Average while protein and processing and transparency both read Good, the label earning that last one by printing a percentage against nearly everything that matters. For a dog that does better without cereal, it adds up to a well built everyday bowl.

Ingredients, as declared: Poultry meal (33% chicken), sweet potato (15%), white potato (11%), chicken fat, vegetables (6% peas), chicken gravy, beet pulp (1.5%), alfalfa, potato protein, minerals, linseed, mixed herbs (sage, oregano, mint, rosemary, turmeric and ginger), New Zealand green-lipped mussel extract, yucca extract.

Poultry meal with 33% chicken heads the list, and because meal is dried and concentrated before it goes into the mix, that third of the recipe is dense protein rather than water waiting to leave. The analysis follows through, with protein at 27.5% of dry matter and carbohydrate estimated at 50.1%, a little above the 46.2% typical for adult dry food. The starch side still carries a real share of the bowl.

Sweet potato at 15% and white potato at 11% stand in for the cereal. Sweet potato brings beta carotene and a slower release starch, and white potato is the plainer binder of the two. Neither carries gluten, and that is the entire point here. Peas at 6% add fibre and a little plant protein, though they arrive inside a vegetables heading that leaves the rest of that line unnamed.

Potato protein deserves a mention for what it does. It is what potato processing leaves over, and it lifts the protein figure. Vegetable protein is generally less digestible for a dog than the animal kind, so read the 25.0% on the panel knowing that not every point of it comes from the chicken.

The joint thinking is real rather than cosmetic. New Zealand green lipped mussel extract is here for its unusual omega 3 profile, the same reason so many joint supplements use it. Beet pulp at 1.5% is a moderate fermentable fibre that most dogs digest comfortably. Alfalfa adds plant minerals and linseed contributes plant omega 3 behind them.

The six herb blend of sage, oregano, mint, rosemary, turmeric and ginger is seasoning more than substance, and the recipe would stand up without it. Rosemary is the one doing measurable work, since rosemary extract is a natural antioxidant used to stop the fats turning. Yucca extract, last on the list, is the ingredient owners tend to credit for a less pungent garden.

Fibre converts to 2.9% of dry matter and ash to 8.0%, the ash reflecting the mineral matter that comes along with a meal based recipe. Energy is estimated at 336 kcal per 100g, close to the 357 typical for adult dry food.

£3.32 a kilo, in 2kg and 12.5kg bags.

As a rough guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition would take about 250 grams a day, working from around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). That lands at £0.83 a day. The label's medium dog band asks 200 to 360 grams for a 10kg to 20kg dog, so let your dog's condition be the guide.