Eukanuba Grain Free Adult Large Breed Rich in Lamb review

Our Good band is where this one settles, the same band that holds the typical adult dry food. What lifts it is the shape of the list rather than any single flourish: a named red meat first, a dried poultry pair second, and printed percentages against the entries that actually decide the recipe. The counterweight is starch, with estimated carbohydrate at 51.3% of dry matter against the 46.2% typical, since sweet potato, peas and potato are covering the whole job between them. Protein finishes at 26.1% of dry matter and transparency reads Outstanding.

Ingredients, as declared: freshly frozen lamb (20%), dried chicken and turkey (18% including chicken 13%, a natural source of glucosamine, chondroitin and taurine), dried sweet potatoes (18%), whole peas, dried potatoes, poultry fat, dried beet pulp (3%), chicken gravy, linseed, minerals (including sodium hexametaphosphate 0.4%), dried whole egg, brewer's dried yeast, fructooligosaccharides (0.25%, a natural prebiotic), glucosamine (from animal tissues) (0.045%).

Freshly frozen lamb at 20% takes the top spot. The honest reading is that a wet meat entry loses a great deal of itself in the oven. Dried chicken and turkey, declared at 18%, has already lost its water and holds its position all the way through. Chicken is named inside it at 13%. The two together bring protein to 26.1% of dry matter, and it is fair to assume the poultry pair contributes at least as much of that as the lamb does.

Lamb goes down easily with most dogs and digests without fuss, and for a dog that has spent years on chicken it remains a useful alternative. It is a red meat, so it comes with a richer flavour and a heavier mineral load than a bird would. That is one reason it tends to go down well with big dogs that are hard to interest at dinner.

Of that plant side, dried sweet potatoes at 18% are the better half, bringing fibre, vitamin A and a gentler release of energy than plain starch. Whole peas and dried potatoes follow, and together the three carry estimated carbohydrate to 51.3% of dry matter. That is the honest arithmetic of a grain free food: taking the cereal out does not take the starch out, it changes what the starch is.

The extras are aimed squarely at large frames. Glucosamine is declared at 0.045% and taurine at 500mg per kilo of food, on top of the label's note that the dried chicken and turkey are themselves a natural source of glucosamine, chondroitin and taurine. Fat is kept to 12%, which suits a big dog whose joints do not need extra bodyweight to carry, and calcium settles at 1.3% of dry matter, a comfortable adult figure.

Linseed supplies plant omega 3, dried whole egg adds protein and brewer's dried yeast brings B vitamins. Dried beet pulp at 3% covers digestion, with fructooligosaccharides at 0.25% beside it. The trace minerals are printed one by one, zinc at 62.5mg, iron at 50mg, manganese at 10mg, copper at 8mg and iodine at 1.5mg per kilo of food. Vitamin E at 250mg and tocopherol extracts at 11mg guard the fats. Tartar is handled by sodium hexametaphosphate at 0.4%, and poultry fat is the one entry left unnamed.

£4.17 a kilo, in a single 12kg bag.

As a guide, feeding a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition comes to about 239 grams a day, or £1.00 a day, assuming around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). The label's own table climbs to 760 to 880 grams a day for a 90kg dog, which is far nearer the size of dog this recipe has in mind.