Eukanuba Grain Free Adult Large Breed Rich in Ocean Fish review

Level pegging is the fair summary here. Our scoring lands this recipe in the Average band, with the typical adult dry food a step above it in Good. The fish meal opening the list is doing genuine work, since it arrives already dried and keeps its weight through cooking, which fresh meat does not. The mineral panel is dosed line by line. What holds the reading steady is the plant side, which takes up more of the recipe than the fish does, and a carbohydrate estimate that comes out a shade above the adult dry average. Protein and processing reads Poor and nutritional balance Average, while transparency reads Excellent, and for a large dog that likes fish this remains a sensible everyday choice.

Ingredients, as declared: fish meal (28%, a natural source of omega-3 fatty acids), dried sweet potatoes (20%), whole peas, dried potatoes, pork fat, dried beet pulp (4%), sunflower oil, fish gravy, minerals (including sodium hexametaphosphate 0.39%), fructooligosaccharides (0.29%, a natural prebiotic), glucosamine (from animal tissues) (0.045%).

The whole animal contribution comes from fish meal at 28%, and the form it takes matters. Meal is rendered and ground before it ever reaches the mixer. By then almost all of the water is gone, so the label figure is near enough what lands in the bowl. That is a different proposition from a fresh meat percentage, which shrinks considerably during cooking. Protein converts to 27.2% of dry matter and fat to 14.1%, a steady adult profile rather than a lean or a rich one.

Dried sweet potato at 20% heads the carbohydrate side, with whole peas and dried potato behind it. Of the three, sweet potato earns its place best, bringing fibre and a strong shot of vitamin A along with its starch. Potato is closer to plain starch, and peas contribute a little plant protein themselves. The three together take the carbohydrate estimate to 48.7% of dry matter, a shade over the 46.2% usual for adult dry food.

Two fats do the work and both are named to source. Pork fat is better practice than the catch-all animal fat some labels settle for, and sunflower oil follows it carrying vitamin E and very little saturated fat. Fish gravy sits alongside them, there mainly to make the kibble smell like something worth finishing.

The small print is where a large breed food earns its keep. Glucosamine from animal tissues is declared at 0.045%, aimed squarely at joints doing heavy work, and sodium hexametaphosphate at 0.39% is in the recipe to slow tartar rather than to feed the dog. Fructooligosaccharides at 0.29% are there for the gut flora further down, with the fibre coming from dried beet pulp at 4% to firm up what comes out the other end.

The additive panel carries real doses, with taurine at 500mg and vitamin E at 250mg per kilo, zinc at 62.5mg and iron at 50mg. Calcium works out at 1.09% of dry matter, a comfortable level for a large breed that has finished growing. Tocopherol extracts at 21mg keep the fats fresh with rosemary extract for flavour, so nothing synthetic is holding the recipe together.

£3.50 a kilo, sold in 3kg and 12kg bags.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition works through about 237 grams a day, taking the standard maintenance target of roughly 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75). That comes to £0.83 a day. The label's own table asks 750 to 865 grams a day for a 90kg dog. Scale that to your own animal and let the waistline decide.