Eukanuba Grain Free Adult Small/Medium Breed Rich in Ocean Fish review

Nothing about the band should surprise anyone who reads labels. This recipe finishes in our Average band, a step below the typical adult dry food, so the interesting part is what lifts it and what holds it at that level. In its favour, the fish meal at the top of the list arrives dried rather than fresh, and protein converts to 28.3% of dry matter. The carbohydrate estimate of 45.2% comes in below the 46.2% usual for adult dry food. Holding it level are the things the label leaves general, namely a fish that is never named to a species and a plant base that occupies more of the recipe than the fish does. Transparency reads Excellent and nutritional balance Average, with protein and processing the one to come back Poor. For a competent everyday kibble doing a specific job, that is a fair description.

Ingredients, as declared: fish meal (29%, 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).

Fish meal at 29% is the entire animal contribution and the recipe's centre of gravity. Meal is fish rendered and ground until barely any water is left in it. A fresh meat figure shrinks once cooked, while this one holds, so what you read is close to what your dog eats. It brings the amino acids a dog is built to use, along with the fats that come naturally with oily fish.

The one thing the label withholds is the name of the fish. Ocean fish names a category and leaves the species open, so what is in the bag can vary with whatever the mill has to hand. Most dogs will be perfectly happy either way, though if you are trying to work out precisely which protein suits yours, that vagueness is the one thing standing in the way.

The plant side is dried sweet potato at 20%, then whole peas and dried potato, and not a grain in sight. Sweet potato is the most nutritious of the three and peas bring a little plant protein with them, though any food leaning hard on peas is one to read closely. Here the arithmetic works out well, with carbohydrate estimated at 45.2% of dry matter and fat at 16.3%, a reasonably rich profile for a busy small or medium dog.

Pork fat and sunflower oil are the two fats and both are named properly. Pork turns up less often in dog food than the usual meats, so it occasionally suits a dog that has reacted to something more common. Sunflower oil is a good plant oil, light in saturated fat and carrying vitamin E of its own. Fish gravy is a palatant, in the recipe to make the kibble smell like dinner.

The small entries are practical rather than decorative. The fibre that keeps stools firm comes from dried beet pulp at 4%. Fructooligosaccharides at 0.29% look after the gut bacteria lower down, and tartar is kept off the teeth by sodium hexametaphosphate at 0.39%. The vitamins and trace elements come with printed doses, taurine at 500mg, vitamin E at 250mg and zinc at 62.5mg per kilo. Calcium works out at 1.2% of dry matter.

Sold in 3kg and 12kg bags.

A 15kg adult dog in moderate condition works out at roughly 231 grams a day on the standard maintenance estimate, which puts the daily energy target near 840 kcal (110 × bodyweight^0.75). For a 20kg dog the label asks 235 to 275 grams a day, so start there and adjust by feel.