Eukanuba Working & Endurance review

Adult dry food has its midpoint in our Good band, and this one settles there with it. The analysis does most of the lifting. Protein converts to 32.6% of dry matter, fat to 21.7% and carbohydrate to just 36.5%, well under the 46.2% typical. The maker declares the energy figure of 392 kcal per 100g, which is rarer on a dog food label than it ought to be. The transparency pillar reads Outstanding. Two things cap it: a plant side where maize and wheat still do the bulking, and a fish meal that names no species.

Ingredients, as declared: dried chicken and turkey (26% including chicken 18%, a natural source of glucosamine, chondroitin and taurine), fresh chicken (21%), maize, pork fat, wheat, rice, sorghum, dried beet pulp (2.9%), chicken gravy, fish meal, linseed, minerals (including sodium hexametaphosphate 0.3%), fish oil (a natural source of omega-3 fatty acids), dried whole egg, brewer's dried yeast (a natural source of B-vitamins and selenium), fructooligosaccharides (0.3%,a natural prebiotic).

Dried chicken and turkey at 26% takes the top spot with the chicken share printed at 18%, and fresh chicken at 21% follows. Dried meat at the top is the honest way to build a kibble. Water leaves fresh meat in the oven, so a fresh entry slides down the running order once it is cooked. Protein converts to 32.6% of dry matter, the highest reading in this group of Eukanuba adult recipes.

The fat is where this recipe separates itself from the rest. Pork fat comes fourth on the list, which is an unusual and welcome piece of naming, since most makers would write animal fat and leave the reader guessing. The label declares fish oil as an omega 3 source, and behind it linseed brings the plant form. Fat converts to 21.7% of dry matter, well above what a maintenance kibble carries. That is exactly what a dog working long days needs, because fat is the fuel that lasts once the quick energy has gone.

Maize, wheat, rice and sorghum are the cereals, and they take less of the recipe than usual. For a kibble that still contains cereal, an estimated 36.5% of dry matter is a striking carbohydrate figure, against the 46.2% typical of adult dry food. Rice is the gentlest of the four on a hard-worked gut, sorghum is close to maize in what it brings, and wheat is the cereal dogs most often react to. The cereal mix is a practical compromise.

The support package is aimed squarely at a dog under load. Marine protein and minerals come from the fish meal. No species is named there, and on a list this well named that is the one real gap. Beet pulp at 2.9% steadies the gut and fructooligosaccharides at 0.3% feed the useful bacteria. The label puts brewer's dried yeast down for B vitamins and selenium, both of which a working animal gets through faster. Sodium hexametaphosphate at 0.3% is in the minerals to slow tartar.

Amino acid chelates do the trace minerals here, and a dog takes those up more easily than sulphates. The label doses each one: zinc at 62.5 mg, iron at 50 mg, manganese at 10 mg, copper at 5 mg and iodine at 1.5 mg per kilo. Vitamin E is there at 250 mg and L-carnitine at 50 mg. The joint claim comes from the dried chicken and turkey, named on the label as a natural source of glucosamine and chondroitin. There is no dose printed for it. Take it as a bonus that arrives with the meat.

One bag size, 15kg.

Eukanuba's own guide gives three levels for a 25kg dog, at 300, 340 and 410 grams a day according to how hard the dog is working. For reference, a 15kg adult in moderate condition sits at about 214 grams a day on the standard maintenance estimate of 840 kcal (110 × bodyweight^0.75). A dog in full work will need considerably more than that.