Fish4Dogs Finest Salmon Toy Breed review

We land this one in the Good band. So does the typical adult dry food, which tells you to read it as a competent everyday kibble rather than a standout. Working in its favour are a fish-only animal share and an estimated carbohydrate load of 41.4% of dry matter, below the 46.2% typical of adult dry food. Holding it level is a short list where potato and pea starch take two of the top four places. This food does its job without fuss, and the pillars say so: transparency Outstanding, nutritional balance Good, protein and processing Average.

Ingredients, as declared: Salmon (23%), Potato (19%), Salmon Meal (18%), Pea Starch (18%), Salmon Oil (12%), Beet Pulp, Brewers Yeast, Sunflower Oil, Minerals.

The 23% salmon is the fresh form, which means water, most of it leaving during cooking. The dried backup is where the real substance sits. Salmon meal at 18% comes in dry, so the protein it delivers is well ahead of what its place on the list would suggest. Between them the analysis reaches 28.0% protein, or 30.8% once the moisture is taken out.

Potato at 19% and pea starch at 18% are the binders, and no cereal grain appears anywhere on the list. Beet pulp follows as the fibre source, with crude fibre declared at 2.8%, a gentle level that tends to suit small digestions.

Salmon oil at 12% is the entry that sets this recipe apart. That is a generous pour for a dry food, the source of the marine omega 3s, and the reason for both the 16.0% declared fat and the 388 kcal per 100 grams. Sunflower oil sits behind it, a light oil that brings natural vitamin E along with it.

Brewers yeast is the small print worth knowing about. It is a palatant that also brings B vitamins, and often the reason a fussy little dog takes to this food faster than you expected. Taurine is dosed at 1 g, an amino acid seafood supplies naturally and one best known for its part in supporting the heart.

The one gap is the mineral declaration. Minerals appear on the ingredient list, but iodine at 1.6 mg is the only one given a number, so zinc and copper levels go unstated. The food is sold as a complete diet and nothing suggests a shortfall, though a label that prints its full trace panel simply tells you more.

Sold in a 1.5kg bag.

The label's own guide asks 100 to 108 grams a day for a 5kg adult, and 140 to 150 grams for a 10kg one. Split the daily amount across two meals and let the waistline settle any disagreement with the table on the bag.