Fish4Dogs Working Dog Senior: Salmon review

This lands in our Good band. The typical adult dry food sits in Good as well, and what makes this one worth a look is unglamorous. A named fish leads with its percentage printed, the dried fish share is declared at 13%, and protein at 28.3% of dry matter suits an older dog trying to hold on to muscle. Transparency comes back Outstanding and value sits level with the overall in Good, while protein and processing and nutritional balance sit in Average. Nothing here is showing off, and that is rather the appeal.

Ingredients, as declared: Salmon (27.5%), Sweet Potato (26%), Pea Starch, Salmon Meal (13%), Beet Pulp, Salmon Oil (5%), Brewers Yeast, Sunflower Oil, Minerals, Prebiotic-FOS (0.4%)

Salmon at 27.5% is the fresh form and salmon meal at 13% the dried, and it is the meal that comes through cooking with its protein intact. The pair take the analysis to 26.0% protein, or 28.3% of dry matter, a respectable figure to put in front of an ageing dog.

Sweet potato at 26% takes the base in place of white potato, a slower releasing starch with rather more to offer nutritionally, and pea starch sits in behind it. No cereal appears in the recipe at all. The fibre is beet pulp, with crude fibre declared at 3.5%.

Fat is set at 10.0%, with salmon oil at 5% supplying the marine omega 3s. That is lighter than the standard working recipes and heavier than most senior kibbles, which is precisely the gap this food aims at. Energy comes out at 351 kcal per 100 grams against 357 for the typical adult dry food.

The 0.4% of prebiotic FOS is aimed at the large intestine and its bacteria, not at the dog, and on an older gut that is a sensible small addition. Beta glucans are dosed at 1 g, a yeast derived fibre included with immune support in mind, and taurine matches them at 1 g.

Brewers yeast keeps the flavour up, and sunflower oil adds a light fat with vitamin E of its own. Preservation is by tocopherol extracts drawn from vegetable oils rather than a synthetic antioxidant. Beyond iodine, the trace elements are declared only as minerals. That is the single place where this label could say more.

£3.27 a kilo, sold in a 15kg bag.

For a 15kg adult in moderate condition, and taking the usual maintenance estimate of roughly 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75), that is about 239 grams and £0.78 a day. Its own table puts a 16kg dog on 215 to 223 grams, so bag and estimate arrive in the same place.