Harley & Marley Small Breed Fish Cuisine review

The Excellent band is where this one finishes, a step above the Good band that the typical adult dry food occupies. The case can be read straight off the label. More than two thirds of the recipe is declared fish, with the split printed in full. Protein converts to 31.5% of dry matter and carbohydrate to 36.8%, against 46.2% for the typical adult dry food. Both the protein and processing reading and nutritional balance come back Good, while transparency reads Outstanding and value Excellent, which says there is no soft corner here rather than one standout trick.

Ingredients, as declared: 70.5% Fish (15% Fresh Haddock, 15% Fresh Trout, 34% Dehydrated Fish, 5.5% Fish Oil, 1% Fish Digest), Sweet Potato, Potato, Tapioca, Pea Starch, Peas, Sunflower Oil, Minerals, Beet Pulp, Brewer's Yeast, Dehydrated Seaweed, Yeast Extract, Chicory Inulin, Yucca schidigera, Dehydrated Turmeric, Dehydrated Blueberries, Dehydrated Broccoli, Dried Spinach, Dried Rosehip, Dried Carrot

Into the mixer goes 70.5% fish, itemised as 15% fresh haddock, 15% fresh trout, 34% dehydrated fish, then 5.5% fish oil and 1% fish digest. The fresh entries lose most of their weight as water during cooking, so it is the 34% dehydrated share that fills the finished kibble. A third of the recipe arriving already dry is a lot of protein by any reading. The analysis agrees at 31.5% of dry matter.

Haddock and trout are named while the dehydrated bulk is not, so all fish is a safe description of this recipe and one fish is not.

The plant side is deliberately short. Sweet potato and potato lead, tapioca and pea starch follow as binders, and whole peas bring a little fibre along with a spread of vitamins. With so much of the bag given to fish, carbohydrate lands at 32.8% as fed and 36.8% of dry matter. That is a fair way under the 46.2% adult dry food typically shows.

Ash comes in at 12.0%, or 13.5% of dry matter, and calcium at 1.24% of dry matter. Dehydrated fish brings bone with it, and the mineral fraction is simply telling you that. On a healthy adult small breed it reads as normal for the way the recipe is built.

Some thought has gone into the finishing entries. Chicory inulin acts as a prebiotic, brewer's yeast covers B vitamins, dehydrated seaweed brings iodine, beet pulp does fibre, and yucca schidigera handles the smell at the other end. Rosehip, carrot, turmeric, blueberries, broccoli and spinach follow at trace level, as decoration.

Every added mineral carries a dose. Zinc appears twice, 70 mg as the oxide and 30 mg chelated for easier uptake. Iron follows at 75 mg, manganese at 40 mg, copper at 7 mg, iodine at 1.50 mg and selenium at 0.20 mg as sodium selenite. Taurine is dosed at 500 mg per kilo, which a fish-rich diet tends to supply generously anyway.

£2.33 a kilo, with a 3kg and a 12kg bag to choose from.

A 15kg adult would get through about 215 grams a day of this, using the standard maintenance estimate of roughly 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75), which comes to about £0.50 a day. Since the recipe is written for small breeds, the more useful line on the bag is 65 to 180 grams for a dog between 3kg and 10kg.