Husse Complete review

The Average band is where our scoring leaves this, a step below the Good band the typical adult dry food holds, with protein and processing, nutritional balance and transparency each reading Average. Naming is the biggest single reason. A food whose first ingredient is dried animal proteins gives a reader no way of knowing which animal is in the bowl. Three wheat entries inside the top four make the plant side of the recipe heavy. The analysis itself is middling. Protein converts to 27.2% of dry matter and fat to 12.0%. Carbohydrate comes in at an estimated 49.3%, against 46.2% for the typical adult dry food. Fed to the small or medium adult it is written for, this is a perfectly workable everyday kibble. The label just keeps more to itself than most of the shelf does.

Ingredients, as declared: dried animal proteins, wheat, wheat meal, wheat bran, maize, dried chicken, animal fat, vegetable fibres (3%), linseed (1%), hydrolysed animal protein, minerals.

Dried animal proteins is the first line and much the most consequential one. It is a genuine protein source that has been dried and concentrated, so its position is not being flattered by water. The species behind it is not declared, so the label cannot tell you whether the bowl rests on poultry, on red meat or on a blend. Dried chicken appears separately at sixth, and it is the only named meat here.

Wheat, wheat meal and wheat bran fill three of the next four places. Wheat is a workhorse of dry food because it binds a kibble and holds its shape. Most dogs digest it without a second thought. Of all the grains, it is wheat that most often sits behind an intolerance. For a dog with skin or digestive trouble behind it, this is the entry to weigh. Wheat bran at least brings useful fibre along with it, and maize follows behind.

The analysis reads steadily. Protein is declared at 25.0% and fat at 11.0%, with an estimated 49.3% of dry matter as carbohydrate, a touch above the 46.2% a typical adult dry food carries. Energy is estimated at around 340 kcal in 100 grams, so portions end up looking much like those of any other adult kibble.

Linseed at 1% is the only omega source, and it comes in the plant form. A dog converts that slowly into the versions that actually reach the skin and coat. The list carries no fish oil at all. That will appeal if you are steering clear of fish, though the unnamed animal proteins mean nothing can be promised on that front.

The mineral panel is fully dosed and printed, with zinc at 65 mg, iron at 50 mg, manganese at 35 mg and copper at 5 mg per kilo. Tocopherol extracts from vegetable oils do the preserving, with rosemary extract alongside. Calcium works out at 1.63% of dry matter, comfortable for the adult dogs this recipe is sold for.

£3.53 a kilo, sold as a 15kg bag or as two 15kg bags together.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition eats about 247 grams a day, assuming around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate), giving £0.87 a day. For a dog of that weight the label suggests 140 to 320 grams, so the estimate sits comfortably inside its own range.