James Wellbeloved

James Wellbeloved Adult Dry: Duck & Rice review

Name: James Wellbeloved Adult Dry: Duck & Rice
Brand: James Wellbeloved

58.4/100Good

DryAdult

Flavour

One named dried meat on top of a grain base, built the same way across five animals and all in our Good band. The point of it is a short, legible list for a dog that struggles with more complicated food. Seaweed, chicory extract and yucca extract turn up in the small print of every bag.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Dogs that do better on one named meat. Every recipe but the Fish names its single animal
Owners who want grain in the bowl. Here it is naked oats, barley and two rices
Dry skin or a dull coat, with whole linseed high on every list and fish oil behind it
A picky eater. Five animals share one base, so swapping changes little else
Dogs that suit a gentler fat level, between 12.1% and 12.6% of dry matter

Worth watching

Poultry fat on all five labels, lamb and fish included. A strict exclusion diet cannot use any of them to rule out a bird
Fish oil in every recipe, and the fish recipe never names its species
A big grain share. Carbohydrate is estimated at 49.5% to 53.0% of dry matter

Written by our editorial team. Independent guidance, not veterinary advice.

How this scores

How we score

58.4/100Good

Protein and processingAverage

Nutritional balanceAverage

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adult dogs of every size, toy to giant. If your dog is on an exclusion diet, check the poultry fat first: it is on every bag.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Duck

The score, in context

Duck 58.4
Chicken 57.3
Turkey 56.7
Lamb 54.2
Fish 54.1

All five Good. Typical dry food: Good.

The five sit close together, held back by how much of the bowl is grain, with the Duck and the Chicken a few points ahead.

What's in it

Dried duck protein24%Joint highest meat share in the range, with the Turkey.
Naked oatsThe hull-less kind. Cooked, they are easy on a dog and bring fibre and B vitamins.
Brown rice, white rice13% each
BarleyDigestible once cooked, but it carries gluten.
Whole linseed4%The plant omega 3, with fibre alongside.
Pea starch
Poultry fatCould be chicken, turkey, duck or goose; the label never says which. An exclusion diet hunting a problem bird cannot use it.
Duck gravy
Alfalfa meal, pea fibre, chicory pulpThe fibre. Chicory pulp is the Duck's own touch here.
Fish oil, seaweed, chicory extract, yucca extract, mineralsseaweed 0.5%, chicory 0.1%, yucca 0.02%Fish oil for marine omega 3, so fish is in this one too.

Zinc as a glycine chelate at 100 mg per kilo, the better absorbed form, with vitamin E at 165 mg. Preserved with citric acid and tocopherol extracts, nothing synthetic.

A step sideways from chicken, though the poultry fat means it is not a clean break from birds.

Named ingredients

Dried duck protein* (24%), naked oats*, brown rice* (13%), white rice* (13%), barley*, whole linseed* (4%), pea starch, poultry fat*, duck gravy, alfalfa meal*, pea fibre*, chicory pulp*, minerals, seaweed* (0.5%), fish oil, chicory extract* (0.1%), yucca extract* (0.02%). *Natural ingredient.

Against the range

Meat: 24% dried duck; Matched by the Turkey; the Lamb is lowest at 19%.
Protein, dry matter: 26.2%; The Turkey is at 26.4%; the Fish lowest at 24.3%.
Carbohydrate, dry matter: 51.6%; 49.5% on the Turkey up to 53.0%.
Own touches: Duck gravy, chicory pulp; Chicory pulp also on the Fish.

For a dog that has grown itchy on chicken, duck is a useful next try.

Every recipe opens on one dried named meat, from 19% on the Lamb to 24% on the Duck and Turkey. The grain base is the same throughout: naked oats, barley, and brown and white rice at 13% each. Whole linseed runs from 3.9% to 4.5%. Poultry fat and fish oil are on all five labels, and none carries wheat or dairy.

What changes is the fibre source, the meat share and the carbohydrate, an estimated 49.5% to 53.0% of dry matter against 46.2% for a typical adult dry food. Every panel doses its zinc as a glycine chelate at 100 mg per kilo.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

361 kcal/100g

Protein

24.1%

Fat

11.1%

Fibre

3.1%

Ash

6.2%

Moisture

Dry weight

Protein

26.2%

Fat

12.1%

Fibre

3.4%

Ash

6.7%

Carbs

51.6%

As-fed composition

Estimated breakdown of the finished product by ingredient category, from the declared ingredient list and ingoing weights. These are estimates, not measurements.

Meat

27.1%

Carbs

63.6%

Veg

2.3%

Oils

2.6%

Other

4.3%

Pricing & size