Leader Adult Sensitive Medium Breed: Salmon review

Lamb and salmon alike sit in our Good band, level with the typical adult dry food. The score describes the construction honestly: a conventional rice-led kibble with a moderate meat share and a workmanlike ingredient list, tidy rather than ambitious. The two finish within a point of each other, nothing worth choosing between, so let your dog's history with lamb or salmon decide.

Ingredients, as declared: Dehydrated Salmon (27%), Brown Rice, White Rice, Sunflower Oil, Potato Protein, Whole Linseed, Minerals, Alfalfa, Seaweed Meal, Hydrolysed Liver Protein, Yeast Extract, Chicory Inulin, Yucca Schidigera.

Dehydrated meat leads both lists, lamb at 28% or salmon at 27%. The water is out of dehydrated meat before it goes in, so gram for gram it brings more protein than fresh meat does. A high-twenties inclusion is a genuine contribution. Protein converts to between 25.6% and 26.7% of dry matter depending on variety, which is respectable for a rice-based recipe.

Brown and white rice sit second and third, and between them they do most of the carrying. Rice is among the grains dogs digest most easily, which fits the Sensitive brief, though the analysis is candid about the balance: carbohydrate makes up around half of the dry matter.

The supporting cast is chosen with digestion in mind. Whole linseed brings omega 3 fats for skin and coat. Chicory inulin is the prebiotic, feeding the bacteria the gut already keeps. Yucca schidigera is the ingredient makers reach for when they want firmer, less pungent stools. Alfalfa and seaweed meal add trace greens and minerals behind them.

Hydrolysed liver protein is here as a palatant, broken down small enough that an immune system tends not to recognise it, which helps a fussy or sensitive dog stay interested in the bowl. The label never says which animal the liver came from. Weigh that entry if a vet has your dog on a strict exclusion plan.

The added vitamin and mineral panel is fully dosed in print. Zinc comes partly as a chelate, the form makers pick when absorption matters. The amino acids lysine and tryptophan are added and dosed as well.

Dehydrated salmon at 27% leads, with the slightly richer analysis at 24% protein and 12% fat and the lower carbohydrate of the two at 49.9% of dry matter. For a dog that does its best work on fish, or one that has tried lamb without settling, this is the obvious choice.

Per kilo, the lamb is £3.33 and the salmon £4.55. Both varieties come in 2kg and 12kg bags.

As a guide, feeding a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition works out at around £0.83 a day on the lamb and £1.11 a day on the salmon. Those day rates assume about 840 kcal a day for a dog of that size (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). The label's own guide for less active dogs runs from 89g a day at 6kg up to 293g at 30kg.