Leader Adult Supreme Medium Breed review

Our scoring puts this in the Good band, and the broad middle of the adult dry market sits in that band too. The label explains the placement without much digging. One clearly named meat in its dried form does the protein work, and the trace minerals all carry a printed dose. Both pull upwards. A cereal base, an estimated 48.1% of dry matter as carbohydrate and a joint pair left without amounts pull the other way. Value reads Good and transparency Excellent, while protein and processing and nutritional balance both come back Average, so nothing is dragging it down on its own. This is simply a recipe that does the ordinary things properly and does not try to reach beyond them.

Ingredients, as declared: Dehydrated Chicken (27%), Brown Rice, White Rice, Chicken Fat, Dehulled Oats, Whole Linseed, Minerals, Alfalfa, Hydrolysed Liver Protein, Yeast Extract, Chicory Inulin, Dried Cranberries, Dried Beetroot, Rosemary, Ginger, Turmeric, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Yucca Schidigera, Chondroitin Sulphate.

The label starts with dehydrated chicken at 27%, and it is the word dehydrated doing the work. With the water driven off before mixing, the declared figure and the finished kibble stay close together. That is a more honest starting figure than a large fresh meat percentage that shrinks in the oven. Protein converts to 25.6% of dry matter and fat to 16.7%, a sensible working pair for an adult dog in normal condition.

Brown rice and white rice follow, with dehulled oats behind them. Rice sits well with most digestions and oats add fibre along with manganese, selenium and several B vitamins, so the cereal side is contributing rather than just filling space. The starch load sits a touch above the middle without being unusual, with an estimated 48.1% of dry matter as carbohydrate against 46.2% for the typical adult dry food.

The omega 3 here is whole linseed in its plant form. A dog converts that into the skin and coat active types slowly, where fish oil would deliver them ready made. A coat fed on this will answer over months rather than weeks, so give it time before you judge the result.

The small entries are where the recipe adds interest. Chicory inulin is the prebiotic fibre, and the bacteria of the large intestine are what it feeds. Dried cranberries carry a long association with urinary tract health. Dried beetroot brings antioxidants along with a little fermentable fibre. Rosemary is doing double duty as a natural preservative, while ginger and turmeric sit at seasoning level.

Glucosamine hydrochloride and chondroitin sulphate both appear, which is more than plenty of adult foods bother with. They sit last on the list without printed amounts. On a food built for a dog in its prime they are a welcome extra, not a joint supplement in disguise.

The mineral panel is fully dosed. Zinc is declared twice, as zinc oxide at 97.2 mg and as a zinc chelate of amino acids at 200 mg per kilo. Of the two, a gut takes up the chelated half more readily. Copper sulphate at 28 mg, iron at 250 mg and manganese at 65 mg fill out the rest, with iodine at 2.4 mg. Selenium arrives as sodium selenite at 0.3 mg. Of the two forms permitted here, that is the commoner one, the other being yeast based.

£3.33 a kilo. The bags are 2kg and 12kg.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition eats about 234 grams a day here, which works out at £0.78 a day. That 234 grams assumes a daily need of around 840 kcal (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). The label's own chart is more restrained, asking 170 grams for a 14kg dog on the less active side. Let your own dog's waistline decide between them.