Lifestage Grain Free Adult Dry Large Breed: Salmon & Trout review

This food earns our Excellent band, a step above the Good band that holds the bulk of the adult dry shelf. The label is a good part of why: the fish is named, its share is itemised and no cereal dilutes it. That shows up as an Outstanding transparency pillar. Estimated carbohydrate of 45.0% of dry matter comes in just under the 46.2% typical for the category, which is a solid result for a kibble that has to hold together without grain.

Ingredients, as declared: Salmon And Trout (50%), Freshly Prepared Trout And Salmon (25%), Salmon Meal (18%), Salmon Oil (4%), Salmon Gravy (3%), Sweet Potato (24%), Peas (9%), Potato, Beet Pulp (4%), Linseed (3%), Minerals, Vegetable Stock, Asparagus, Omega 3 Supplement, Glucosamine, Methylsulfonylmethane, Chondroitin Sulphate, Fructooligosaccharides (Fos), Mannanoligosaccharides (Mos)

The fish declaration is 50% and the label shows its working. Freshly prepared trout and salmon come to 25%, with 18% salmon meal, 4% salmon oil and 3% salmon gravy behind them. Salmon meal is the entry doing the quiet work. Most of what fresh fish weighs is water, and that goes in the oven, while the meal arrives already dried and concentrated.

Protein converts to 27.5% of dry matter and fat to 14.3%, a shape that suits a big dog in regular work. Estimated carbohydrate lands at 45.0% of dry matter, just below the 46.2% that adult dry food usually shows. For a grain free recipe of this size that is a good showing.

Sweet potato at 24% and peas at 9% hold it together. Potato sits behind them, and beet pulp at 4% adds fibre. Peas are a real ingredient rather than a filler at that inclusion, bringing protein of their own along with fibre and micronutrients, although plant protein is never the equal of the fish sitting above it. Asparagus and a vegetable stock finish the plant side off.

Omega 3 arrives twice over, from salmon oil at 4% and from linseed at 3%. A dog's body can use the marine form straight away. Linseed adds the plant version along with fibre and natural antioxidants. Between them they are the reason a fish fed dog so often looks well in the coat.

Glucosamine, methylsulfonylmethane and chondroitin are all present, the standard set for a large breed food, but none of them carries a figure. FOS and MOS follow as prebiotics for the gut, likewise unquantified. The mineral panel is where the printing turns precise: iron at 50 mg/kg, zinc at 100 mg/kg, manganese at 20 mg/kg and copper at 15 mg/kg. Those arrive as plain sulphates and oxides, with selenium as sodium selenite.

£3.56 a kilo, sold in a 12kg bag.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition eats about 246 grams a day, assuming around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate), which comes to £0.88 a day. A big dog eats accordingly, and the estimated guide for a 30kg adult is 372 to 454 grams a day.