Pooch & Mutt Wellbeing Skin & Coat Dry Food review

This one lands in our Good band, where the middle of the dry adult shelf also finishes, and the detail behind the reading is more interesting than the band itself. Protein converts to 30.0% of dry matter, a solid figure for a dry food, and estimated carbohydrate comes in under the dry adult typical. What pegs it back is the pea content sitting level with the fish and a collagen entry that names no species. The transparency pillar reads Outstanding, because nearly everything else on this label carries a number beside it.

Ingredients, as declared: Fresh Herring (26%), Peas (26 %), Herring Protein (15 %), Potatoes (15 %), Dried Apple Pulp (7.3 %), Salmon Oil (3 %), Fish Gravy (3 %), Linseed (3 %), Collagen (1 %), Dried Kelp (0.2 %), Psyllium Husk & Seeds (0.08 %), Dried Cranberries (0.04 %), Glucosamine (0.026 %), Chondroitin Sulphate (0.02 %), Fructo-oligosaccharides (0.019 %), Mannan-oligosaccharides (0.015 %), Mojave Yucca (0.01 %), %), Milk Thistle Seeds (0.008 %), Lactobacillus acidophilus HA-122 inactivated (15x10⁹ cells/kg).

Herring is a smart choice for a coat recipe, being an oily fish in its own right before a drop of oil is added. Fresh herring at 26% and herring protein at 15% lead, with salmon oil at 3% behind them and fish gravy at 3% for flavour. Linseed at 3% brings the plant form of omega 3 as well. A dog's body is slower to convert that one, so between them the two cover the quick route and the slow one.

Peas at 26% are declared level with the fresh herring, and that is the entry to think about. Peas earn their place in a recipe by bringing fibre and minerals with some protein of their own. At 26% they are doing structural work rather than seasoning. Potatoes at 15% and dried apple pulp at 7.3% fill out the rest of the plant side, and estimated carbohydrate converts to 44.5% of dry matter, under the 46.2% typical for adult dry food.

The skin specific extras are small but sensible. Dried kelp at 0.2% is a mineral source, iodine among them, which the thyroid needs and the coat quietly reflects. Collagen at 1% is the structural protein of skin and connective tissue. Milk thistle seeds at 0.008% are a traditional liver herb, present at a token level. Psyllium husk and seeds at 0.08% and the prebiotic pair keep the gut side ticking, since a coat rarely shines while digestion is unhappy.

The collagen is the only entry with no origin given. It could be bovine, porcine or marine, and the label leaves it open, which is a small gap in an otherwise carefully numbered list. For most households it will never come up. If your dog must avoid one particular animal, that is a question worth putting to the maker before you commit.

The analysis reads well for the job in hand. Protein converts to 30.0% of dry matter and fat to 14.4%, the generous oil level a skin recipe wants, with energy at 365 kcal per 100 grams. Ash converts to 8.3% of dry matter, which is simply the mineral content of a fish based food showing up on the panel and nothing to raise an eyebrow at.

£6.00 a kilo, in 2kg and 10kg bags.

Feeding works out at about 230 grams a day for a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, assuming around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate), or £1.38 a day. On the bag, a 10kg to 25kg dog is put at 165 to 330 grams, and the waistline is the better judge of the two.