Riverwood Adult Large Breed Dry review

Our scoring puts this in the Excellent band, a rung above the Good band the typical adult dry food holds. Protein converts to 42.2% of dry matter and carbohydrate to only 27.4%, well under the 46.2% typical of adult dry food, which is a meat forward balance for a large breed recipe. Three birds are named with their shares printed and the joint supplements carry real figures, all of which counts in its favour. The unnamed poultry fat and the unnamed hydrolysed protein are what stop it going higher.

Ingredients, as declared: 28% dehydrated duck, 16% dehydrated turkey, 16% yellow peas, 15% yellow pea starch, 8% poultry fat, 6% dried apple pulp, 4% dehydrated pheasant, 2% pea protein, 2% hydrolysed protein, 1% spinach, 0.5% evening primrose oil, 0.5% carrots, glucosamine sulfate: 240 mg/kg, mannan-oligosaccharides: 150 mg/kg, chondroitin sulfate: 140 mg/kg, fructo-oligosaccharides: 100 mg/kg, yucca schidigera: 90 mg/kg, marigold: 80 mg/kg, nettle: 80 mg/kg, spirulina: 35 mg/kg, turmeric: 30 mg/kg, citrus pulp: 30 mg/kg, cranberries: 30 mg/kg, chamomile: 25 mg/kg, cinnamon: 25 mg/kg.

Duck at 28%, turkey at 16% and pheasant at 4% all go in dehydrated, meaning their water has gone before they are weighed. A fresh meat percentage shrinks in the oven and these do not, so what the bag claims on its front is what the bowl gets.

Yellow peas at 16% and yellow pea starch at 15% carry the kibble, with pea protein at 2% adding a little more behind them. That is a good deal of pea across one recipe, and it is the reason the plant side of this food reads as legume rather than cereal.

The joint entries come with amounts against them, glucosamine sulphate at 240 mg/kg and chondroitin sulphate at 140 mg/kg. Both sit a touch above what the brand's standard adult recipes carry, which is the right instinct on a food for dogs this size. Mannan-oligosaccharides at 150 mg/kg and fructo-oligosaccharides at 100 mg/kg sit behind them as prebiotics for the gut.

Evening primrose oil at 0.5% brings gamma linolenic acid, and spinach at 1% and carrots at 0.5% are in the sort of amounts you would expect of a garnish. The milligram tail from yucca down to cinnamon is trace level seasoning, pleasant to read and not load bearing. The birds and the joint pair are what this recipe stands on.

Calcium works out at 1.89% of dry matter, a settled adult level. The mineral panel is dosed with zinc at 80 mg, iron at 72 mg, manganese at 38 mg and copper at 15 mg per kilo. This is a maintenance recipe and not a growth one, which matters for the breeds it names, because a large breed puppy has calcium needs that an adult food is not written around.

£6.01 a kilo, sold in 2kg and 12kg bags.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition would eat about 216 grams a day, assuming around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate), which comes to roughly £1.30. The label's own table starts where this food is actually aimed, asking 245 to 275 grams for a dog of 25kg to 30kg.