Rocketo Really Good Dog Food: Air Dried Turkey review

All three land in our Excellent band, a step up from the Good band the typical adult dry food occupies, and they finish level with each other, so pick by animal alone. The meat share does most of that work. Protein converts to between 38.1% and 41.2% of dry matter and carbohydrate to between 10.8% and 14.4%, a long way under the 46.2% of dry matter a typical bag carries. What keeps these a step below the strongest foods we see is the missing vitamin and mineral panel, which leaves the micronutrient side to be taken on trust.

Ingredients, as declared: Turkey 85% (meat, liver, hearts), coconut flour (5.3%), chia seeds, carrots, cod liver oil, apple, flaxseed, blueberry, coconut flakes, algae lime, yeast, parsley, alfalfa, seaweed, egg shell powder

Air drying is the whole point of this food. Instead of the high heat and pressure that shapes a kibble, the meat is dried slowly, and because nothing has to hold a biscuit together the ingredient list can stay short. That is why a single starch at 5.3% is enough here, where a baked food usually needs a good deal more.

The 85% meat figure includes organs, and that counts in its favour. Very little a dog eats is as nutrient dense as liver, which is rich in vitamin A, vitamin B12, copper and selenium. In these recipes it is doing real nutritional work, not sitting there for flavour.

Behind the meat, each whole food has a job. Chia seeds and flaxseed bring plant omega 3, and cod liver oil brings the marine form along with vitamins A and D as they occur naturally. Algae lime and egg shell powder supply calcium, and seaweed carries iodine for the thyroid. Carrot, apple and blueberry are the smallest entries and read as seasoning more than substance.

The label declares no added vitamins or minerals at all, and the brand's case is that a food this meat heavy does not need them. It is a coherent position and it is also the part of the recipe you are taking on trust, because there are no doses to check and no calcium figure to read. Worth knowing, and most relevant if you are feeding a big breed puppy through their growth.

Fibre is high for a meat led food, converting to between 8.2% and 10.0% of dry matter, with coconut flour, coconut flakes and alfalfa behind it. That tends to suit a dog that does better with some bulk in the bowl. It also helps explain why the portions on the label look so small next to a kibble's.

Turkey at 85%, again as meat with liver and hearts. It is the richest of the set at 33.3% fat of dry matter and the lowest in carbohydrate at 10.8%. The organic wording that the beef and chicken labels carry is missing from its ingredient list.

£28 a kilo, sold in 1kg, 2kg and 3kg bags.

Air dried food goes further per gram than a baked kibble. Assume around 840 kcal a day for a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). That dog takes about 187 to 191 grams a day, which works out at between £5.23 and £5.35 a day. The label's own guide asks 143 grams for a dog that weight. Your dog's shape can settle the difference.