Royal Canin

Royal Canin German Shepherd 5+ review

Name: Royal Canin German Shepherd 5+
Brand: Royal Canin

34.8/100Average

DryAdultSenior

A maintenance kibble for the older German Shepherd, in our Average band for transparency more than anything a dog would notice. The senior thinking sits in the small entries: hydrolysed collagen at 0.9%, chondroitin from cartilage, and tomato pulp for its lycopene. Grains lead and no animal entry names a species.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Older shepherds and other big dogs past middle age
A joint entry you can point at, with collagen at 0.9% and chondroitin from cartilage
Ageing dogs that do better on more fibre, declared at 3.6%
Two dogs at different stages, adult and senior alike

Worth watching

The digestibility badge sits on wheat gluten, not the meat
Generic animal entries throughout, so no elimination trial
Fish oil in the mix

Written by our editorial team. Independent guidance, not veterinary advice.

How this scores

How we score

34.8/100Average

Protein and processingPoor

Nutritional balanceGood

TransparencyPoor

ValueAverage

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adult and senior shepherds. The label asks 312 grams a day for a 30kg shepherd at low activity, so work the bag out against your own dog's weight.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult, Senior

Main protein

Poultry

The score, in context

Royal Canin German Shepherd 5+ 34.8

All one Average. Typical dry food: Good.

The band is a comment on how little this label commits to, not a warning about the dinner; read alone, the analysis is unremarkable.

What's in it

Rice, maize flourGrains open the list.
Wheat glutenCarries the asterisk for very high digestibility: a cereal protein, not the bird.
Dehydrated poultry proteinsWater gone before weighing. Poultry could be any of four birds and change without the label changing.
Animal fats, hydrolysed animal proteinsNo more specific.
Cellulose powder, vegetable fibres, beet pulpCellulose adds bulk and little else.
Minerals
Soya oil, fish oil, copra oilFish oil for marine omega 3; copra is pressed coconut.
Yeasts products, dried tomato pulpTomato for lycopene.
Hydrolysed collagen0.9%
Yeasts, marigold meal, hydrolysed cartilageMOS for the gut, and chondroitin from the cartilage.

Vitamins A and D3 with every trace mineral dosed, and clinoptilolite at 10 g per kilo as a processing aid.

Named ingredients

Rice, maize flour, wheat gluten*, dehydrated poultry proteins, animal fats, hydrolysed animal proteins, cellulose powder, vegetable fibres, beet pulp, minerals, soya oil, fish oil, copra oil, yeasts products, dried tomato pulp (source of lycopene), hydrolysed collagen (0.9%), yeasts (source of manno-oligosaccharides), marigold meal, hydrolysed cartilage (source of chondroitin). * L.I.P.: protein selected for its very high digestibility.

Against the range

One senior shepherd kibble: rice, maize flour and wheat gluten come before any meat, then dehydrated poultry proteins and animal fats with no species named. Fibre is declared at 3.6%. Moisture is left off, so the dry matter readings rest on an assumed 8%.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

383.8 kcal/100g

Estimated using Modified Atwater factors*

Protein

25%

Fat

19%

Fibre

3.6%

Ash

5.9%

Dry weight

Protein

27.2%

Fat

20.7%

Fibre

3.9%

Ash

6.4%

Carbs

41.8%

As-fed composition

Estimated breakdown of the finished product by ingredient category, from the declared ingredient list and ingoing weights. These are estimates, not measurements.

Meat

14.4%

Carbs

77.8%

Veg

1.1%

Oils

3.8%

Other

2.8%

Pricing & size