Royal Canin Golden Retriever Adult review

This one comes out in our Average band, a rung under the Good band the typical adult dry food occupies. Two features drive it. Estimated carbohydrate at 48.1% of dry matter runs above the typical figure, and fat at 14.1% of dry matter is modest, so the analysis reads light on both counts at once. The label then names no species anywhere among its animal entries, and transparency comes back Poor with protein and processing and nutritional balance both Average.

The dry matter figures fall back on the usual 8% for a kibble, since moisture is not declared either. A steady adult Golden will still do well on it. The leanness is a design decision rather than an accident, and for a dog who piles it on over winter that decision is on your side.

Ingredients, as declared: dehydrated poultry protein, maize, rice, wheat, hydrolysed animal proteins, animal fats, vegetable protein isolate*, vegetable fibres, beet pulp, fish oil, soya oil, dehydrated tomato, minerals, fructo-oligo-saccharides, psyllium husks and seeds, hydrolysed crustaceans (source of glucosamine), borage oil (0.1%), marigold extract (source of lutein), hydrolysed cartilage (source of chondroitin).

Dehydrated poultry protein takes first place, then maize, rice and wheat in a row. Three cereals in the top four is a lot of grain for one recipe. It shows up in the estimated carbohydrate of 48.1% of dry matter, a shade above the 46.2% typical of adult dry food.

Fat is the number that stands out, declared at 13.0% and converting to 14.1% of dry matter, which is lean for a kibble and plainly intentional on a bag carrying this breed's name. Energy lands at 362 kcal per 100g against a typical 357, so the scoop does not need shrinking the way it does with a richer food.

The skin and coat thinking lives in the small entries. Borage oil is declared at 0.1% for gamma-linolenic acid, the fish oil covers the marine omega 3s, marigold extract supplies lutein and dehydrated tomato adds another plant antioxidant. Zinc, the mineral a coat leans on hardest, is dosed at 138 mg per kilo.

Digestion gets similar attention. Beet pulp does the familiar work. Soluble fibre arrives with the psyllium husks and seeds, fructo-oligo-saccharides feed the bacteria in the gut, and crude fibre reaches 3.8%. Joints are covered by glucosamine from hydrolysed crustaceans and chondroitin from hydrolysed cartilage.

The weak point is naming. The poultry protein could be any domestic bird. The animal fats, the hydrolysed animal proteins and the vegetable protein isolate all leave their source open, and the isolate's protein comes from a plant, not from meat. For a Golden with no history of trouble that changes nothing at all. It matters when you need a label to help you identify a problem ingredient, which this one cannot do.

£5.73 a kilo, sold in a 12kg bag.

On the standard comparison, a 15kg adult in moderate condition needing roughly 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75), that works out at about 232 grams and £1.33 a day. A Golden is a considerably bigger animal, and the label asks 336 grams a day for a 30kg dog at low activity. Read the bag's own table and feed the dog you have.