Royal Canin Jack Russell Adult review

Our scoring settles this in the Average band, below the Good band where the typical adult dry food sits. On paper the analysis is decent: protein converts to 32.6% of dry matter, fat to 17.4% and estimated carbohydrate to 42.0%, under the 46.2% typical. The band reflects where that protein comes from and how little the label commits to. Wheat gluten and maize gluten both contribute protein, no animal entry names a species, and transparency reads Poor with protein and processing at Average, though nutritional balance comes back Good.

Moisture is another figure the label leaves out. The dry matter maths rests on the usual 8% for a kibble. The front of the bag promises an everyday small breed food with a dental idea built in, and that is what you get.

Ingredients, as declared: Dehydrated poultry proteins, rice, maize, wheat, wheat gluten*, animal fats, hydrolysed animal proteins, beet pulp, maize gluten, minerals (including pentasodium triphosphate (0.35%)), fish oil, soya oil, yeasts products, fructo-oligosaccharides, yeasts (source of manno-oligosaccharides), borage oil (0.1%), marigold meal, glucosamine from fermentation, hydrolysed cartilage (source of chondroitin). *L.I.P.: protein selected for its very high digestibility.

Dehydrated poultry proteins lead, and protein is declared at 30.0%, converting to 32.6% of dry matter. That is a strong figure for a small breed kibble, though not all of it is coming from the bird.

Rice, maize and wheat follow in the top four, with wheat gluten fifth and maize gluten a little further down. Both glutens are concentrated cereal proteins used to lift an analysis. A dog makes more of protein from an animal than of protein from a grain, so read the headline as a combined figure.

Pentasodium triphosphate, declared at 0.35% within the minerals, is the entry that makes this recipe specific. It is a mineral salt included to slow the build-up of tartar as the dog chews. Dental trouble is common enough in the small breeds for that to be a genuinely useful inclusion rather than a marketing line.

Joint support comes from glucosamine made by fermentation, so no shellfish is involved anywhere, with chondroitin from hydrolysed cartilage alongside it. Gamma-linolenic acid comes from borage oil at 0.1%, marigold meal adds a plant antioxidant, and the marine omega 3s arrive with the fish oil.

The gut side is handled by fructo-oligo-saccharides and beet pulp, with yeasts supplying manno-oligosaccharides, though crude fibre still finishes low at 1.3%. Doses are printed against the trace minerals too, zinc at 137 mg, copper at 12 mg and selenium at 0.08 mg per kilo.

The recurring limitation on this style of label is that nothing animal is named. Chicken, turkey or duck could all be the poultry here. The fats and hydrolysed proteins could come from anything at all. Most terriers will never give it a thought. It only becomes a live issue when you need a label that can help you pin down what your dog reacts to.

£6.98 a kilo, sold in 1.5kg, 3kg and 7.5kg bags.

The standard comparison takes a 15kg adult in moderate condition needing about 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75), which comes to roughly 212 grams and £1.48 a day. A Jack Russell is a fraction of that dog, and the label asks 92 grams a day for a 6kg terrier at low activity. The smallest bag goes a good deal further than the figures above suggest.