Specific CGD-M Senior medium breed review

Most adult dry foods settle in our Good band. This one comes in below that, and the opening of the ingredients list explains the bulk of it: wheat leads, maize protein follows, and the only named animal ingredient is fish meal in fourth place. Protein at 20.1% as fed is modest, and an unnamed animal protein hydrolysate stops the label from being fully readable. An older medium dog can do very well on this bowl, and the amino acid and antioxidant top-ups show genuine thought. It simply means the recipe is built around cereal, and our scoring reads that plainly.

Ingredients, as declared: Wheat, maize protein, beet pulp, fish meal, pork fat, fish oil, animal protein hydrolysate, minerals, vitamins and trace elements, (including chelated trace elements), egg powder, methionine, yeast (source of mannan-oligosaccharides), lysine, taurine, threonine, tryptophan, L-carnitine, rosemary extract. With natural antioxidants (tocopherols and vitamin C).

With wheat in front, the bulk of the kibble is cereal. It is an easy cereal to work with and forms a good biscuit, and most dogs digest it without complaint. It does carry gluten, and wheat is one of the more common things a sensitive dog reacts to, so it is worth knowing about if your dog has a history there.

Maize protein sits second and does exactly what its name suggests, lifting the protein figure without adding meat. Fish meal follows in fourth, and that is the ingredient carrying the real animal protein. Meal goes in already dried. Weight for weight it is far more concentrated than fresh meat, and its position on the list understates its contribution.

The fibre source is beet pulp in third place, a moderately fermentable fibre that keeps stools firm and the gut ticking over. Crude fibre is declared at 2.5% as fed, so this is not a high-fibre senior recipe. The digestive support here is about steadiness, not bulk.

The senior thinking is down in the small print. Taurine is added, an amino acid that supports the heart, and L-carnitine sits alongside it, the entry usually chosen to help an older dog hold lean muscle while it burns fat. Lysine, methionine, threonine and tryptophan are all topped up, which is what a maker does when the protein is coming largely from plants and the amino acid profile needs filling in. Yeast supplies mannan-oligosaccharides, a prebiotic that the large intestine's own good bacteria live on.

Pork fat and fish oil supply the fat. Of the two, fish oil is the one to note, bringing the omega 3s that older joints and dry coats lean on. A little egg powder goes in, and its protein is high quality. Rosemary extract and tocopherols keep the fats from turning, natural preservatives rather than chemical ones.

Sold in 4 kg, 7 kg and 12 kg bags.

As a guide, a 15kg dog in moderate condition works out at about 234 grams a day, assuming roughly 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). The label's own table is drawn for medium dogs, asking 180 grams at 12kg and rising to 265 grams at 20kg. Portion to the shape of your own dog, not to the middle of the range.