Sneyd's Wonderdog Wonderdog Adult Grain Free Chicken review

This one reaches our Good band, level with the middle of the adult dry category. The reasons are plain: a big named meat share with the split printed, protein at 29.3% of dry matter and estimated carbohydrate at 43.0%, which is under the 46.2% typical for adult dry food. Transparency reads Outstanding, and the three pillars behind it all read Good: protein and processing, nutritional balance, value. The only thing keeping the label from reading better still is what it leaves off, namely the moisture figure and the amounts in the additive panel.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken 55% (Freshly Prepared Chicken 31%, Dried Chicken 21%, Chicken Stock 3%), Sweet Potato 26%, Peas 6%, Potato, Beet Pulp, Linseed, Omega-3 Supplement, Minerals, Herbs 0.3% (Marjoram, Basil, Oregano, Sage, Thyme, Parsley), Fructooligosaccharides (FOS, 96mg/kg), Mannanoligosaccharides (MOS, 24mg/kg)

Fifty-five per cent chicken is a big number for a kibble of this shape, and the label prints the split behind it: 3% stock, 21% dried and 31% fresh, all chicken. In the oven the fresh share gives up most of its water. That is exactly why the 21% dried entry matters so much. That is the part arriving in the finished kibble at full strength.

The plant side runs sweet potato at 26% and peas at 6%, then potato and beet pulp, with no cereal anywhere. The result is a lighter plant load than usual for a dry food. Carbohydrate is estimated at 43.0% of dry matter against the 46.2% typical for the category, protein converts to 29.3% and fat to 15.2%, which is a genuinely meaty balance for a kibble.

Linseed and the added omega-3 supplement handle the fats beyond what the chicken itself brings along. Linseed is a good, fibrous source of plant-form omega 3. A dog turns it into the usable forms slowly, more slowly than it takes those forms straight from fish. The supplement sitting alongside it is described by function only, and the label never says which oil it is.

A flourish comes next: a 0.3% herb blend of oregano, basil, thyme, marjoram, parsley and sage. It reads beautifully and it is far too small a share to change what the food does, which is fine, because this recipe stands on its chicken. The prebiotic pair below it, FOS at 96mg/kg and MOS at 24mg/kg, is declared with doses that are honest and modest.

One gap deserves naming. The additive panel lists vitamin A, D3 and E along with a full set of trace elements. No amounts sit against any of them, so how generously the mineral side is dosed cannot be seen. Oxides and sulphates are the forms used, which is ordinary for a kibble at this level. Moisture is left off the analysis too, so the dry matter figures above rest on the usual 8% assumption.

£4.20 a kilo, sold in a 15kg sack.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition eats around 239 grams a day, assuming about 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate), which comes to £1.00 a day. The bag's own table asks 150 to 240 grams for a dog of 11kg to 20kg, so the two agree closely enough to feed either and watch the waistline.