How to actually compare dog food labels
There is no single trustworthy 'best dog food' chart, because the right food depends on your dog's age, size, activity level and any health conditions, not a universal ranking. What genuinely helps is knowing how to read and compare the label yourself — protein and fat percentage, how ingredients are listed, and kcal per 100g — so you can judge foods on the same terms rather than trusting a score someone else assigned.
Why a simple ranking chart is misleading
A single 'best to worst' list flattens genuinely different foods into one scale, when a working dog's ideal food and a small, sedentary senior dog's ideal food have almost nothing in common on paper. A food that tops a generic ranking might be entirely wrong for your specific dog's life stage and activity level.
Ranking charts also rarely account for how a dog actually does on a food — digestion, coat condition, stool quality — which matters more day to day than a headline protein percentage.
Reading protein and fat properly
Protein and fat percentages on a dry food label are given on an 'as fed' basis, which includes the moisture still in the kibble. Comparing a dry food directly against a wet food's percentages without adjusting for moisture content is comparing two different things and will mislead you about which actually has more protein.
A working or very active dog generally needs a higher fat and protein food to meet their energy demands, while a less active adult or senior dog usually does better on a more moderate formula — neither is objectively 'better', they suit different dogs.
Reading the ingredients list
Ingredients are listed by weight before cooking, so a named meat listed first is a genuinely good sign, but a vague term like 'meat and animal derivatives' tells you far less about what is actually in the food than a named source like chicken or lamb.
Multiple grain or vegetable ingredients split into separate small entries can push a genuinely higher-carbohydrate food further down the ingredients list than its true proportion would suggest — a trick worth knowing about rather than a mark of quality either way.
Using kcal per 100g to compare portions
The kcal per 100g figure, usually on the back of the pack, is what actually tells you how much to feed and lets you compare energy density fairly between two different foods, regardless of the ingredients list. A more energy-dense food means smaller portions, not a lower total cost necessarily.
Use it alongside your dog's ideal body condition rather than the pack's generic feeding guide alone, and check in with your vet if you are ever unsure how much your individual dog needs.
Our picks, and why
Everything below is in stock with us, priced with delivery worked out, and packed and posted by hand in the UK.
Forthglade Cold Pressed Natural Turkey
Cold-pressed turkey kibble for dogs from 2 months, soft enough to mix with water for young pups
£45.99
Forthglade Cold Pressed Grain Free Salmon
Cold-pressed grain-free dry food for dogs, built on fresh and dried salmon
From£16.99
Forthglade Cold Pressed Grain Free Duck
Cold-pressed grain-free duck food with fruit and botanicals, in two bag sizes
From£16.99
Forthglade Cold Pressed Grain Free Chicken
Cold-pressed grain-free chicken food with fruit and botanicals, in three bag sizes
From£16.99
Forthglade Complete Meal Lightly Baked Turkey
A lightly baked complete dry food, 50% turkey, for adult dogs of any breed
From£12.49
Forthglade Complete Meal Lightly Baked Chicken
A grain-free complete dry food for adult dogs, lightly baked and built on 50% chicken
From£12.49
Forthglade Cold Pressed Small Dog Turkey
Cold-pressed grain-free dry food for small dogs and puppies, built on turkey
£16.99
Forthglade Complete Meal Lightly Baked Lamb
A lightly baked complete dry food, 50% lamb, for adult dogs of any breed
From£12.49
Forthglade Cold Pressed Grain Free Turkey
Grain-free cold-pressed turkey kibble for dogs, gentle on sensitive stomachs
£69.69
Forthglade British Classics Chicken Family Lunch
Complete Forthglade wet dog food with 75% chicken in a 395G tray
£2.45
Harringtons Puppy Turkey & Rice
Complete turkey puppy food with 30% protein and feeding bands by adult weight
£6.49
Harringtons Adult Dog Turkey Veg
Complete dry food for adult dogs with turkey, chicken and salmon oil, 21% protein
From£3.39
Common questions
- What is the best way to compare two dog foods?
- Compare protein, fat and kcal per 100g on the same basis — dry to dry, wet to wet, or adjusted for moisture if comparing across formats — rather than reading the headline numbers directly against each other. Also check the first few ingredients for a named meat source rather than a vague generic term.
- Is higher protein always better in dog food?
- No, the right protein level depends on your dog's age, activity level and any health conditions. A working dog benefits from a higher-protein food that matches their energy output, while a less active or senior dog is often better suited to a more moderate level.
- Why do dry and wet dog food protein percentages look so different?
- Dry food label percentages are calculated 'as fed', including the low moisture content of kibble, while wet food is much higher in moisture, which dilutes the percentage shown. Comparing the two directly without adjusting for moisture makes wet food look lower in protein than it may actually be on a dry matter basis.
- Does a shorter ingredients list mean a better dog food?
- Not necessarily — a shorter list can mean a simpler recipe, but what matters more is whether the first few ingredients are named, identifiable sources rather than vague catch-all terms. A longer list that names its ingredients clearly is not automatically worse than a short vague one.
Related
Written by Matt Garnett, who runs Giddy Pets and is a lifelong pet owner — not a vet. This is general information, not veterinary advice, and it cannot replace an examination by the vet who knows your animal. How we write these guides.