Only a few convince with a balanced composition
Berlin. A balanced diet is not only crucial for humans – dogs also need food that delivers all vital nutrients in a meaningful composition. Especially in the premium segment, consumers expect the highest quality, transparent declaration and a species -appropriate composition. Petbook therefore had twelve common varieties of premium dry food for dogs from specialist markets such as feeding, feeding house and zooplus by dog nutrition expert Philine Ebert.
It was assessed exclusively on the basis of the packaging declaration: composition, additives, feeding recommendation as well as transparency and traceability were the focus. The final evaluation took place in the form of a 5-star ranking.
Results at a glance
The first place in comparison is the dry food Tundra “with deer, salmon and duck”. With a 60 percent animal proportion and a balanced ratio to plant ingredients (60:40), A transparent declaration and the absence of grain, artificial additives and animal experiments convinced with five out of five stars. Wolfsblut “Wild Duck Adult” was also evaluated with five stars, which scored with a balanced mix of meat, vegetables, herbs and superfoods – despite the restriction to just one type of meat (Monoprotein source).
Five types of dry food landed on the back seats with ratings below the three-star brand. Defects were, for example, unclear meat declarations, high content of raw ash, missing fresh meat components or an insufficient balance of animal and herbal ingredients. The conclusion for the Nature Plus product was particularly critical, which with only one of five stars – mainly because of the low meat content, dominant grain components and a lack of transparency. With a star, nature plus adult “with chicken and beef” was the last place.
What dog owners should know
Dogs are not pure carnivore. A species -appropriate diet is ideally based on around 60 to 70 percent animal and 30 to 40 percent vegetable components – similar to building a natural prey. Many tested premium products meet these criteria – but not all. It was particularly negative that five of the types of feed were produced outside of Germany, which raises questions about freshness, sustainability and supply chain.
Conclusion of the test
The comparison of twelve premium dry food shows that quality has its price-but does not have to be expensive. Petbook recommends dog owners to pay particular attention to the list of ingredients, the proportion of fresh meat and herbal components when buying dog food. Because a conscious choice of food is an active contribution to animal health.
Further information and a detailed overview of the test results at Petbook.