Dog Food

This is the full dog food range — most of it dry, covering puppy, adult and senior formulas, small- and large-breed kibbles, grain-free and single-protein recipes, and the air-dried and freeze-dried lines that sit between kibble and raw. If you already know what you feed, the brand collections below are the quickest route.

Dry, wet, or a bit of both

Dry food is the usual base: it keeps well once opened and is simple to measure. Dry is broader than kibble, though — the Ziwi, Prime100 SPD and Absolute Holistic air-dried foods and the freeze-dried dog food range are shelf-stable but made at high meat inclusions, so they are fed in much smaller portions. Wet food is roughly three-quarters water, which suits dogs that drink little, dogs with worn teeth and fussy eaters who need the aroma; cans, trays and pouches also portion themselves. Many households run both — if you do, take the wet out of the dry ration rather than adding it on top.

Life stage, body size and the label

Puppies need higher energy and controlled calcium, and large-breed puppies need a formula built for them so growth is not pushed too fast, which is why puppy food is kept separate. Dogs move to adult maintenance at around twelve months for small breeds and eighteen months to two years for the giants. Senior ranges such as Eukanuba Senior, ORIJEN Senior and Hill’s Science Diet Adult 7+ trim calories and add joint support, while the size-based ranges from Advance, Royal Canin and Ivory Coat mainly vary kibble size, calorie density and fibre.

Ingredients are ordered by weight before cooking, so a fresh meat listed first shrinks once it is dried, and a named meat meal further down often contributes more finished protein. The Guaranteed Analysis panel gives protein, fat, fibre and moisture, but a dry food and a wet one cannot be compared straight from those figures, because the wet one is mostly water. Treat the feeding guide as a starting point for your dog’s ideal weight. When you change brands, move across over seven to ten days, a quarter at a time; loose stools mean it went too fast.

Shop Royal Canin by size and life stage

Royal Canin splits its dog range by the weight a dog will reach as an adult rather than by breed group, so kibble shape, calorie density and mineral levels are matched to the dog in front of you. Size the food to the adult weight you expect, not the weight your dog is today.

• Royal Canin dog food — the whole range in one place, dry and wet, puppy through senior.
• Royal Canin Mini — dogs under 10kg adult weight, with small kibble and a higher energy density.
• Royal Canin Medium — 11-25kg adult weight, the band most crossbreeds land in.
• Royal Canin Maxi — 26-44kg adult weight, with joint support built in from the puppy stage.
• Royal Canin Giant — over 45kg adult weight, where growth is split into separate puppy and junior stages.
• Royal Canin puppy food — the growth formulas, by size and by breed.

Shop Hill's Science Diet by size and life stage

Hill's Science Diet, often written without the apostrophe as Hills Science Diet, is the other large dog range on this page. Where Royal Canin sorts mainly by adult weight band, Hill's leads with life stage and then offers small breed and large breed versions of the same recipes, so the two are worth comparing rather than treating as interchangeable.

• Hill's Science Diet dog food — the full dog range in one place, dry and wet, puppy through senior.
• Hill's Science Diet Large Breed — the large breed formulas, from Large Breed Puppy through to Adult 6+ Senior.
• Hill's Science Diet Small Breed — the Small Paws, Small Bites and Small & Mini recipes, with a kibble sized for a smaller mouth.
• Hill's Science Diet Senior — the Adult 7+ and Adult 11+ formulas; this collection spans both dogs and cats, so check the pack.
• Hill's Science Diet puppy food — the growth formulas, including separate small breed and large breed puppy recipes.

Brands on this page

The deepest ranges are Royal Canin, Hill’s Science Diet, Advance and Black Hawk. ORIJEN, ACANA, Taste of the Wild, Eukanuba, Wellness Core and Ivory Coat cover the higher-protein and grain-free end. Air-dried and freeze-dried lines come from Ziwi, Prime100, K9 Natural, Absolute Holistic, Meat Mates, Bugsy’s and Kiwi Kitchens, and Zealandia uses New Zealand game proteins in its wet range.

• Dry dog food
• Wet dog food
• Puppy food
• Royal Canin
• Hill’s Science Diet
• Black Hawk