Four Foods, One Method
The same five measures, applied to each food from its own figures.
These foods are different formats, so cost is shown but not ranked: wet and kibble are priced on very different amounts of water.
Prices are the lowest per pound we found across bag sizes, from our latest checks. Stores change prices often.
Open Your Saved Comparison- 01 Royal Canin Small Indoor Adult Swap Remove
- 02 Royal Canin Labrador Retriever Adult Swap Remove
- 03 K9 Natural Lamb Feast Grain-Free Swap Remove
- 04 TruDog Garden of Vegan Plant-Based Swap Remove
| 01 Royal Canin Small Indoor Adult Swap Remove | 02 Royal Canin Labrador Retriever Adult Swap Remove | 03 K9 Natural Lamb Feast Grain-Free Swap Remove | 04 TruDog Garden of Vegan Plant-Based Swap Remove | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. | 01 Small Indoor Adult 21.1% | 02 Labrador Retriever Adult 31.3% | 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 44.6% Best in this row | 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 26.1% |
| 02 Carbohydrate Load, Dry Matter Lower Is Better Estimated, 6% ash assumed. Estimated, not measured. It is what is left of the guaranteed analysis once protein, fat, fiber and moisture are taken out, with ash assumed at 6%. That leftover is mostly starch but also carries sugars and the fiber a crude-fiber test misses, so read it as a close estimate rather than an exact figure. Measured as fed, the same basis as the bag. | 01 Small Indoor Adult 55% 49.3% as fed | 02 Labrador Retriever Adult 44% 39.6% as fed | 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 9% 8.5% as fed Best in this row | 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 40% 4.8% as fed |
| 03 Named Proteins In The First Five Count of named animal proteins. The count matches any named animal word in the opening five ingredients, so it also counts animal fats and flavourings as proteins. It is shown because it is one of the five measured lines, but it is too rough to call a winner on. | 01 Small Indoor Adult 2 of 5 | 02 Labrador Retriever Adult 1 of 5 | 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 5 of 5 | 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 0 of 5 |
| 04 Flagged Additives Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. | 01 Small Indoor Adult None Best in this row | 02 Labrador Retriever Adult 1 Menadione | 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free None Best in this row | 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based None Best in this row |
| 05 Brand Recall History Level Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. | 01 Small Indoor Adult None | 02 Labrador Retriever Adult None | 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free None | 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based None |
| Starch, As Fed Estimated, not measured. It is what is left of the guaranteed analysis once protein, fat, fiber and moisture are taken out, with ash assumed at 6%. That leftover is mostly starch but also carries sugars and the fiber a crude-fiber test misses, so read it as a close estimate rather than an exact figure. Measured as fed, the same basis as the bag. | 01 Small Indoor Adult 49.3% | 02 Labrador Retriever Adult 39.6% | 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 8.5% | 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 4.8% |
| Kcal / Cup | 01 Small Indoor Adult 354 | 02 Labrador Retriever Adult 306 | 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free -- | 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based -- |
| Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes | 01 Small Indoor Adult $8.00 2.5 lb bag, Amazon | 02 Labrador Retriever Adult $3.33 30 lb bag, Amazon | 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free $37.50 8 lb bag, Chewy | 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based -- No price on file. |
| Cost / 1,000 Kcal What the same amount of energy costs, so a denser food is not penalized for a higher price per pound. | 01 Small Indoor Adult $4.88 | 02 Labrador Retriever Adult $2.11 | 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free -- No calorie figure on file. | 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based -- No price on file. |
| First Five Ingredients | 01 Small Indoor Adult Brewers rice, chicken by-product meal, corn, brown rice, chicken fat | 02 Labrador Retriever Adult Corn, chicken by-product meal, oat groats, brewers rice, corn protein meal | 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free Lamb, Lamb Tripe, Lamb Heart, Lamb Lung, Lamb Liver | 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based Vegetable broth, chickpeas, potatoes, pea protein, carrots |
Add A Food
The comparison holds four foods. Use Swap on a column to put a different one in its place.
Every figure here is the food's own. Protein and carbohydrate are converted to dry matter so foods of different moisture can be set beside each other; starch is estimated from the guaranteed analysis with ash assumed at 6.0%, and the recall record belongs to the manufacturer rather than to the recipe. Two rows are printed but never marked: the named-protein count, because the detection behind it is too rough to call a winner on, and calories, because neither more nor fewer is better without knowing the dog.
Think You Know What Your Dog Can Eat?
Ten everyday foods. Safe, In Moderation or Never. No googling, no second guesses. Then share your score with your friends, however embarrassing it turns out to be.
115 foods in the deck. Grapes are in there. So is cheese.
Think You
Know?
Ten foods, one at a time. Call each one Safe, In Moderation or Never, then flip the card to see if you had it right. The ones you miss are listed at the end.
Keys: 1 Safe 2 Moderation 3 Never Enter Next
Copied. Paste it anywhere your friends will see it.
Want the reason behind every answer? The 80-page e-book, $7.99
Now, is your dog's food any good?
Look it up: estimated starch, calories per cup and every ingredient, for 3,207 foods.



