The best dog food in the UK

We did exactly that. Then we turned the bag over and tried to work out what "meat and animal derivatives (4%)" meant, and could not, because it is designed so that you cannot. So we did the obsessive thing and read the labelling regulations, then a great many ingredient lists, and then we built a scoring algorithm so nobody else has to spend their evenings like that.

Every food on this site is scored the same way, out of 100: the quality of the ingredients, how honest the label is, and whether the nutrition actually stacks up - with no added nasties.

Which leaves you one decision, and it is a much easier one than the aisle suggests. It is not "which brand", it is "which format", and it comes down to your life rather than your dog's:

• Wet or fresh if you want the closest thing to real food in the bowl. Higher moisture, usually more recognisable ingredients, generally more expensive - the budget list is the place to look if you need something more wallet-friendly. Fridge or freezer space required.
• Dry if you want to open a bag and get on with your day. Cheapest per meal, keeps for months, no defrosting at seven in the morning while a puppy screams at you.
• Raw if you are happy to plan ahead and take hygiene seriously. Big freezer, strict handling, potentially not a beginner's format on week one.
• Cold-pressed or air-dried if you want dry food convenience with gentler processing. Costs more than standard dry, travels well, increasingly the sensible middle.

Pick the format that fits your week, then take the top of that list. You will not go far wrong.

One last thing, since you are new here and everyone claims independence. Most "best dog food" lists are a commission rate in a lab coat. When a food slides down one of ours it is because the recipe changed, or the label got vaguer, or something better turned up. Never because somebody stopped paying. Brands can advertise with us, and every ad is labelled. Brands cannot move a single position on any list. Our scoring method and advertising policy are both public and both extremely dull. That's rather the point.