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Leader · dry

Leader Adult Slimline Large Breed review

A solid, honest dry food. Just 21% declared meat content. Feeding it costs about 56p a day for a typical adult dog - the breakdown below shows exactly what that buys.

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ODF Score 66/100 Good
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Top 63%scores higher than 37% of rated foodsacross all 3075 foods we've scored
Goodscore bandthe dot marks where it sits among every food we've rated
£0.56 approx.per day for a 10 kg dogcheaper than 65% of dry foods
21%declared meat content
Irelandbrand origin

Where the points went

The full breakdown, exactly as the algorithm scored it. How our rating works

Ingredient quality
Weighted ingredient quality 60/100 across 21 ingredients (declared percentages used for 1, position estimates for the rest). Named meat is only 21% of the recognised recipe, so the quality score is anchored down towards a plant-led food.
23.3 / 40
Label clarity
Every ingredient individually named (+5); percentages cover 21% of the recipe (+1.3); meat sources named (+2); recipe reads as a fixed formula (+2).
10.3 / 15
Additives
Declared additives below our neutral line, weakest being Hydrolysed Liver Protein (-0.8).
9.3 / 10
Red flags
No red-flag ingredients.
0 / 0
Meat content
Meat content ~50.4% fresh-equivalent (added up from every named meat on the label; dried meats counted at their fresh weight). Held to dry-matter protein: 21.1% DM protein supports this level of meat credit, not the full declared figure.
11.1 / 15
Nutritional balance
Estimated carbohydrate 61% dry matter (very high); fat 7.8% DM is low for essential fats (-0.2); fibre 2.8% DM (+2); ash 7.2% DM - sensible mineral load (+2); functional extras: omega-3 source, named botanicals, joint support (+2).
5.8 / 10
Processing
Assumed extruded kibble (standard high-heat process).
6 / 10
ODF Score
Algorithm v1.4.1 · scored August 19, 2026 · full methodology public
66 / 100

Our analysis

Breaking the 66 down: the biggest single loss is ingredient quality, where it takes 23.3 of a possible 40. Its strongest showing is additives at 9.3 of 10.

The label declares 21% meat, which is a low figure, and a declared low figure is still more honest than silence, and the ingredient list is only partly specific.

At about 56p a day to feed a 10kg dog, the question is not whether it is cheap but whether the label justifies the price - and on our scoring, it broadly does.

Ingredients

Straight from the label, grouped by role - every ingredient is coloured by our published classification and links to its full page.

Additives (as declared on the label)
Vitamin a 17, 250i.u. Vitamin D3 1, 625i.u. Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol ) 200i.u. Trace Elements: Copper Sulphate Pentahydrate 28.0mg, Sodium Selenite 0.3mg, Iron Sulphate Monohydrate 187.5mg, Manganese Oxide 65.0mg, Zinc Oxide 79.0mg, Zinc Chelate of Amino Acid Hydrate 162.5mg, Calcium Iodate Anhydrous 2.4mg, Amino Acids: 3.2.3 L-Lysine Monohydrochloride 2, 860mg.

Feeding & cost

What a bag actually costs to feed - worked out per dog, not per pack.

Pack sizeRRPPer kg
12 kg£39.99£3.33

How heavy is your dog?

A typical 10 kg adult dog needs about 167 g a day = £0.56 / day, £17.02 / month.

How we work this out
  1. Energy: an adult dog at rest needs about 95 × weight0.75 kcal a day (the FEDIAF maintenance formula - a 10 kg dog works out near 534 kcal).
  2. Portion: divide that by this food's energy density, 319 kcal/100g, to get the grams above - a denser food needs fewer grams.
  3. Cost: multiply the grams by this food's price, £3.33 / kg, for the daily cost, then by 30.4 days for the month.

Estimates scale to your dog's weight and the food's calorie density - a denser food needs fewer grams. A rough guide; always follow the pack. Try the full feeding calculator

Nutrition

Declared analysis converted to a dry-matter basis, so wet and dry foods compare fairly.

Protein

21.1 % DM
Directory average: 28.2

Fat

7.8 % DM
Directory average: 14.8

Est. carbs

61.1 % DM
Directory average: 45.2

Fibre

2.8 % DM
Directory average: 3.6

Ash

7.2 % DM
Directory average: 7.9

Carbohydrates are estimated: 100% minus protein, fat, fibre, ash and moisture.

Similar foods that score higher

Same type and life stage, better ODF Score, comparable price per day.

More from Leader

Other foods in this range, whatever they score - the full picture, not just the top of the list.

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Related guides

This is label analysis, not veterinary advice - if your dog has a health condition, talk to your vet before switching foods.

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