The short answer
Choose a food labelled “complete” for your dog's life stage and size, check its calories, and weigh portions. Price is not a guide to quality: for a 20 kg adult, the complete dry foods we priced on 21 October 2026 cost £0.57 to £1.54 a day, and feeding only wet food costs from about £5.23.
What is the difference between complete and complementary dog food?
A Complete food: Food that meets all of a dog's nutritional needs when fed on its own as the sole diet. Look for the word "complete" on the label. food contains everything a dog needs when fed as directed; UK Pet Food's labelling factsheet notes that “complete” is a legal definition. A Complementary food: Food that has to be fed with other food to make a full diet, such as treats, toppers and most mixer biscuits. food, such as a mixer biscuit, topper or treat, needs other food added to give a balanced diet (UK Pet Food factsheet). The WSAVA's guidelines add that complementary foods should make up no more than about 10% of what a dog eats (WSAVA guidelines). Check the word “complete” on every food you feed as a main meal, including subscription and fresh foods; our dog food subscriptions comparison notes which ranges are not complete.
How do you read a UK dog food label?
Pet food is regulated as animal feed, not human food, so its label uses feed terms. UK Pet Food says the law requires a list of ingredients (“composition”), additives, a nutrition analysis (“analytical constituents”) and feeding guidelines. Here is what each line means, with examples from foods we checked on 21 October 2026.
| Label line | What it tells you | Example from a UK food |
|---|---|---|
| Complete or complementary | Whether the food can be fed on its own. 'Complete' is a legal term. | Burns Original: "a complete food for dogs" |
| Composition | Ingredients in descending order of weight, either by name or by category such as 'meat and animal derivatives'. | James Wellbeloved Puppy: dried turkey protein (24%), white rice (16%), naked oats... |
| Percentage of a named ingredient | If the label draws attention to an ingredient ("with chicken"), it must give its percentage: the minimum guaranteed. | Pro Plan Medium Puppy: "premium chicken (20%)" |
| Analytical constituents | Protein, fat, fibre and ash (the mineral content, not an added ingredient), as percentages. | Burns Original: protein 18.5%, fat 7.5%, fibre 2.2%, ash 6.0% |
| Energy (calories) | Not required on UK labels, but often given as kcal per 100 g or per kg. You need it for portion maths. | Wainwright's Adult Chicken & Rice: 361.7 kcal per 100 g |
| Feeding guidelines | The maker's daily amount by weight. A starting point, then adjust to body condition. | Hill's Sensitive Stomach & Skin: 285 g a day for a 20 kg dog |
The “4% chicken” style of declaration is the minimum percentage the maker guarantees; other meats can be present too. If you are avoiding one protein for a sensitive dog, read every ingredient: our sensitive stomach comparison shows foods named after one meat that contain others.
Which food suits your dog's age and size?
Makers set different amounts and formulas by age and expected size. These are the points that changed the choice in our comparisons:
| Dog | What to look for | From our comparisons |
|---|---|---|
| Puppy | A complete food for puppies or all life stages, chosen by expected adult size | Royal Canin sells Mini (up to 10 kg adult), Medium (11–25 kg) and Maxi (26–44 kg) puppy foods. See puppy food. |
| Large-breed puppy | A large-breed puppy formula, fed for longer | Royal Canin Maxi Puppy switches to adult food at 16 months. See large-breed puppy food. |
| Adult | A complete adult food, portioned for weight and activity | £0.57–£1.54 a day for a 20 kg dog on dry food. See dog food compared. |
| Overweight adult | Portions set for the target weight; a lighter recipe can help | See dog food for weight loss. |
| Senior | Fewer calories if your dog is slowing down; weigh regularly | Burns gives 8 g per kg for its Senior recipe against 14 g per kg for standard adults. See senior dog food. |
To turn your dog's weight and life stage into grams, use the dog food portion calculator, which includes a 2–60 kg feeding chart.
Wet, dry, fresh or raw: what does each cost?
Cost per day is where food types differ most. These figures are for the foods and dogs shown, from prices checked on 21 October 2026:
| Type | Cost per day | Basis | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry (complete) | £0.57–£1.54 | Seven complete dry foods we compared, 20 kg adult | Cupboard |
| Wet only (complete) | From about £5.23 | Lily's Kitchen 400 g tins at £3.80, 20 kg adult | Cupboard; fridge once opened |
| Air-dried | From £0.89 | Pure Pet Food's figure for a small dog | Cupboard |
| Raw | From £1.18 | Bella & Duke's figure for a 5–10 kg dog | Freezer |
| Fresh cooked | From £2.34 | Butternut Box's figure for a 12–15 kg dog | Freezer |
Raw food and hygiene
The Food Standards Agency tested 380 raw dog and cat foods bought in the UK between March 2023 and February 2024. Its report, published on 10 February 2026, found harmful bacteria in 35% of samples, with Salmonella in 20.8% and Campylobacter in 13.7% (FSA raw pet food survey). If you feed raw, store it apart from your own food, wash hands and surfaces after handling, and talk to your vet, especially if someone at home is very young, old, pregnant or has weak immunity.
For what each type costs over a month and by dog size, see our dog food cost guide; for wet food in detail, our Lily's Kitchen review.
What dog food do vets recommend?
Vets do not agree on one brand for every dog, and Pawwala does not recommend one either. What vets' own global body, the WSAVA, does publish is a checklist for judging a maker. It suggests asking whether the company employs a qualified nutritionist, who formulates the recipes, what quality control it runs on ingredients and finished food, and whether it does and publishes research. On the label it looks for a nutritional adequacy (“complete”) statement, the calories, and contact details for questions. If a maker cannot or will not answer, the WSAVA says owners should be cautious about the brand (WSAVA guidelines). Your own vet can advise for your dog's health.
Does premium or grain-free dog food mean better?
Not on its own. The WSAVA notes that terms such as “holistic” and “premium” are unregulated marketing language of little practical value. In our comparison, Harringtons Rich in Lamb & Rice cost £0.83 a day and Hill's Science Plan Sensitive Stomach & Skin £1.26; both are complete foods. Grain-free is not a mark of quality either: the US FDA looked into heart disease reports in dogs on some grain-free, pulse-heavy diets, and its latest update (23 December 2022) did not establish that the diets caused it (FDA investigation page). Unless your vet advises it, there is no need to avoid grains.
When you change food, do it gradually: Burns, for example, advises moving to a new food over 10 to 14 days. If your dog has ongoing vomiting, diarrhoea or weight change, or you are worried, contact your vet. Food is the biggest regular cost in our cost of owning a dog guide, and our first-time dog owner guide covers the rest of the set-up.
What changed in this update
- 21 October 2026: Rewritten with sources: UK Pet Food's labelling factsheet, WSAVA's food selection guidelines, the FSA's 2026 raw pet food survey and the FDA's 2022 DCM update. Unsourced claims (protein and ash thresholds, additive lists, a regulation we could not verify, and monthly cost ranges) removed. Costs now come from our 21 October 2026 price checks. Added a label table with real examples, life-stage and food-type tables, and what vets recommend.
Questions
What does complete dog food mean?
UK Pet Food's labelling factsheet explains that 'complete' is a legal definition: the food contains all the nutrients a dog needs when fed as directed. A complementary food, such as a mixer biscuit or treats, needs other food added to give a balanced diet.
What dog food do vets recommend?
There is no single food vets recommend for every dog. The WSAVA, the world body for small-animal vets, suggests asking whether a maker employs a qualified nutritionist, who formulates its recipes, what quality control it runs and whether it publishes research, and choosing a complete food that suits your dog's life stage. Your own vet can advise for your dog.
Is grain-free dog food good for dogs?
Not better by default. The US FDA looked into heart disease (dilated cardiomyopathy) reports in dogs on some grain-free, pulse-heavy diets; its latest update, of 23 December 2022, did not establish a cause. Unless your vet advises it, there is no need to avoid grains.
Is raw dog food good for dogs?
Raw food carries a hygiene risk for the people in your home. In a Food Standards Agency survey published on 10 February 2026, 35% of 380 raw dog and cat food samples bought in the UK contained harmful bacteria, including Salmonella in 20.8%. If you feed raw, handle it like raw meat and talk to your vet, especially if anyone at home is very young, old, pregnant or has weak immunity.
Is puppy food bad for adult dogs?
Puppy food is made for growth, so it usually has more energy per bowl than an adult food. Makers move dogs to adult food at a set age: Royal Canin's tables switch at about 12 months for small and medium dogs and 16 months for its Maxi (26–44 kg) puppies. Ask your vet if your dog is overweight or has a health condition.