Our verdict
Is K9 Ancestral Diet • The Way Nature Intended Lamb a good dog food?
We score it 62/100 (Average). This reflects the ingredient quality, composition and label transparency of the recipe as declared on the label.
100% of this recipe has no printed percentage. Estimated shares are model estimates, not label facts.
Who is this food for?
Suits
- Labelled by the manufacturer for all lifestages
- Grain-free: no grain ingredients listed
- Doesn't list chicken, turkey, venison, pork, duck as ingredients
Consider something else if:
- Your dog avoids beef: the label lists beef liver
- Your dog avoids lamb: the label lists lamb
- Your dog avoids fish: the label lists cod liver oil
- You want a single-protein recipe: this one lists more than one animal protein
These points are derived from declared ingredients and analysis, not a substitute for veterinary advice. If your dog has a diagnosed condition, food choice is a medical nutrition decision: speak to your vet. Find foods that fit your dog.
Ingredients (17)100% of the recipe is estimated
Estimated composition
- veg 40.5%
- meat 21.9%
- supplement 12.9%
- carb 7.5%
- fruit 6.6%
- mineral 5.4%
- oil 5.2%
| # | As declared | Matched | Label reading | Declared % | Est. % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lamb | Lamb | meat · medium | - | 7.7 |
| 2 | Sweet Potatoes | Sweet Potatoes | carb · good | - | 7.5 |
| 3 | Beef Livers | Beef Liver | meat · good | - | 7.2 |
| 4 | Beef Hearts | Beef Hearts | meat · good | - | 7.0 |
| 5 | Spinach | Spinach | veg · good | - | 6.8 |
| 6 | Applesauce (Apples, Water, Apple Juice Concentrate) | Apple Sauce | fruit · medium | - | 6.6 |
| 7 | Blackberries | Blackberries | veg · good | - | 6.3 |
| 8 | Blueberries | Blueberries | veg · good | - | 6.1 |
| 9 | Raspberries | Raspberries | veg · good | - | 5.9 |
| 10 | Flaxseed | Linseed | veg · good | - | 5.7 |
| 11 | Cooked Bone Meal | Bone meal | mineral · medium | - | 5.4 |
| 12 | Cod Liver Oil | Cod Liver Oil | oil · good | - | 5.2 |
| 13 | Ground Ginger | Ginger | veg · good | - | 5.0 |
| 14 | Dried Kelp | Kelp | veg · good | - | 4.8 |
| 15 | Vitamin E Supplement | Vitamin E | supplement · good | - | 4.5 |
| 16 | Choline | Choline | supplement · good | - | 4.3 |
| 17 | Calcium Citrate | Calcium Carbonate | supplement · medium | - | 4.1 |
- 1. Lamb7.7% estimated
- 2. Sweet Potatoes7.5% estimated
- 3. Beef Livers7.2% estimated
- 4. Beef Hearts7.0% estimated
- 5. Spinach6.8% estimated
- 6. Applesauce (Apples, Water, Apple Juice Concentrate)6.6% estimated
- 7. Blackberries6.3% estimated
- 8. Blueberries6.1% estimated
- 9. Raspberries5.9% estimated
- 10. Flaxseed5.7% estimated
- 11. Cooked Bone Meal5.4% estimated
- 12. Cod Liver Oil5.2% estimated
- 13. Ground Ginger5.0% estimated
- 14. Dried Kelp4.8% estimated
- 15. Vitamin E Supplement4.5% estimated
- 16. Choline4.3% estimated
- 17. Calcium Citrate4.1% estimated
Nutrition and feeding
Declared analysis (as fed)
No analysis recorded yet.
Additives & feeding info
Additives declared on the label
Nutritional additives
Vitamin E Supplement
Trust and sourceNo recalls recorded in our database · checked 2026-09-13
Brand and contact: K9 Ancestral Diet • The Way Nature Intended
Trust and provenance
- Recall history
- No recalls recorded in our database
- Label data last checked
- 2026-09-13
- Scored with
- Model v3 (methodology)
- Product page
- www.k9ancestraldiet.com
Recall history is presentation-only and never affects the score. Dates are when we recorded the data, not when the manufacturer last changed the recipe.
Spotted a mistake in this listing? Report it here and we'll take a look.
Score details and methodologyCalculations, history and evidence
Recipe: how the 1-100 score is calculated
Why this score?
The overall score for this recipe is 62 out of 100. It gained +7.8 points for the overall quality of the ingredient list and +2.3 points for being labelled nutritionally complete. It lost -10.6 points for ingredients without printed percentages and -1 points for the oil and fat content.
Scored with model v3 on 2026-10-25. Each component is the feature value for this product multiplied by the model's published coefficient.
| Component | Input | Coefficient | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base score | - | 30.909 | +30.91 |
| Average ingredient quality | 0.8 | 9.191 | +7.78 |
| Carb share of dry matter | 3.9% | -0.115 | -0.45 |
| Oil share of dry matter | 10.7% | -0.092 | -0.99 |
| Vegetable share of dry matter | 36.6% | -0.005 | -0.19 |
| Supplement share of dry matter | 24.7% | -0.012 | -0.30 |
| Undeclared quantities | 100.0% | -0.106 | -10.56 |
| Complete diet | yes | 2.294 | +2.29 |
| Low meat (under 10% of dry matter) | yes | -3.158 | -3.16 |
| Processing multiplier | 1.12 | 33.786 | +37.84 |
| Processing: Raw | yes | -0.054 | -0.05 |
Show all 40 components
| Component | Input | Coefficient | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base score | - | 30.909 | +30.91 |
| Average ingredient quality | 0.8 | 9.191 | +7.78 |
| Meat share of dry matter | 0.0% | 0.096 | +0.00 |
| Carb share of dry matter | 3.9% | -0.115 | -0.45 |
| Oil share of dry matter | 10.7% | -0.092 | -0.99 |
| Vegetable share of dry matter | 36.6% | -0.005 | -0.19 |
| Additive share of dry matter | 0.0% | 0.163 | +0.00 |
| Supplement share of dry matter | 24.7% | -0.012 | -0.30 |
| Other share of dry matter | 0.0% | -0.375 | +0.00 |
| Unrecognised share of dry matter | 0.0% | -0.027 | +0.00 |
| Recipe graded poor | 0.0% | -0.065 | +0.00 |
| Poor-quality meat in recipe | 0.0% | -0.179 | +0.00 |
| Number of poor ingredients | 0 | -0.876 | +0.00 |
| Largest single poor ingredient | 0.0% | 0.060 | +0.00 |
| Undeclared quantities | 100.0% | -0.106 | -10.56 |
| Prints ingredient percentages | no | 0.000 | +0.00 |
| Complete diet | yes | 2.294 | +2.29 |
| Frozen or chilled fresh | no | 0.000 | +0.00 |
| High meat (30%+ of dry matter) | no | 0.707 | +0.00 |
| Low meat (under 10% of dry matter) | yes | -3.158 | -3.16 |
| High carb and low meat | no | -1.180 | +0.00 |
| Meat share × printed percentages | 0.0 | 0.000 | +0.00 |
| Meat share × fresh | 0.0 | 0.000 | +0.00 |
| Fresh × high meat | 0.0 | 11.084 | +0.00 |
| Additive penalty | 0.00 | 0.222 | +0.00 |
| Processing multiplier | 1.12 | 33.786 | +37.84 |
| Processing: Raw | yes | -0.054 | -0.05 |
| Processing: Fresh Chilled | no | -2.354 | +0.00 |
| Processing: Fresh Frozen | no | -2.354 | +0.00 |
| Processing: Fresh Refrigerated | no | 0.000 | +0.00 |
| Processing: Fresh Shelf | no | -0.672 | +0.00 |
| Processing: Dry Freeze Dried | no | 6.629 | +0.00 |
| Processing: Dry Air Dried | no | 6.331 | +0.00 |
| Processing: Dry Cold Pressed | no | -6.713 | +0.00 |
| Processing: Dry Baked | no | -6.713 | +0.00 |
| Processing: Dry Extruded | no | -6.713 | +0.00 |
| Processing: Dry Semi Moist | no | -6.174 | +0.00 |
| Processing: Dry Muesli | no | -10.146 | +0.00 |
| Processing: Wet Pate | no | -0.672 | +0.00 |
| Processing: Wet Chunks | no | -0.672 | +0.00 |
- Processing-type offset
- -1.74
- Additives declared on label
- +1 transparency bonus
- Subtotal
- 62.4
- Final score
- 62/100
Contributions are rounded to two decimals, so they may not sum exactly to the subtotal. The full coefficient table is published on the methodology page.
Nutritional: declared analysis vs reference ranges
Analytical constituents not declared
Declared fortification: 1 nutritional additive on the label
- Vitamin E Supplement
Transparency: what the label discloses
How much the manufacturer discloses, measured against the FEDIAF Code of Good Labelling Practice and Regulation 767/2009. Mandatory items dominate the weighting.
| Item | Points |
|---|---|
| Ingredient list on the label (mandatory) | 10/10 |
| Printed percentages on the label (voluntary) - not on file | 0/20 |
| Analytical constituents declared (mandatory) - not on file | 0/15 |
| Additives declared (mandatory) | 5/10 |
| Energy value declared (voluntary) - not on file | 0/5 |
| Complete/complementary designation (mandatory) | 5/5 |
| Feeding guidance given (mandatory) - not on file | 0/10 |
| Manufacturer identity and address (mandatory) | 5/10 |
| Country of manufacture stated (voluntary) | 10/10 |
| Batch and date labelling (mandatory) - not on file | 0/5 |
Capped at 60: mandatory items missing (Analytical constituents declared, Feeding guidance given, Batch and date labelling).
Safety: recall history
Recall and safety-notice history, time-decayed. This dimension is shown alongside the score and never feeds the headline number.
No recalls recorded in our database.
Evidence: what the brand claims, and what supports it
The claims made on the pack and product page, checked against the declared label. We record claims as stated; "consistent" means our stored label data supports the claim, "contradicted" means it conflicts with it. Functional claims are recorded but never scored.
100/100 · moderate — 1 checkable claim: 1 consistent, 0 contradicted.
Consistent with the label
- "No Grains" — supported by the declared grain-free data.
8 further claims on file that we cannot check against the label.
Moderate: every checkable claim is consistent with the declared label.
| Claim | Type | Check | Substantiation |
|---|---|---|---|
| nutritionally balanced by AAFCO standards (on page) | Functional | not checkable | Manufacturer assertion |
| No Fillers (on page) | Free-from | not checkable | Manufacturer assertion |
| No Preservatives (on page) | Free-from | not checkable | Manufacturer assertion |
| Pre-biotics (on page) | Content | not checkable | Manufacturer assertion |
| No Bi-products (on page) | Free-from | not checkable | Manufacturer assertion |
| packed with fresh ingredients (on page) | Content | not checkable | Manufacturer assertion |
| No Grains (on page) | Free-from | consistent | Manufacturer assertion |
| Nutrient-rich animal organs (on page) | Content | not checkable | Manufacturer assertion |
| Omega 3's (on page) | Content | not checkable | Manufacturer assertion |
The full scoring method is published. See the methodology for exactly how the headline score and each dimension are calculated.
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