Best-value dry food for large dogs

A neutered 35 kg dog needs about 1,612 kcal a day by the Merck Veterinary Manual's formula, 70 x kg^0.75 x 1.6. Over a year, that's 149 to 188 kg of dry food across the four ranked foods below, and about £404 to £698 at the prices read on 2 November 2026.

The order here is price per 1,000 kcal, from one-time bag prices on the store pages and the calories those stores state. I didn't feed any of these. It's labels, prices and my reading of them, so "best value" means the lowest cost per calorie and nothing about how a dog does on the food.

Those yearly figures leave out delivery and any voucher, and they move whenever a price does. Rerun them before you buy. The sum is the kilo price divided by the kcal per kilo, times 1,000.

How I'd read this table

Pedigree's lead is large. The gap to James Wellbeloved is about £174 a year on these sums, which is plenty of reason to look at it first. Then look at what you give up. Pedigree lists 20 % protein and 9 % fat, against 24.3 % and 11.1 % for James Wellbeloved. Whether that matters for your dog isn't something a price table can settle.

Royal Canin is the odd case. On these readings it costs more per kilo than Hill's, yet you feed less of it, so it finishes ahead per calorie. With 3,941 kcal/kg by zooplus's statement, a 35 kg dog goes through about 149 kg a year. That's 10 bags. Hauling matters too.

I'd read Hill's differently. The zooplus page calls it "reduced energy content" and gives 3,130 kcal/kg, so it was never going to win on calorie cost. Fibre sits at 11.9 %. If a vet has put your dog on it, this ranking isn't a reason to switch.

The two I can't rank

AVA on Pets at Home lists 26 % protein and 14 % fat, with no calorie figure. It's also sold as a medium-breed food, and its feeding guide tops out at 20 to 30 kg with 290 to 395 g a day. A big dog falls off that table.

Pets at Home Complete Nutrition Large Breed has the lowest price per kilo of the six on these readings, £1.03/kg against Pedigree's £2.42/kg. Its page prints no calories, so the kilo price is all I can compare. It lists 23 % protein and 7 % fat, the lowest fat of the six, and says it's for large breeds aged 1 to 7.

I won't estimate calories to squeeze either one into the ranking.

Two traps on the bag sizes

Read the kilo price on every size. On the day I read it, zooplus listed James Wellbeloved's 12 kg bag at a higher price than the 15 kg bag. It also lists a two-bag pack of Pedigree at a slightly lower kilo price than one bag. Prices on these pages also sit beside other offers, so check which one your basket applies.

Comparing two of these in detail? There's Royal Canin Maxi vs Pedigree Complete and the James Wellbeloved Adult Turkey review. The pet cost calculator runs the sum at your dog's weight.