Harringtons Complete Chicken & Rice Senior Dry Dog Food - 12kg

The Harringtons Complete Chicken & Rice Senior Dry Dog Food is built for dogs aged seven and over: the same chicken and rice base as the adult recipe, with the fat cut back and joint support added. Sold as a 12kg bag.

Key Features

• Lower In Fat: Harringtons put it at 25 per cent lower in fat than the standard adult recipe, which suits a dog that has slowed down without wanting to lose protein
• Glucosamine And Chondroitin: Added for joint support. Useful as part of a plan, not a substitute for one -- see the note below
• Chicken First: Freshly prepared chicken heads the ingredient list, with rice as the carbohydrate
• From Seven Years: Harringtons' guide age for moving a dog onto it
• Prebiotic FOS And Seaweed: For digestion and oral hygiene
• Omega 3 And 6 From Salmon Oil: For skin, coat and joints
• No Artificial Colours Or Flavours: And no dairy, soya or added wheat

What Changes In An Older Dog

Dogs slow down, lose muscle and put on fat, and the usual response -- less food -- costs them the protein they need to hold muscle. A senior recipe aims at fewer calories without cutting protein. Two things matter more than the bag, though. Weight control is the single most effective thing you can do for an arthritic dog, more than any supplement. And stiffness that you are reading as old age is usually pain that can be treated: a dog slow on the stairs, reluctant to jump into the car or lagging on walks is worth a consultation, not a shrug.

Chicken Gravy Is In Almost All Of Them

This is the thing most worth knowing before you buy, because it catches people out. Most Harringtons dry recipes are coated with what the brand calls homemade chicken gravy, whatever protein is named on the front of the bag. The Lamb & Rice, the Turkey & Veg, the Beef and the Superfoods Salmon all contain chicken. Chicken happens to be one of the most common food allergens in dogs, so if that is what you are avoiding, read the ingredient panel rather than the name. The exceptions are Just 6 Lamb and Just 6 Salmon, which use lamb gravy and salmon jus instead.

Every Recipe Contains Fish

Salmon oil is in the base of the whole range, which is where the omega 3 and 6 come from and which is genuinely good for skin and coat. It also means a bag labelled Beef, Lamb, Turkey or Chicken contains fish. Not usually a problem, and occasionally very much one -- worth knowing if fish is on your avoid list.

What Is Not In It

Harringtons build the range around exclusions, and these are the ones they list: no artificial colours, no artificial flavours, no dairy, no soya, no added wheat. Read the word added carefully. A food can be free from added wheat and still contain other cereals, which the Complete recipes do in the form of rice and maize. If you need a genuinely cereal-free food, that is the Just 6, Superfoods and Salmon & Potato recipes rather than Complete.

The Added Extras, Honestly

• Prebiotic FOS -- fructo-oligosaccharides, which feed the gut's own bacteria. A real mechanism, a modest effect, and now in most mid-market foods.
• Seaweed -- included for oral hygiene. Some seaweed-derived ingredients do have evidence behind them for slowing tartar, but no dry food cleans teeth the way brushing does. A bonus, not a dental plan.
• Omega 3 and 6 from salmon oil -- the best-supported addition in the list, and the one you are most likely to see the effect of, in the coat, over a couple of months.
• Vitamin E -- an antioxidant, and also what stops the fats in the food going rancid. The immune-support framing around it is a stretch.
• Botanicals and superfoods -- present in small amounts. Pleasant, unlikely to do harm, and not the reason to choose a food.

How Much To Feed

Treat the chart on the bag as a starting point, not an instruction -- the figures assume an average activity level and most pets are not average. The honest check is body condition rather than the number on the scales: you should be able to feel the ribs easily under a thin covering, see a waist from above and a tuck from the side. Weigh the food rather than scooping it, and count treats, because that is where the extra calories almost always come from. Fresh water with every meal.

Changing Food Gradually

Switch over a week to ten days rather than overnight. Start at roughly a quarter new food to three quarters old, move to half and half, then three quarters, holding each stage for two or three days. Loose stools during a change are normal. Loose stools still there a week after you finish mean the food does not suit. Cats are less forgiving than dogs about this and may simply refuse a sudden change.

Wet, Dry Or Both

Either can be a complete diet and mixing them is fine. Dry is cheaper per day, keeps once opened and is easy to measure. Wet is roughly eighty per cent water, which matters far more for cats than dogs. If you mix, split the daily allowance between the two rather than feeding a full portion of each -- that is the commonest way a pet quietly puts on weight.

Storing It In This Climate

• Keep dry food in its own bag inside an airtight container rather than tipping it loose into a bin. The bag has a fat barrier, and the batch code and best-before are printed on it.
• Heat and humidity turn the fat in kibble rancid faster than anything else does. Somewhere cool and dark, never a hot garage, balcony or car.
• Use a large bag within about six weeks of opening. A 15kg bag is only good value if your dog gets through it while it is still fresh.
• Opened wet food goes in the fridge covered and gets used within two days. In summer, anything left down for more than twenty minutes should go in the bin rather than back in the bowl.

When A Food Change Is Not The Answer

Diarrhoea lasting more than a couple of days, blood or black tarry stools, repeated vomiting, scratching to the point of broken skin, recurring ear infections, or any unexplained weight loss all need a vet rather than another bag of food. Switching foods repeatedly is one of the commonest ways an underlying problem goes undiagnosed for months, and it also makes a proper elimination diet harder to run later.

The Carbon Claim

Harringtons describe themselves as the UK's first carbon-negative pet food company and say more than 98 per cent of their packaging is recyclable. That is their claim rather than our measurement, and carbon negative in practice generally means emissions are offset rather than never produced. It is worth knowing because very few pet food brands publish anything on this at all -- and worth reading as marketing rather than as an audit.

Who Makes It

Harringtons is made by Inspired Pet Nutrition in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, which also makes Wagg and Butcher's. One thing worth untangling: the 1923 date you see attached to the brand belongs to the company, not to this range. It refers to the year the Harrington family started an animal feed mill in Tadcaster. The Harringtons pet food range itself launched in 2008.

Out Of Stock Right Now

This one is out of stock at the moment. The page is here for reference while we wait on the next delivery -- ask us and we will tell you where it is.

Good To Know

• Mix it with a wet recipe if your dog is a reluctant eater, but split the daily allowance between the two rather than feeding a full portion of each.
• Kibble is not a dental plan. The seaweed helps a little; brushing helps properly.
• Keep the bag itself -- the batch code and best-before are printed on it, and you will want them if there is ever a question about a bag.
• There is no legal definition of senior in pet food, and seven is a convention rather than a rule. A collie of seven is middle-aged; a great dane of seven is old. Judge the dog.
• Glucosamine and chondroitin at the levels found in a complete food are well below what a joint supplement gives. If your dog needs joint support, this is a helpful background rather than the treatment.