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Blackwood Lean & Senior Chicken Meal with Ancient Grains Recipe Adult Dry Dog Food, 24-lb bag
Blackwood

Lean & Senior Chicken Meal with Ancient Grains Recipe Adult Dry Dog Food, 24-lb bag

Evidence Fair
AAFCO compliance inferred from product name
dry $2.54/lb

Blackwood Lean & Senior Chicken Meal with Ancient Grains Recipe Adult Dry Dog Food, 24-lb bag earns a Sniff Score of 72/100 (B) with Fair evidence. Zero controversial ingredients flagged. Quality carbohydrate sources with fermentable fiber..

Graded by The Sniff System

Why this score

Quality carbohydrate sources with fermentable fiber.

CQI

Reasonable protein quality. chicken meal delivers solid amino acid coverage.

PQI

Quality fat sources: named fat with marine oil (EPA and DHA source).

FQI

Controversial ingredients · 1

  • sodium selenite
    Synthetic selenium source. Selenium is essential, but sodium selenite has a narrower safety margin than organic alternatives like selenium yeast. Better-formulated foods use the organic form.

Every flagged ingredient has a published basis (confirmed harm / regulatory action / precautionary). See methodology →

Guaranteed analysis
Protein
20%
min (as fed)
Fat
6.5%
min (as fed)
Fiber
4%
max (as fed)
Moisture
n/a
max
Ingredients

Read why each ingredient is good or bad for dogs.

61 total
Good Neutral Watch Flagged
  1. 1
    chicken meal

    Chicken with the water cooked out. Per pound, packs more protein than fresh chicken.

  2. 2
    brown rice

    Whole grain that's easy to digest. Steady carb energy plus a little fiber.

  3. 3
    millet

    Gluten-free whole grain. Fine for most dogs, often used as an alternative to rice.

  4. 4
    sorghum

    Whole grain with a low glycemic index. Gluten-free, well-tolerated, decent fiber content.

  5. 5
    oat
  6. 6
    barley

    Whole grain with a low glycemic profile and some soluble fiber. Easy on blood sugar.

  7. 7
    rice

    Generic rice. Could be white or brown, the label doesn't say. Brown rice would be specified if it were.

  8. 8
    dried beet pulp

    Soluble fiber from sugar-beet processing. Sometimes treated as a filler, but it's actually one of the better fiber sources in kibble.

  9. 9
    chicken fat

    Despite the name, a high-quality energy source. Concentrated calories plus essential fatty acids like linoleic acid.

  10. 10
    natural flavor

    Legal term for animal-derived flavoring, usually hydrolyzed liver or broth. Adds taste, says nothing about quality.

  11. 11
    brewers dried yeast

    Yeast left over from brewing. Rich in B vitamins and amino acids. A traditional and well-tolerated inclusion.

  12. 12
    dried tomato pomace

    The fiber-rich byproduct of tomato processing. Sometimes flagged unfairly. It's a real fiber source, not a filler shortcut.

  13. 13
    dried egg product

    Whole eggs with the water removed. Same nutritional value as fresh eggs, just shelf-stable.

  14. 14
    whitefish meal

    Whitefish cooked into a dry concentrate. Strong protein source, common in premium formulas.

  15. 15
    flaxseed

    Plant source of omega-3. Helpful for skin and coat, though dogs absorb omega-3 from fish more efficiently.

  16. 16
    salt

    Sodium chloride. Required at small doses for normal physiology. Not a quality concern in standard amounts.

  17. 17
    sodium triphosphate
  18. 18
    menhaden fish oil

    Omega-3 from menhaden, a small oily fish. Same skin and coat support as salmon oil.

  19. 19
    potassium chloride

    Required mineral. Sometimes used as a salt substitute. Standard inclusion in complete diets.

  20. 20
    inulin

    Prebiotic fiber that feeds beneficial gut bacteria. Same compound found in chicory root.

  21. 21
    calcium carbonate

    Source of calcium. Functional. Required in complete dog foods, especially those without bone-in meat meals.

  22. 22
    dried kelp

    Natural source of iodine and trace minerals. A common premium-brand inclusion.

  23. 23
    cranberries

    Often added with a urinary-tract-support marketing angle. Real cranberry compounds help in concentrate form, but kibble doses are small.

  24. 24
    blueberries

    Antioxidants, real. But the amount in any kibble is too small to do much. Mostly marketing.

  25. 25
    choline chloride

    Essential nutrient for liver and brain function. Standard inclusion in complete dog foods.

Showing first 25 of 61. Position 1-5 has the largest weight in the recipe.

23 of 25 ingredients have a curated note. Coverage grows over time.