Puppy, adult and senior dog food compared: what the labels and data show

Puppy, adult and senior dog foods do differ on the label. Among 211 puppy, 770 adult and 135 senior dry foods, the median (middle) declared protein is 32.4%, 27.8% and 26.7% of dry matter. Median energy is 372, 356 and 350 kcal (calories) per 100 g. Median scores are 32, 30 and 26. Our data, as at 5 Oct 2026.

Wet puppy and adult foods share a median score of 61. Of the 465 foods whose label allows a puppy, 129 (28%) say “all life stages”. These are medians of what labels declare, not what any dog needs.

What the life stage on a label means

A dog food label has to name the species or category of animal the food is for.^[3] The industry’s labelling code says this can include the life stage, as in a complete food for adult dogs.^[2] The label guide covers the rest of what a label shows.

Our sources give no single age at which a dog counts as a puppy, adult or senior on a pack. FEDIAF’s guidelines split growth at 14 weeks, and one of its energy tables calls dogs over 7 senior dogs.^[1] On the pack, “puppy”, “junior” and “senior” are the maker’s choice of wording.

Our build reads the stage from the product name first, then from the maker’s description of who the food is for. Puppy, junior and baby-dog recipes count as puppy. Senior, mature, veteran and ageing recipes count as senior. A name that mixes puppy words with adult or senior words counts as all life stages.

If neither states a stage, the food is recorded as adult, so the adult group includes some foods whose packs do not say. Only complete foods are compared: a complete food is sufficient for a daily ration on its own.^[1] Complementary foods and prescription diets are left out.

What the nutrition guidelines set for growth and adult dogs

FEDIAF, the European pet food industry federation, publishes nutritional guidelines for complete dog food. We read the September 2025 edition, which FEDIAF lists as its current version.^[1][4]

The tables give minimum recommended levels per 100 g of dry matter. FEDIAF says these are not minimum requirements or optimal intake levels (page 14).^[1]

The adult range has two ends because FEDIAF gives two adult columns. They are based on an average daily energy intake of 110 or 95 kcal per kg of body weight to the power 0.75 (page 13). The 95 kcal column has the higher levels. The early growth column also covers reproduction.

Per 1,000 kcal of energy instead of per 100 g, the protein minimums differ. Adults have 45.00 or 52.10 g, early growth 62.50 g and late growth 50.00 g (Table III-3b, page 16).^[1]

All life stages. A complete food that names no life stage is assumed to be complete for all life stages. FEDIAF says it should then be formulated to the early growth and reproduction levels (page 10).^[1] Our data usually files such a food as adult, so some adult foods here are of this kind.

Large breeds. In the tables, breed size matters for calcium. For breeds with an adult weight over 15 kg, the late growth level is 1.00 g until about 6 months of age, and only after that can calcium be reduced to 0.80 g. For breeds up to 15 kg, 0.80 g applies for the whole of late growth (page 21).^[1] FEDIAF also recommends a strict nutritional maximum for foods intended for large breed puppies (page 24).^[1]

Senior dogs. There is no separate senior column. FEDIAF says its protein levels allow for the requirements of older dogs (page 22). Its Table VII-6 lists the same two energy figures for dogs aged 3 to 7 (110) and for dogs over 7, which it calls senior dogs (95), in kcal per kg to the power 0.75 (page 54).^[1] So the guidelines set no senior minimums of their own, and a “senior” label is the maker’s own choice of wording.

How many foods are labelled for each stage

We score 2,120 complete foods. This table shows how many carry each life stage, and what types of food they are.

The overall medians in the last column are not a fair comparison, because the types of food score differently on our single scale. Across all stages, median scores are 30 for dry food, 61 for wet food, 74 for fresh food, 76 for air-dried and freeze-dried food and 88 for raw food. Dry food has the lowest median of the types. The score gives points for a low starch share and for less-processed food, and dry food tends to earn fewer of both. So a stage with more dry food looks lower and a stage with more raw food looks higher, whatever its label. See how UK dog foods score and how we score.

In this release, all life stages foods have the highest overall median (59) and senior foods the lowest (30). Raw, fresh and air-dried foods are 36% of the first group and 3% of the second. So the next sections compare stages within one type of food.

Dry food by life stage

Dry food here means kibble, baked and cold-pressed foods: 1,171 of the 2,120 foods. Protein and carbohydrate are on a dry-matter basis, which means with the water taken out, so a figure means the same in a kibble and a tin.

Each figure is a median of the foods that state it. n/a means fewer than 10 foods do. Adult includes foods whose packs state no stage.

• Compared with adult dry foods, puppy dry foods declare 4.6 points more protein and 6.8 points less carbohydrate, both on a dry-matter basis.
• Puppy dry foods carry 16 kcal more energy per 100 g (372 kcal against 356).
• Median scores are 32 for puppy, 30 for adult and 26 for senior dry foods. Foods scoring 60 or more are 3% of puppy, 1% of adult and 1% of senior dry foods.
• Compared with adult dry foods, senior dry foods score 4 points lower, declare 2.1 points less meat and 4.1 points more carbohydrate.
• Median price per 1,000 kcal runs from £1.16 for puppy dry foods to £1.64 for dry foods for all life stages. The groups hold different makers, so this is not a price for a life stage.

Wet food by life stage

Wet food is mostly water, so its energy per 100 g is far below dry food’s (adult wet foods 103 kcal, adult dry foods 356). Price per 1,000 kcal puts the two on the same footing.

Each figure is a median of the foods that state it. n/a means fewer than 10 foods do.

• Puppy and adult wet foods have the same median score (61), and declare 64% and 60% meat.
• Compared with adult wet foods, senior wet foods score 7 points lower and carry 12 kcal less energy per 100 g.
• Median price per 1,000 kcal runs from £5.87 for puppy wet foods to £8.69 for wet foods for all life stages, against £1.16 to £1.64 for dry food.

Raw, fresh and air-dried food by life stage

These types are smaller, and some stages hold very few foods. A median needs at least 10 foods, so thin cells show a count only.

7 of the 12 cells above hold too few foods for a median. Where raw foods have enough for a median, it is higher than the dry and wet medians for the same stage.

Declared protein against the guideline figures

Protein is stated for 97% of these foods, so we can set it beside the FEDIAF minimums above. This is a rough comparison, not a test of whether a food meets the guidelines. FEDIAF also sets levels for amino acids, minerals and vitamins, and says the levels should be corrected for a food’s energy density (page 13), which one percentage cannot show.^[1]

• 100% of puppy dry foods declare 25 g or more, the early growth figure. For adult dry foods it is 79% and for senior dry foods 64%.
• So protein alone does not separate the stages: many adult dry foods declare as much as the early growth figure.
• For dry foods labelled for all life stages it is 95%. FEDIAF says such foods should follow the early growth levels.^[1]
• For wet, raw, fresh and air-dried foods, 93% to 100% declare 25 g or more, at each stage with enough foods.

Foods named for small and large breeds

Some foods name a dog size in the product name, such as small, mini, toy, medium, maxi, large or giant. We read the size from the name, and leave out size words that describe the kibble, such as “small bite”. A food with no size in its name is made for any size, as far as the name says.

A name like “small and medium” counts in both columns, so a row can add to more than 100%.

49 puppy foods name large breeds and 28 name small breeds. Among adult foods, 96 name large breeds and 138 name small breeds.

Among dry puppy foods, median energy is 383 kcal per 100 g for those naming small breeds (25 foods) and 364 for those naming large breeds (47 foods). For adult dry foods the two medians are 361 and 361. Median declared protein for the puppy groups is 33.3% and 32.4%, and median scores are 32 and 31. These groups are small, so read them as a guide.

The FEDIAF calcium points above depend on a puppy’s adult weight. Our data holds protein, fat, fibre, ash and moisture from each label, not calcium. So we cannot say how many large-breed puppy foods sit inside the calcium limits.

Puppy foods and all life stages foods

A food’s label allows a puppy in two cases: it says puppy, or it says all life stages. Together that is 465 foods, and 129 (28%) of them say all life stages.

“Share of both” is the all life stages share of the puppy and all life stages foods together. “Share of the type” is the all life stages share of every scored food of that type. The fresh and air-dried rows rest on fewer than 10 foods, so read them as a guide.

Our best dog food for puppies list takes in both groups, because a food labelled for all life stages is also labelled for puppies.

Highest-scoring foods for each stage

The puppies list holds 223 foods scoring 45 or more, out of 465 puppy and all life stages foods. The senior list holds 134 out of 332, and it also takes in foods labelled for all life stages. Below are the top dry and wet foods for each stage in this release. Foods named as examples leave out mixers, toppers, short-dated or clearance stock, and foods whose energy figure is missing or does not fit their type of food.

Food pages may carry retailer links that earn us a commission. Commission never changes a score or ranking.

How to read these figures

• The foods are the 2,120 complete, scored foods in the release of 5 Oct 2026. Prescription diets and complementary foods are left out.
• A median is the middle value: half the foods in a row are above it, half below. It is shown only where at least 10 foods state the figure.
• Not every food gives every figure. Meat is stated for 88% of the 2,120 foods, protein for 97%, energy for 95% and a price per 1,000 kcal for 92%. Carbohydrate is estimated from the analysis, and is available for 95%.
• Energy is in kcal, which most people call calories. It is the label’s figure where there is one, otherwise calculated from the analysis, and 53% of the energy figures are calculated. An energy figure that does not fit the food’s type, and the price per 1,000 kcal worked from it, is left out of the medians.
• Where a dry food prints no moisture figure, we assume 10% water. That sets its dry-matter figures and its calculated energy.
• Stages are what the label or maker says. A gap between two medians shows how recipes are written. It does not show what causes the gap.
• For amounts to feed, see how much to feed a dog. For how scores are built, see our method.
• Every figure here is worked out again from the live data when we publish a release.

Sources

1. Nutritional Guidelines for Complete and Complementary Pet Food for Cats and Dogs (September 2025), FEDIAF
2. Code of Good Labelling Practice for Pet Food (October 2019), FEDIAF
3. Regulation (EC) No 767/2009, Article 17 (as retained in UK law), legislation.gov.uk
4. FEDIAF Nutritional Guidelines: the current version (2025), FEDIAF

This guide is general information, not veterinary advice. Spotted an error? Tell us.