Acana Puppy Recipe review

This recipe lands in our Excellent band, a step above the Good band the typical puppy dry food occupies. Nutritional balance and transparency both read Outstanding, with protein and processing at Good and value at Excellent. Chicken at the head of the list and an unusually light starch load are the two things putting it where it is.

Ingredients, as declared: Fresh chicken (18%), chicken meal (18%), whole red lentils, whole green peas, fresh chicken giblets (liver, heart) (7%), chicken fat (7%), turkey meal (4%), fresh eggs (4%), raw hake (4%), herring meal (4%), fish oil (3%), whole green lentils, whole chickpeas, whole yellow peas, lentil fibre, pea starch, raw turkey livers (1%), salt, dried kelp, fresh whole pumpkin, fresh whole butternut squash, fresh whole carrots, fresh whole apples, fresh whole pears, fresh whole zucchini, dried chicory root, fresh kale, fresh spinach, fresh turnip greens, fresh beet greens, whole cranberries, whole blueberries, whole saskatoon berries, turmeric, milk thistle, burdock root, lavender, marshmallow root, rosehips.

The label leads with chicken in two forms, fresh at 18% and chicken meal at 18%, then adds chicken fat at 7% and fresh giblets at 7%. Meal has already given up its water before it goes into the mix, so it contributes more finished kibble per point than the fresh entry does. The pair together account for the bulk of the declared 33.0% protein.

Third and fourth on the list are red lentils and green peas. Chickpeas and yellow peas sit lower, with pea starch and lentil fibre after them. That is a fully legume-based structure and no cereal is used. It also keeps the starch unusually restrained, with carbohydrate estimated at 23.0% as fed and 26.1% of dry matter against a 39.0% typical for the category.

Fish and egg round out the animal side. Raw hake at 4% and herring meal at 4% bring marine protein, and fish oil at 3% brings the long chain omega 3 fats that growing nervous systems and coats use. Fresh eggs at 4% add a highly digestible protein with useful micronutrients alongside. Turkey meal at 4% and raw turkey livers at 1% mean a second bird is in the recipe as well.

Calcium converts to 1.7% of dry matter. For the small to medium frames this bag is offered to, that is a comfortable mineral supply for bone that is lengthening quickly. It sits above the ceiling large breed growth plans normally work to, which is exactly why the maker splits its puppy range by size rather than selling one bag for every pup.

Fresh pumpkin, butternut squash, carrots, apples, pears and courgette appear low down with kale, spinach and beet greens, then a botanical tail of turmeric, milk thistle, burdock root, lavender, marshmallow root and rosehips. Read all of it as seasoning; the meat is doing the work. Dried kelp brings trace minerals and salt is listed on its own as a palatability entry.

The declared analysis is generous through the middle: protein 33.0%, fat 20.0%, fibre 5.0%, ash 7.0% and moisture 12.0%, giving 37.5% protein and 22.7% fat once converted to dry matter. Energy of 366 kcal per 100g is the maker's own figure. Tocopherol extracts at 121 mg per kilo and citric acid at 40 mg hold the fats steady, rosemary extract is at 80 mg, and a live Enterococcus faecium culture goes in for the gut. The panel stops there, without vitamin or mineral doses.

£6.49 a kilo, sold in 340g, 2kg, 6kg and 11.4kg bags.

A growing dog's ration climbs for a while and then settles, so treat the label's chart as a moving starting point. It asks for 80g a day for a 2kg pup, 150g at 10kg and 320g for one on track for a 30kg adult. Adjust from there to the pup in front of you.