Angell Petco Angell Superior Puppy review

This kibble sits in our Good band, level with the typical puppy dry food. Three of its four pillars read Good, with transparency higher at Outstanding, so the placing comes from all-round soundness rather than one standout number.

What lifts it is the detail. The fish is broken out into its parts on the label, and the calcium a growth food is judged on is declared and in range. The supplements at the end of the list come with amounts attached, not names alone.

Ingredients, as declared: Locally and Sustainably Sourced Salmon, Haddock & White Fish 60% (Freshly Prepared Salmon 21%, Dehydrated Salmon 16%, Freshly Prepared Haddock 11% Freshly Prepared White Fish 10% & Salmon Stock 2%), Sweet Potato (20%), Potato, Beet Pulp, Peas (6%), Linseed, Omega 3 Supplement, Minerals, Asparagus (0.1%), Glucosamine (170mg/kg), Methylsulfonylmethane (170mg/kg), Chondroitin Sulphate (125 mg/kg), Nucleotides, Fructooligosaccharides (FOS, 96 mg/kg), Mannanoligosaccharides (MOS, 24 mg/kg)

The 60% fish headline is unpacked properly: freshly prepared salmon at 21%, dehydrated salmon at 16%, freshly prepared haddock at 11%, freshly prepared white fish at 10% and salmon stock at 2%. The dehydrated 16% is worth more than it looks, since it has already given up its water, while the fresh entries shrink in the oven. Declared protein of 28.0% comes out at 30.4% of dry matter.

Just as usefully, no poultry, no red meat and no unnamed animal fat appear anywhere. For a pup being kept off meat, either by choice or on advice, that makes the label straightforward to read. The one qualification is the omega 3 supplement, which names no source, so a diet designed around strict exclusion needs that checked with the maker.

Sweet potato at 20% leads the plant side, with potato behind it and peas at 6%. Sweet potato is a slower-releasing starch than most cereals and a reasonable choice in a growth food. The totals still add up, though: carbohydrate is estimated at 38.5% as fed and 42.0% of dry matter, above the 39.0% typical. Beet pulp brings a well tolerated fibre and crude fibre lands at 4.0%.

Calcium converts to 1.41% of dry matter, declared on the label and inside the range growth wants. That figure is the difference between a bag that can honestly be offered to a giant breed pup and one that cannot, and this one can. Ash at 8.5% as fed, or 9.2% of dry matter, shows a mineral supply built for skeleton that is still forming.

Where most labels stop at names, this one gives amounts. Glucosamine and methylsulfonylmethane both come in at 170mg/kg with chondroitin sulphate at 125 mg/kg, and on the gut side FOS at 96 mg/kg and MOS at 24 mg/kg sit with nucleotides. Linseed adds plant omega 3 fats, and asparagus at 0.1% is a garnish.

Vitamins and trace elements are printed in full, with vitamins A and D3 named ahead of vitamin E at 96 IU. Then come zinc and iron at 48 mg each, manganese at 34 mg, copper at 10 mg and iodine at 1.7 mg. Fat is on the lean side at 13.0%, which is 14.1% of dry matter, so this is a moderate energy growth food.

£6.04 a kilo, sold in 3kg, 6kg, 13.5kg and 27kg bags.

A puppy's ration is a rising line, and the chart on the pack reflects that. It moves from 50g a day for the smallest pups to 235g by the time a pup reaches 12 to 15kg. Keep weighing as they grow, and let your pup's outline have the final say.