Arden Grange Puppy/junior review

Our Good band is where this one comes out, and the typical puppy dry food shares that band, with this recipe placed a little above the middle of it. Protein and processing reads Good, nutritional balance the same, and transparency Outstanding.

A properly named chicken headline and prebiotics printed with their amounts push it up. A starch load that sits level with the category average and joint entries carrying no figures are what keep it from going higher.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken 37% (dried chicken 32%, fresh chicken 5%), rice 17%, maize, chicken oil, beet pulp, whole dried egg 3%, dried krill, chicken digest, whole linseed 1.5%, yeast, minerals, fructo-oligosaccharides (prebiotic FOS) 1050mg/kg, nucleotides, mannan-oligosaccharides (prebiotic MOS) 465mg/kg, yucca extract, glucosamine, methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), chondroitin sulphate, dried cranberries 100mg/kg.

Chicken at 37% is split into dried chicken at 32% and fresh chicken at 5%, and it is the dried share that tells you most. Dried meat comes with its water already gone, so that 32% reaches the finished kibble much as printed, a substantial amount of named bird. Declared protein of 29.0% converts to 31.5% of dry matter, a moderate figure that suits steady growth rather than a sprint.

The carbohydrate base is rice at 17%, with whole maize behind it. Rice is among the gentler cereals for a dog's digestion and a long-established choice in puppy food, while maize is the more ordinary of the two and carries no percentage of its own. Carbohydrate is estimated at 35.5% as fed and 38.6% of dry matter, which lands almost exactly on the 39.0% typical for a puppy dry food.

Dried krill is the most interesting entry on the list. It is a small marine crustacean and a natural source of long chain omega 3 fats and astaxanthin. It is also the entry that puts fish on the allergen list for this food. Whole dried egg at 3% brings a highly digestible protein, whole linseed at 1.5% adds plant omega 3 fats, and chicken oil keeps the added fat named to a species rather than left vague.

Calcium converts to 1.41% of dry matter, declared on the label and comfortably inside the range growing bone needs. Ash sits at 7.0%, or 7.6% of dry matter, which is a moderate mineral load. Since the bag is offered to small and medium breed pups, the calcium figure and the mineral panel are well matched to the job in hand.

The functional tail is a mixed picture, and it is worth being clear about which parts carry weight. Fructo-oligosaccharides at 1050mg/kg and mannan-oligosaccharides at 465mg/kg are printed with proper amounts, and nucleotides and yucca extract sit alongside them. Glucosamine, methylsulfonylmethane and chondroitin sulphate then appear with no figures at all, which puts them a long way behind the prebiotics in terms of what you can rely on. Dried cranberries at 100mg/kg close the list.

The additive panel is itemised and uses chelated forms for several minerals, which are generally better absorbed than the basic oxides and sulphates. Zinc at 105mg, copper at 9.3mg and manganese at 7mg all come as amino acid chelates, with iodine at 1.75mg. Vitamin A at 21000IU, vitamin D3 at 1575IU and vitamin E at 280mg complete it, and the fats are held with natural mixed tocopherols. Energy of 400 kcal per 100g is the maker's own declaration.

Sold in 2kg, 6kg, 12kg and 14kg bags, with 4 x 2kg, 2 x 12kg and 2 x 14kg multipacks alongside them.

How much a growing dog eats changes from week to week, so the label's chart is a guide that moves with your pup. Across its range it runs from 60g a day at the smallest end up to 134g at the top. Weigh, watch the waistline, and move up the chart as your pup does.