Arden Grange Sensitive Grain Free Puppy review

Both bags come to rest in our Good band, which is where the middle of the puppy dry field sits, and the venison recipe is the stronger of the pair by a small margin. Transparency reads Outstanding on the venison label and Good on the fish, and both come back Good on nutritional balance with protein and processing at Average on each.

The gap between them is mostly a matter of meat. The fish recipe pairs fresh fish with dried fish meal, and dried meat has already lost its water, so more of what is printed survives into the finished kibble. The venison recipe leans harder on fresh meat, with plant protein behind it, which reads well on the front of the bag and a little softer in the analysis. Its label still declares more of itself than the fish one does, and that fuller transparency edges the venison in front.

Ingredients, as declared: Fresh venison 30%, sweet potato 16%, potato 13%, potato protein, pea protein, yeast, refined chicken oil, beet pulp, whole egg powder, whole linseed, vegetable stock, dried krill, minerals, citrus extracts (0.1%), (prebiotic) fructooligosaccharides FOS, (prebiotic) mannan-oligosaccharides MOS, dried elderberries (340mg/kg), dried rosehips (230mg/kg), yucca extract, glucosamine, (MSM) methylsulfonylmethane, black pepper (200mg/kg), dried blackcurrants (200mg/kg), dried blackberries (190mg/kg), chondroitin sulphate, dried blueberries (150mg/kg), dried raspberries (150mg/kg), curcumin (100mg/kg), dried cranberries, nucleotides.

Both recipes take the same approach to starch. Sweet potato at 16% leads it on each label with potato behind, and no cereal of any kind appears, which is the whole point of the range. Beet pulp adds a modest fibre that most young digestions handle without complaint, and vegetable stock or fish digest brings the palatability that a fussy pup often needs.

The meat is where the two part company. The venison bag names fresh venison and no other animal. The fish bag pairs fresh ocean white fish with fish meal, and that puts more animal content into the finished kibble. Either way, one species leads the bowl, which is exactly what an owner working through a sensitivity wants from a label.

Neither recipe is quite as exclusive as the headline suggests, and it is better to know that now. Refined chicken oil appears on both lists, and dried krill sits further down each one, so a genuine exclusion diet has to account for both. For a pup who simply does better away from the usual poultry and beef, neither entry is likely to cause trouble.

Behind the meat sit potato protein on both labels and pea protein in the venison recipe. Plant proteins lift the analysis at less expense than meat does, and they are perfectly digestible. They do not carry the amino acid profile that animal protein brings, so read the protein figure with that in mind.

The tail of each list is unusually well itemised. Dried elderberries come in at 340 mg/kg and rosehips at 230 mg/kg. Black pepper and blackcurrants share 200 mg/kg, with blackberries at 190 mg/kg. Blueberries and raspberries are at 150 mg/kg and curcumin at 100 mg/kg, all with their doses attached, alongside citrus extracts at 0.1%. These are seasoning rather than structure, but printing the numbers is the mark of a label that expects to be read.

Prebiotic FOS and MOS appear on both recipes with nucleotides and yucca extract. The venison label goes further on additives, giving doses for taurine and L-Carnitine plus chelated zinc, copper, manganese and iodine. Whole egg and whole linseed round out both bowls, the linseed bringing plant-side omega 3 for skin and coat.

The venison bowl is the shorter list of the two. Fresh venison at 30% is the only meat named, sweet potato at 16% and potato at 13% sit behind it, and potato protein with pea protein top up the analysis. Venison is a genuinely uncommon meat in a growth food, which is much of the appeal for a pup who has already reacted to the usual birds.

Its analysis is fully declared, moisture included at 9.0%, so the dry matter column stands on the label: protein 31.9%, fat 16.5% and carbohydrate an estimated 39.6%. That sits almost exactly on the 39.0% typical for a puppy dry food. Energy is printed at 379 kcal per 100g. No calcium figure appears anywhere on this one. If your pup is heading for a large or giant frame, that number is worth asking the maker for before you plan their growth around this bag.

The ocean white fish recipe works out at £5.83 a kilo. Across the range the bags run 2kg and 14kg, with 4 x 2kg, 2 x 12kg and 2 x 14kg multipacks depending on the recipe. We hold no per kilo figure for the venison bag.

How much goes into the bowl changes almost as fast as your puppy does. Lean on the feeding chart on the pack, and let the shape of your dog settle the final amount each week.