Autarky Puppy/Junior Dry review

Autarky Puppy/Junior comes out in our Good band, level with where the bulk of the puppy dry field lands. All four pillars read Good: protein and processing, nutritional balance, transparency, value. The story is a meat-first list with a familiar cereal base behind it, and an analysis that does its job without reaching further.

The ceiling here is set by what the label leaves out as much as by what goes in. Calcium is absent, the energy figure has to be estimated, and the meat that leads the recipe is named by category rather than by species.

Ingredients, as declared: Poultry meal (min 34% chicken), Maize, Chicken fat, Rice (min 5%), Chicken liver, Linseed, Alfalfa, Maize gluten, Yeast (source of mannan oligosaccharides), Peas, Carrot, Seaweed, Tomato, Milk thistle, Yucca schidigera, Marigold, Nettle, Mint, Rosemary, Blackcurrant, Pomegranate, Rosehip, Spinach, Beetroot, Fenugreek, Thyme, Carob pod meal, Aniseed, Turmeric, Dandelion, Ginger, Oregano (min 0.4% herbs and 4% vegetables)

Poultry meal leads, and it is worth decoding. A meal is meat that has already been dried, so it carries far more protein per gram than fresh meat of the same weight, which is why so many kibbles are built on one. The maker names a minimum of 34% chicken inside it, which is more candour than the word poultry usually comes with, though the rest of the category could take in other domestic birds.

Maize does the heavy lifting on starch with rice declared at a minimum of 5%. Carbohydrate lands at 38.5% as fed and 41.8% of dry matter, a shade above the 39.0% typical for a puppy dry food. Our energy estimate of 369 kcal per 100g sits just under the 376 typical. Alfalfa adds to the fibre, declared at 3.0%.

Chicken liver is a genuinely good inclusion and one you do not see named often. Liver is dense in the B vitamins and in the copper and iron a growing dog uses constantly. Dogs tend to find it irresistible too, which helps when a young appetite is being fussy. Linseed follows for plant-side omega 3.

Maize gluten is the entry to weigh up. Maize processing leaves it behind, and it tops up protein at less expense than meat. Dogs handle it less comfortably than animal protein, so a pup with a sensitive gut is worth watching over the changeover. In a bowl where meat leads the list it is only a supporting player.

The tail is a herb and vegetable garden. Peas, carrot, tomato, spinach, beetroot and seaweed sit alongside milk thistle, yucca, marigold, nettle, mint, rosemary, with a dozen more behind them. All of it sits inside a declared minimum of 0.4% herbs and 4% vegetables. Yeast is named for its mannan oligosaccharides, and the rosemary doubles as a natural antioxidant that keeps the fats fresh. No calcium figure is offered anywhere on the label, and that is the gap a big-breed owner will feel most.

£3.33 a kilo, sold in 2kg and 12kg bags.

The right amount depends both on the age your pup is now and the size they are heading towards. Treat the guide on the pack as a weekly conversation, not a fixed daily number, and let their waistline have the final word.