Ava Large Breed Junior review

The reading here lands in our Good band, shoulder to shoulder with the middle of the puppy and junior dry field. Transparency reads Outstanding, earned by a fully itemised list where even the extracts carry percentages, while nutritional balance reads Good and protein and processing Average.

The cereal base and the modest protein figure are what hold it there. Nothing on this label is doing anything careless; it is simply a conventional recipe executed openly, and for a junior dog that openness counts for a lot.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken (47%) (Chicken Meal 24.5%, Fresh Chicken 14%, Chicken Fat 6% Chicken Gravy (2.5%), Rice (23%), Maize (16%), Beet Pulp (5%), Whole Dried Egg, Salmon Oil, Brewers Yeast, Minerals, Chicory Root Extract (as a source of Pre-biotic Fructooligosaccharide) (0.16%), Yeasts (as a source of Beta-glucans, Pre-biotic Mannanoligosaccharides) (0.04%), Glucosamine (0.04%), Chondroitin (0.03%), Yucca Extract (0.02%), Cranberry Extract (0.01%), Green Tea Extract (0.005%), Pomegranate Extract (0.005%)

The chicken headline is broken out properly, which not every maker bothers with: chicken meal at 24.5%, fresh chicken at 14%, chicken fat at 6% and chicken gravy at 2.5%. Dried before it goes in, the meal carries close to its printed share through to the finished kibble. The fresh chicken is largely water, and most of that bakes off in the oven.

Calcium is declared and converts to 1.63% of dry matter. That is a real advantage over a label that prints nothing, since you can see what you are feeding, and it sits just above the level big-breed growth plans usually aim for. For a junior already past the steepest part of the growth curve that is unlikely to be an issue, and for a giant-framed dog it is a sensible thing to raise at the next check-up.

Rice at 23% and maize at 16% carry the starch with beet pulp at 5% behind them for fibre. Carbohydrate comes out at 39.0% as fed and an estimated 42.4% of dry matter, a starchier build than the 39.0% of dry matter the typical puppy dry food manages. That goes some way to explaining the modest 27.0% protein and our energy estimate of 367 kcal per 100g.

The support cast is small but named with its inclusions attached. Chicory root extract at 0.16% supplies prebiotic fructooligosaccharide and yeasts at 0.04% bring beta-glucans and mannanoligosaccharides, both aimed at the gut. Glucosamine at 0.04% and chondroitin at 0.03% follow for the joints, useful as steady ongoing support at that level.

Whole dried egg adds highly usable protein and salmon oil brings the marine fats a growing coat draws on, which is also why fish shows up in the allergen picture of a chicken food. Yucca extract at 0.02%, cranberry at 0.01% and green tea with pomegranate at 0.005% each close the list. The additive panel names vitamins A, D3 and E with chelated zinc, manganese, copper, iodine and selenium behind them.

£5.45 a kilo in the 2kg bag and £3.47 a kilo in the 15kg.

Junior appetites swing about as the growth spurts arrive and pass, so measure against the chart on the sack rather than a set daily figure, and let the ribs under your hand settle any argument.