Burns Puppy Original Lamb & Rice review

This recipe lands in our Good band, the same band a typical puppy kibble occupies, and its pillars split: protein and processing and nutritional balance read Average, transparency Outstanding and value Good. The reason sits in plain sight on the ingredients list. Dried lamb at 20% is the only meat, and rice protein and pea protein help the declared 24.0% protein reach its figure. Less of that protein comes from the animal than the number alone would suggest.

That reading should not be mistaken for a warning. The label is complete and clearly printed, and the meat and the fat are both named lamb. Plenty of puppies thrive on a gentle, rice based bowl of red meat and would do less well on a richer food. It is simply a lighter meat load than the growth kibbles that finish above it.

Ingredients, as declared: Dried Lamb (20%), White Rice (17%), Brown Rice (15%), Rice Protein, Oats, Lamb Fat, Peas, Pea Protein, Salmon Oil, Seaweed, Minerals, Chicory Extract (Prebiotic FOS 0.1%).

Dried lamb at 20% is the animal content, and the dried form is the right one to use. The water has gone before the mixing stage, so the printed share carries into the kibble much as stated. Lamb is highly palatable and easy on most dogs to digest, and it is a useful protein for a puppy who has already reacted to poultry. Lamb fat further down keeps the animal fat named rather than generic.

White rice at 17% and brown rice at 15% make up the base, with oats behind them adding soft fibre and B vitamins. That is a familiar, forgiving combination for a young digestion, and it is what pushes carbohydrate to an estimated 46.4% of dry matter.

The two plant proteins are the entries to read carefully. Rice protein and pea protein are both by products of processing the parent ingredient, and both are used to lift a food's protein figure at a lower outlay than more meat would take. Neither serves a growing dog as well as animal protein does, and their presence is the main reason the declared 24.0% protein reads less impressively than the figure suggests on its own.

The marine omega 3 for a growing coat and brain comes from salmon oil. That is also why fish belongs on your allergy checklist here, even though lamb is the only meat. Seaweed adds iodine and trace minerals, chicory extract brings prebiotic fructo-oligosaccharides at 0.1%, and the additive panel is dosed in print with taurine at 1000mg per kilo alongside chelated copper, manganese and zinc.

The declared calcium converts out at 1.74% of dry matter. This bag is listed for every breed size, so a big breed owner should go straight to that number. Calcium during the fastest growth phase is the one nutrient most worth getting exactly right in a big frame. Toy, small and medium pups regulate it far more easily. The rest of the analysis is fully declared at 24.0% protein, 15.0% fat, 3.3% fibre, 7.0% ash and 8.0% moisture, with only the 361 kcal per 100g energy line coming from our estimate.

£6.00 a kilo, sold in 2kg and 6kg bags.

Puppy portions belong on a sliding scale, so use the chart on the bag for their age and expected finished weight. What you can feel over the ribs settles the final call.