Calibra Premium Line Puppy & Junior review

Our reading places this bag in the Good band, a little way clear of the middle of the puppy dry field, which also sits in that band. Transparency reads Outstanding, while protein and processing and nutritional balance settle on Good, held there by the cereal weight in the recipe. Estimated carbohydrate comes out at 36.6% of dry matter, under the 39.0% usual for the category but still the largest single share of the bag.

What earns the placing is the small print. Almost every functional entry carries a figure, the joint pair and the beta glucans included. That willingness to publish numbers is what separates this label from one that lists the same ingredients and tells you nothing about how much of them you are getting.

Ingredients, as declared: chicken protein 40 %, corn, rice 14 %, poultry fat 10 %, oats 8 %, dried apple pulp 2 %, brewer's yeast, hydrolysed chicken liver 2 %, salmon oil 2 %, carrots 1 %, peas 1 %, dried parsley 0.5 %, dried kelp 0.4 % (Ascophyllum nodosum), glucosamine (310 mg/kg), chondroitine sulphate (210 mg/kg), mannan-oligosaccharides (180 mg/kg), fructo-oligosaccharides (120 mg/kg), Mojave yucca (120 mg/kg), β-glucans (50 mg/kg).

Chicken protein at 40% is a dried ingredient, so most of that declared share survives into the kibble, and protein converts to 33.0% of dry matter. Chicken is the only animal given a name on the whole list, which keeps the recipe simple to read even though it is not a single protein food.

Three cereals share the starch work. Corn is second with no percentage, rice comes in at 14% and oats at 8%, and between them the estimated carbohydrate reaches 36.6% of dry matter. Rice and oats are both gentle, well tolerated grains for a young dog. The corn is the entry with no number, so how much of the bag it accounts for is not something the label will tell you.

Poultry fat at 10%, kept stable with tocopherols, and salmon oil at 2% carry fat to 19.8% of dry matter and energy to 396 kcal per 100g, comfortably above the 376 typical for the category. That suits a pup in the fastest part of growth and asks for a little portion discipline once the pace comes off.

The functional tail is the best part of this label. Glucosamine at 310 mg/kg and chondroitin sulphate at 210 mg/kg are real doses for a growing joint. Mannan-oligosaccharides at 180 mg/kg, fructo-oligosaccharides at 120 mg/kg and beta glucans at 50 mg/kg cover gut and immune support. Mojave yucca at 120 mg/kg is there for the smell of what comes out the other end.

Calcium converts to 1.76% of dry matter with ash at 7.9%, a generous mineral supply that small and medium breed growth will make good use of. The complication is the breadth of the claim on the bag, because a food sold for giant breeds as well ought ideally to run its calcium tighter than this. A big pup can still be reared on it, but the portions belong in a vet led plan rather than in a guess at the scoop.

The rest is garnish with a purpose. Dried kelp at 0.4% brings iodine and trace minerals, carrots and peas sit at 1% each with dried parsley at 0.5%, brewer's yeast brings B vitamins and dried apple pulp at 2% brings fibre. The palatant is hydrolysed chicken liver at 2%, and it makes a cereal based kibble taste like something a puppy wants to finish.

£2.92 a kilo, sold in 3kg and 12kg bags.

The label's chart starts at 55 grams a day for the smallest pups and reaches 250 grams for the largest. A growing dog's ration never sits still for long, so re-read that chart against your pup's weight every few weeks and let their waistline settle any argument with it.