Carnilove Active Junior Large Breed review

Carnilove Active Junior Large Breed comes in at our Excellent band, above the Good band where the typical puppy kibble comes to rest. Transparency comes back Outstanding, nutritional balance and value both read Excellent, and protein and processing sits at Good. The placing is earned by meat leading the list, a moderate starch load and a fully printed additive panel.

Ingredients, as declared: Fresh salmon (26%), turkey protein (24%), yellow peas, beef fat (8.5%), turkey hydrolysed protein (7.5%), dried apple pulp, pea protein, hydrolysed liver (3%), chickpeas, linseed, pumpkin, salmon oil (1%), carrots, potassium chloride, pea flour, dried sea buckthorn (0.2%), dried ginger root (0.1%), dried blueberries (0.1%), dried rosemary (0.1%), dried cranberries (0.1%), dried thyme (0.1%), hydrolysed crustacean shells (source of glucosamine, 0.022%), chicory root (source of fructo-oligosaccharides, 0.0163%), cartilage extract (source of chondroitin, 0.014%), brewer's yeast (source of mannan-oligosaccharides, 0.013%), Mojave yucca (0.0085%).

Fresh salmon at 26% goes into the mix with its water and cooks down, whereas turkey protein at 24% arrives dry. That is why the turkey contributes more to the baked kibble than its second place on the list hints at. Add hydrolysed turkey protein at 7.5% and hydrolysed liver at 3% and the animal share is substantial. Protein is declared at 34.0%, converting to 37.8% of dry matter.

Converted to dry matter, the calcium reads 1.67%. Printing the figure at all is more than plenty of growth foods manage, and on a food sold for big dogs it is the right instinct. The level does read above the range we look for in large breed rearing. Big frames do best growing slowly and evenly, so this is a food to measure out and not to leave down all day. A word with your vet is sensible if you are raising a breed with a known joint history.

Yellow peas lead the plant side, with chickpeas, pea protein, pea flour and dried apple pulp behind them. Carbohydrate is estimated at 31.0% as fed, or 34.4% of dry matter. That sits under the 39.0% typical of a puppy dry food, and there is no starchy middle hiding behind the meat headline. The pea protein and pea flour do put some plant protein into the declared total, which is worth holding in mind as you read that 34.0%.

Beef fat at 8.5% carries most of the energy, with salmon oil at 1% and linseed supplying the omega 3 that growing brains and coats draw on. Fat is declared at 14.0%, moderate for a food with active in its name, and energy lands at 364 kcal per 100g, a touch under the 376 typical for a growth kibble. That combination suits a junior who is exercised properly and fed to a routine.

The joint and gut ingredients are named but small: hydrolysed crustacean shells for glucosamine at 0.022%, cartilage extract for chondroitin at 0.014%, chicory root for FOS at 0.0163% and brewer's yeast for MOS at 0.013%. Each is given as a share of the recipe, not in mg/kg. Read that end of the list as light support.

The vitamin and mineral panel is where this label really opens up, with taurine at 1,500 mg/kg, choline chloride at 2,400 mg/kg and vitamin E at 530 mg/kg among the doses printed. The botanical tail of sea buckthorn at 0.2% and ginger, blueberries, rosemary, cranberries and thyme at 0.1% each sits there for flavour and shelf life, while the meat higher up does the real work.

Bags run 1.5kg, 4kg and 12kg, at £6.25 a kilo.

A junior's ration keeps moving as the months pass and the adult size ahead of them becomes clearer. Set it from the pack's chart for the weight you expect them to reach, then come back to it often. One scoop will not see them through.