Collards Puppy Dry Turkey & Rice review

Collards Puppy Turkey and Rice reads in our Good band. The middle of the puppy kibble shelf sits there too, and this one is just inside that mark. Transparency reads Outstanding among its pillars, earned by a label that itemises its turkey down to the gravy, with nutritional balance Good and protein and processing Average. Carbohydrate converts to an estimated 39.0% of dry matter, which is exactly the puppy dry typical, so the starch here is neither light nor heavy but bang on the middle of the field.

Ingredients, as declared: Turkey 39.5% (Turkey Meat Meal 31%, Turkey Fat 6.5%, Turkey Gravy 2%), Brown Rice 14%, White Rice 13%, Whole Barley 12%, Potato Protein, Whole Linseed 4.5%, Sugar Beet Pulp 4.5%, Salmon oil, Dried Alfalfa 1%, Natural Seaweed Meal 0.5%, Fructo-Oligosaccharide (from chicory root extract) 0.25%, Sodium chloride, Potassium chloride, Methionine, Yucca extract 0.01%, L-Carnitine, Marigold extract 0.005%, Rosemary extract 0.005%.

Turkey at 39.5% is split three ways on the label, and the split is the useful part: 31% turkey meat meal, 6.5% turkey fat and 2% turkey gravy. The meal is the workhorse, dried before it goes in so the percentage carries through to the kibble, and the fat and gravy bring the palatability that gets a young dog eating. Protein is declared at 29.0%, or 31.9% once moisture is taken out.

No other meat is named on the entire list. That makes this a straightforward choice if you are keeping your pup to one bird. The single exception to the animal count is salmon oil further down, so the recipe is single-meat but not single-species, and a fish-free plan needs to know that.

The starch comes from brown rice at 14%, white rice at 13% and whole barley at 12%, a mix of grains and not one big entry. Potato protein sits behind them as a plant protein topping up the total. Sugar beet pulp at 4.5% supplies a well-tolerated fibre and the declared fibre reading of 3.0% keeps things gentle on a young gut.

Whole linseed at 4.5% and salmon oil cover the fatty acids from both the plant and the marine side, which is a sensible pairing for a brain and coat still being built. Dried alfalfa at 1% and natural seaweed meal at 0.5% add trace minerals, seaweed being a natural iodine source where a little goes a long way.

Calcium is declared and converts to 1.92% of dry matter, with ash at 9.3%. Some of that comes from the bone content that rides along with any meat meal. For a small or medium pup the level is comfortable. For one who will finish large or giant it sits above where big-breed growth plans normally aim, and that is the conversation to have with your vet before you commit.

The tail of the list is unusually specific. The prebiotic is fructo-oligosaccharide from chicory root at 0.25%, with methionine and the two chlorides for mineral balance. Then yucca extract at 0.01%, L-carnitine, and marigold and rosemary extracts at 0.005% each, rosemary doing duty as a natural antioxidant. The one place the label goes quiet is the added vitamin and trace element panel, which is headed as nutritional additives without the doses being published.

Two sizes: a 2kg resealable bag and a 10kg bag.

There is no single daily figure for a growing dog, since the amount shifts with age and with the size your pup is heading for. The label's own table runs from 70g a day at the bottom up to 430g at the top, and your pup's shape should settle where in that spread they belong.