Cooper & Co Puppy review

This recipe holds a place in our Excellent band, a step ahead of the middle of the puppy dry field rather than level with it, with transparency reading Outstanding and its other three pillars Good.

What gets it there is a label that both builds well and declares well. One named meat makes up half the bag. Moisture is printed, so the dry matter figures here are the label's own. Calcium is given a number, and the joint supplements come dosed.

Ingredients, as declared: Turkey 50% (Including Freshly Prepared Turkey 27%, Dried Turkey 17%, Turkey Fat 4.5% & Turkey Gravy 1.5%), Sweet Potato, Lentils, Pea Protein, Beet Pulp, Salmon Oil (1%), Brewers Yeast, Minerals, Vitamins, Dried Carrot, Chondroitin Sulphate ( 480 mg/kg), Glucosamine (480 mg/kg), Fructooligosaccharides (95 mg/kg), Mannanoligosaccharides (25 mg/kg).

Turkey at 50% is split into four named parts, and the split is the useful bit. Freshly prepared turkey at 27% still carries its water, dried turkey at 17% has already given its up, and between them they set the declared protein figure of 28.0%. Turkey fat at 4.5% and turkey gravy at 1.5% finish the job, both from the same bird, so nothing else with feathers or fur is in the bag.

Because moisture is declared at 8.0%, the dry matter conversions here are real rather than assumed. Protein comes out at 30.4%, fat at 15.2% and carbohydrate at 42.4%, which reads as a moderately meaty kibble with a starch share slightly above the 39.0% typical of a puppy dry food. Energy lands at 371 kcal per 100g.

Calcium decides whether a growth food can be handed to a big breed with confidence, and here it converts to 1.52% of dry matter, inside the range steady bone development works to. It is why the maker can list this from toy right through to giant. If your dog is heading for the top of that scale, take that number to your vet.

The starch side is sweet potato and lentils, with no cereal on the list. Pea protein follows them, a plant route to a higher protein figure that does not bring the same amino acid profile as meat, and beet pulp adds a mild fibre at 3.0%. Dried carrot closes the plant side of the recipe.

Salmon oil at 1% is the one departure from turkey, and there is a good reason for it, since marine omega 3 fatty acids support the brain and eyes right through the growth window. It is simply worth having in mind if fish is what you are keeping out of the bowl.

The tail of the label is dosed properly. Chondroitin sulphate and glucosamine sit at 480 mg/kg each. Fructooligosaccharides at 95 mg/kg and mannanoligosaccharides at 25 mg/kg feed the gut flora. The trace elements are published with figures behind them: zinc at 130 mg, manganese at 110 mg, copper at 60 mg, iron at 160 mg and selenium at 0.60 mg.

£7.00 a kilo, sold in 1.5kg and 10kg bags.

Nothing about a puppy's appetite stays still, and a large breed one least of all. Read the chart against your dog's current weight every week. The guide on the pack runs from 60g to 90g a day.