CSJ Puppy review

CSJ Puppy lands in our Good band, alongside the middle of the puppy dry market. Transparency reads Outstanding, protein and processing Average, and nutritional balance and value both Good. Nothing in the recipe is careless. It is simply a cereal led kibble whose meat arrives as one declared meal instead of a stack of named fresh ingredients, and that keeps protein and processing where it is.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken meal (min 31%), Wheat, Maize, Chicken fat, Rice, Chicken gravy, Linseed, Beet pulp, Salmon oil, Minerals, Yeast, Yeast cell wall (1600mg/kg; a natural source of MOS & beta glucans), Dried fruits and herbs (total 1000mg/kg; Blackcurrant, Rosemary, Pomegranate, Milk thistle, Seaweed, Fenugreek, Spearmint, Parsley, Marshmallow root, Marjoram, Oregano), Yucca schidigera.

Chicken meal at a minimum of 31% is the anchor, and that minimum wording is genuinely useful, because it sets a floor the recipe cannot drop beneath. The meal is already dry when it goes in, so the 31% carries through to the finished kibble roughly as printed, which is never true of a fresh meat headline.

Only one animal is named in the whole composition. Chicken meal, chicken fat and chicken gravy all come from the same bird, which is a tidy thing to find on a growth food and unusual at this end of the market. Salmon oil is the exception to hold in mind, since it puts fish in the recipe even though no fish meat appears.

Wheat, maize and rice carry the starch, with wheat sitting immediately behind the chicken meal. It is the classic British working kibble structure, dependable and easy on the digestion of most dogs. Wheat, though, sits behind more sensitivities than any other cereal, and your pup's history is worth consulting.

This label earns its keep at the end of the list. Yeast cell wall at 1600mg/kg supplies MOS and beta glucans, prebiotic material that feeds the useful gut bacteria. Linseed adds plant omega 3 and beet pulp a mild fibre. The 1000mg/kg blend of dried fruits and herbs, from blackcurrant and pomegranate through milk thistle to seaweed and marshmallow root, is a garnish at that dose.

The analysis declares protein at 28.0% and fat at 14.0%, converting on the declared 10.0% moisture to 31.1% and 15.6% of dry matter. Energy comes in at 404 kcal per 100g, comfortably clear of the 376 typical, so a steadier pup wants the scoop levelled off. Calcium is not printed, and on a food carrying no breed size restriction that is the single gap most worth closing.

£1.41 a kilo, sold in a 15kg sack.

How much a pup eats shifts every few weeks as they grow, so let the bag's guide and the shape of your pup between the ribs and the hips set the amount rather than habit. The printed chart runs from 85g a day for the smallest pups to 350g a day at its widest point.