Different Dog Health+ Hearty Beef & Berries review

Our scoring likes almost everything about this label. One named animal carries 60% of the pot, the ingredient list is percentaged from the beef down to the 0.02% turmeric, and carbohydrate converts to just 7.1% of dry matter. It sits in our Outstanding band, which is exactly where the typical fresh food sits too, so this is a strong recipe in a strong field rather than a standout in a weak one.

Protein and processing, nutritional balance and transparency all read Outstanding, and value reads Outstanding with them. The animal, the labelling and the analysis all pull in the same direction here, and that is usually what an even sheet like this one means.

Ingredients, as declared: Human-Quality British Beef (60%) [Fresh Beef Forequarter and Hindquarter (30%), Fresh Beef Heart (25%), Fresh Beef Liver (5%)], Butternut Squash (14%), Fresh Red Cabbage (14%), Blackberries (5%), Button Mushrooms (3%), Vitamins & Minerals, Scottish Salmon Oil (1.2%), Coriander (0.7%), Chia Seeds (0.3%), Kelp Seaweed (0.3%), Turmeric (0.02%)

The meat share is worth reading slowly. Of the 60% beef, only half is forequarter and hindquarter at 30%; heart takes another 25% and liver 5%. Heart is a working muscle rather than a trimming, and liver is one of the densest sources of vitamin B12, vitamin A, copper and selenium a dog can be handed. Building a pot that way puts more real nutrition in the bowl than the same weight of plain steak would.

The plant side is unusually colourful. Butternut squash and fresh red cabbage take 14% each, blackberries 5% and button mushrooms 3%, and that is the lot. Berries at this level are there for their antioxidants and their flavour, not to bulk anything out, and the whole list is short enough that an owner can hold it in their head.

The analysis follows the meat straight through. Moisture is declared at 72.1%, which leaves protein at 40.5% of dry matter and fat at 38.4%, an unusually rich pairing, while carbohydrate converts to just 7.1%. Energy sits at 158 kcal per 100g against the 140 typical of fresh food. Portions here run a little smaller than the fresh average. That is simply what a rich recipe does.

The tail of the label is the brand's usual set: Scottish salmon oil at 1.2% for omega 3, coriander at 0.7%, chia seeds and kelp seaweed at 0.3% each and turmeric at 0.02%. Kelp is a broad natural mineral source and a notable one for iodine. That is why it appears in fractions of a percent.

Doses are printed for the added panel: vitamin A at 2500 IU, vitamin D3 at 400 IU and vitamin E at 50 mg. Zinc, iron and manganese all come as chelates, at 18 mg, 15 mg and 7.5 mg, and iodine sits at 0.025 mg. Copper is not among them on this recipe, and calcium is missing too. Ask Different Dog for the calcium figure before a large-breed puppy goes on this.

Pots come in 250 g, 600 g and 1000 g, at £16.00 a kilo.

Feeding a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition takes roughly 532 grams a day. That rests on an energy need near 840 kcal, the standard maintenance estimate of 110 × bodyweight^0.75, and works out at about £8.51 a day.