Edmondson's Puppy Large Breed review

This large breed recipe also comes to rest in our Good band, a shade below its everyday stablemate but still ahead of where the middle of the puppy kibble field sits, which shares the band. Transparency reads Outstanding and nutritional balance Average, with protein and processing and value both Good.

The lift comes from two features that matter enormously in big breed rearing: a single named meat, and a calcium figure that is both printed and in range. The starch share runs well above the category average, and the protein line is deliberately moderate. Those two hold it steady.

Ingredients, as declared: Salmon 60% (38% Freshly Prepared Salmon, 20% Dried Salmon, 2% Salmon Stock), Sweet Potato (19%), Potato, Beet Pulp, Linseed, Minerals, Vitamins, Dried Carrot, Peas, Omega 3 Supplement, Vegetable Stock, Glucosamine (355 mg/kg), Methylsulfonylmethane (355 mg/kg), Chondroitin Sulphate (250 mg/kg), Fructooligosaccharides (96 mg/kg), Mannanoligosaccharides (24 mg/kg).

The whole animal story is salmon at 60%, and the label sets it out properly: 38% freshly prepared, 20% dried and 2% salmon stock. The dried fish arrives without its water, so that 20% counts for more in the finished kibble than its share suggests, while the freshly prepared portion shrinks in the oven. Nothing else on the list names an animal, which makes this a rare thing in a large breed puppy food.

One entry qualifies that reading, and it is the omega 3 supplement, which gives no source at all. It may well be marine, and given that the rest of the recipe is salmon it changes very little in practice, but an owner running a formal exclusion trial would want it confirmed. On the label as printed, fish is the only allergen flagged.

The plant side is led by sweet potato at 19%. Potato sits behind it, and no cereal appears in the bag. Carbohydrate converts to 45.9% of dry matter against 39.0% typical for the category. The starch load here is on the generous side. Some of that is by design in a large breed food, where the aim is to fuel growth without overloading it with protein and fat. The moderate protein at 28.3% of dry matter and fat at 15.2% fit the same intention. Beet pulp supplies a gentle fibre and linseed adds plant omega 3.

Calcium converts to 1.41% of dry matter and is printed on the label, which on a food sold specifically for large and giant breed pups is the single most important line on the panel. Big skeletons grow fast and are the least forgiving of a calcium level that drifts, so a declared figure inside the range takes the guesswork out of the decision. Ash converts to 7.9% alongside it.

The joint package is scaled up from what a general puppy food carries. Glucosamine and methylsulfonylmethane come in at 355 mg/kg each with chondroitin sulphate at 250 mg/kg, doses you can actually weigh. They are aimed squarely at joints that will be carrying a great deal of dog before long. Fructooligosaccharides at 96 mg/kg and mannanoligosaccharides at 24 mg/kg look after the gut.

The added panel prints vitamin E at 95 IU with L-carnitine at 480 mg. L-carnitine has a hand in converting fat to usable energy, and it is a sensible inclusion in a food built for controlled growth. Zinc comes in at 85 mg, iron at 50 mg, manganese at 35 mg, copper at 15 mg and iodine at 1.7 mg, with vitamin A and D3 declared in international units as well. Energy sits at 376 kcal per 100g, which is precisely the middle of the puppy kibble field, so the portions on the chart will feel familiar.

£5.83 a kilo, in 6kg and 12kg bags.

Big pups change shape faster than anything else on four legs, so work from the expected adult weight column on the pack and keep half an eye on your dog's outline as you go.