Eukanuba Growing Puppy Medium Breed review

This one settles in our Good band, the same band the typical puppy dry food occupies, and it sits comfortably around that middle mark. The reason is straightforward enough: more meat in front, less starch behind.

Protein and processing and nutritional balance both read Good, with transparency coming back Outstanding, and it is the grain base that keeps the label from reading higher still.

Ingredients, as declared: dried chicken and turkey (29% including chicken 21%, a natural source of glucosamine, chondroitin and taurine), fresh chicken (15%), wheat, barley, maize, poultry fat, rice, dried beet pulp (3%), chicken gravy, maize grits, fish oil (a natural source of omega-3 fatty acids), minerals (including sodium hexametaphosphate 0.35%), dried whole egg, brewer's dried yeast (a natural source of B-vitamins and selenium), fructooligosaccharides (0.25%, a natural prebiotic), mannanoligosaccharides (0.13%, a natural prebiotic).

Dried chicken and turkey at 29% leads, with chicken making up 21% of that entry, and fresh chicken at 15% follows it. Putting the dried version first is the more informative order, because dried poultry has already lost its water and so keeps most of its declared share in the finished kibble.

The maker credits the recipe's glucosamine, chondroitin and taurine to that poultry, which is a fair reading of what bone and cartilage bring with them, although nothing is printed as a dose. Further down, fish oil brings omega 3. Dried whole egg is in there too, a small but very digestible protein.

Wheat, barley, maize and rice make up the grain base, with maize grits behind them. Barley and rice are the more useful of the four for a dog, while wheat is the entry an owner watching for intolerance will look for first. What stands out is the total: carbohydrate estimates at 38.8% of dry matter, just under the 39.0% the typical puppy dry food carries, which is unusual for a cereal based kibble.

The analysis is the strongest reason to look at this bag. Protein converts to 32.6% of dry matter and fat to 19.6%, giving an estimated 383 kcal per 100g against the 376 typical. A medium pup on the go is well covered, and a quieter one simply wants their portion measured.

Calcium converts to 1.41% of dry matter and is printed on the panel, sitting inside the range growth calls for. Gentle fibre comes from beet pulp at 3%. Sitting behind it, the prebiotic pair of fructooligosaccharides at 0.25% and mannanoligosaccharides at 0.13% look after the gut population.

Two smaller inclusions round the label off. In the mineral mix, sodium hexametaphosphate at 0.35% softens tartar. That is a sensible thing in a food eaten every day. Brewer's dried yeast brings B vitamins and selenium. Poultry fat and chicken gravy are the only entries that leave their species open.

Sold in 800g, 3kg, 12kg and 15kg bags.

A medium pup's needs rise quickly through the early months and then plateau. Take the bag's growth chart as your guide, and trim or add by how your pup looks and feels.