GreenAcres Puppy review

GreenAcres Puppy earns a place in our Good band, and the middle of the puppy kibble field sits in that same band, right alongside it. Transparency reads Outstanding on the pillars, which is what a fully named list buys you: nothing here is hiding behind a category heading.

Protein and processing and nutritional balance both read Average, held there by pea protein doing part of the protein job and by a starch share that is ordinary for the class and no better. Value is level with the overall placing in our Good band. Neither of those is a fault so much as a limit on how far a sensibly built label can climb.

Ingredients, as declared: Turkey Meal (29%), White Rice (22%), Pea Protein, Barley (7%), Oats, Turkey Fat, Linseed, Brown Rice (4.5%), Turkey Digest, Dried Peas, Beet Pulp, Alfalfa, Salmon Oil (1%), Minerals, Seaweed Meal, Prebiotic FOS (0.2%), Glucosamine (0.03%), Yucca Extract (0.02%), Rosemary Extract

Turkey meal at 29% is the meat. Rendering and drying come first, so the protein behind that 29% largely survives into the finished kibble. Turkey fat and turkey digest follow, the digest being a small amount of broken down turkey used to make the biscuit taste worth eating. Turkey is leaner than chicken and easily digested, and it is where owners usually land when chicken does not suit a dog.

The entry that changes the reading is pea protein, third on the list. It is left over from pea processing and used here as a protein source, though plant protein cannot match the amino acid balance a growing dog gets from meat. That does not make it a poor ingredient. It does mean the declared 28.0% is not all coming from the turkey, which is worth knowing when you set protein figures side by side between bags.

White rice at 22% leads the starch. Barley comes in at 7%, oats and brown rice at 4.5%. Rice is gentle, barley brings fibre along with selenium and copper, and oats add more of both. Dried peas, beet pulp and alfalfa fill in the fibre, and the estimated carbohydrate of 41.2% of dry matter is close to the 39.0% typical for a puppy kibble.

Linseed and salmon oil at 1% supply the omega fats from both a plant and a marine source. That salmon oil is also the reason fish appears on the allergen picture, with turkey the only meat named. Seaweed meal adds a broad mineral spread with iodine among it. FOS at 0.2% is the prebiotic, and its work is on the gut bacteria further along. Rosemary extract closes the list, a natural antioxidant to stop the fats turning.

Glucosamine at 0.03% and yucca extract at 0.02% close the list. Both are small entries, and both carry a printed figure. A good many labels never get that far. The added panel carries printed doses too, with vitamin E at 190 mg in each kilogram. Zinc is at 100 mg, iron at 50 mg, manganese at 40 mg, copper at 12 mg, iodine at 1.5 mg and selenium at 0.25 mg. Natural mixed tocopherols do the preserving.

The analysis is declared in full apart from one line. Protein at 28.0%, fat at 13.5%, fibre at 2.0%, ash at 10.0% and moisture at 9.0% are all printed, and the energy figure of 371 kcal per 100g is a declaration rather than our estimate. Calcium is the omission, and with ash converting to 11.0% of dry matter there is clearly plenty of mineral in the bag. For a small or medium pup that is fine. A large or giant breed puppy's first year turns on calcium, so that figure is one to request from the maker before you begin.

£5.17 a kilo, sold in 2kg and 6kg bags.

There is no fixed daily ration for a growing dog, because the amount rises through the fastest weeks and then settles as the frame stops changing. Set the portion from the pack's own guide for your pup's weight today, then let the feel of their ribs say whether to go up or down.