James Wellbeloved Junior Dry: Turkey And Rice review

This kibble finishes in our Good band, level with a typical puppy dry food. Protein and processing reads Average, transparency Outstanding and value Good. A good part of what holds the position back is missing information rather than poor construction: with no analytical panel published, the protein and fat behind the recipe cannot be checked against the ingredients. The ingredient side itself is reasonable enough, a named dried meat opening the list with a run of named plants behind it.

Ingredients, as declared: dried turkey protein* (24.5%), brown rice* (17.5%), white rice* (14.3%), naked oats*, pea protein, poultry fat*, whole linseed* (3.8%), turkey gravy, alfalfa meal*, sugar beet pulp*, pea fibre*, minerals, seaweed* (0.5%), fish oil, nettles*, parsley*, chicory extract* (0.1%), glucosamine (0.045%), yucca extract* (0.02%), chondroitin (0.005%). *Natural ingredient.

Dried turkey protein at 24.5% opens the list. The dried form is worth understanding, because the water has already gone. That quarter of the bag brings considerably more protein to the kibble than an equal weight of fresh meat would.

The carbohydrate base is built from brown rice at 17.5%, naked oats and white rice at 14.3%. All three are gentle, familiar grains. Oats bring useful fibre and a good range of micronutrients on top of their starch.

Pea protein follows the grains, a plant protein that helps the total along without adding any meat. The added fat comes from poultry fat. That says more than a bare animal fat heading would, but the bird is still unnamed, so chicken, duck or goose could all be involved.

Whole linseed at 3.8% brings plant omega 3, with fish oil adding the marine kind. A growing coat and a developing nervous system both want that pairing. Seaweed at 0.5% contributes minerals and iodine, and alfalfa meal, nettles and parsley round out the plant side.

Glucosamine appears at 0.045% with chondroitin at 0.005% behind it, both carrying their percentages rather than simply being name-dropped, and chicory extract at 0.1% adds a prebiotic on the gut side. Yucca extract at 0.02% closes the list, usually there to help with stool odour.

The gap in this label is the analysis. Energy is declared at 391 kcal per 100g, above the 376 kcal typical of a puppy food. Protein, fat, fibre, ash, moisture and calcium are all absent, so nothing can be put on a dry matter basis or set beside another food. Calcium matters most of all here, since large breed growth runs fastest in the early months and that is exactly when the figure needs watching. Ask the maker for it.

£4.75 a kilo, sold in 12kg bags.

What a growing dog eats depends on the adult size waiting at the end of it. Work from the bag's chart by expected adult weight and current age, then adjust to how your dog is filling out.