Lakes Collection Lakes Legacy High Protein Puppy: Scottish Salmon review

This one comes out in our Excellent band, a band above where the typical puppy dry food finishes. Transparency reads Outstanding. Nutritional balance and value read Excellent with protein and processing at Good, and the result rests on the whole label instead of one corner of it.

What lifts it is the shape of the analysis as much as the ingredients. Most of the field is not built this way, with a growth kibble's protein share on a dry matter basis running ahead of its estimated carbohydrate. Getting there on one fish, with the growth minerals printed, is harder still.

Ingredients, as declared: 65% Salmon (35% Freshly Prepared Scottish Salmon, 22% Dried Salmon, 5% Salmon Oil, 3% Salmon Gravy), Sweet Potato, Beans, Beet Pulp, Omega 3 Supplement, Dried Superfood Blend* (Including Dill, Spinach, Fennel, Asparagus, Tomato), Minerals, Glucosamine (178 mg/kg), Methylsulfonylmethane (178 mg/kg), Fructooligosaccharides (FOS, 175 mg/kg), Chondroitin Sulphate (125 mg/kg), Mannanoligosaccharides (MOS, 50 mg/kg), Nucleotides, Olive Extract (0.01%), *Each equivalent to 4% Fresh Ingredients. Recipe Formulated without grains.

Four salmon entries make up the 65% headline. Freshly prepared Scottish salmon leads at 35%, dried salmon follows at 22%, and salmon oil at 5% with salmon gravy at 3% close it out. Water has already gone from that dried 22%. Weight for weight it delivers considerably more protein to the bowl than fresh fish could. The declared protein of 33.5% is the analysis catching up with the front of the pack.

What matters as much as the quantity is that nothing else with an animal origin appears further down. Oil and gravy both come off the same fish, and the only entry that could bring another species in is the omega 3 supplement, which names none. For a household working to one protein, that is about as clean as a kibble list gets, with that single question left to ask.

Sweet potato and beans carry the carbohydrate, and the label states the recipe is formulated without grains. Between them they hold the estimated carbohydrate at 35.9% of dry matter, against 39.0% for the typical puppy dry food. The starch does its binding work without taking charge of the bowl. Beet pulp sits behind them with a small, well tolerated fibre for a young gut.

Calcium is declared and converts to 1.3% of dry matter, comfortably inside the growth range. The maker lists this food for medium, large and giant breed pups, and no figure on it carries more weight. Too little leaves a fast growing frame short of material, too much pushes that frame along quicker than it wants to go, and a printed in range number takes both questions off the table. Moisture is declared at 8% as well, so the dry matter column here comes from the label itself, with nothing assumed.

The additive tail carries proper doses, not passing mentions. Glucosamine and methylsulfonylmethane arrive at 178 mg/kg apiece on the joint side, with chondroitin sulphate at 125 mg/kg. FOS at 175 mg/kg and MOS at 50 mg/kg give the gut bacteria something to feed on, and added nucleotides sit beside them. An antioxidant touch of olive extract at 0.01% closes the list.

Dill, spinach, fennel, asparagus and tomato are the dried superfood blend, each entry declared at the equivalent of 4% fresh ingredients. That puts the lot firmly among the flourishes. It is the fish that carries this recipe, and the blend is there for interest more than impact.

Energy is declared at 382 kcal per 100g, a shade above the 376 typical for a puppy dry food, and fat sits at 15.0% as fed. Between the energy, the protein and the fat, this is a recipe with enough behind it for a busy pup, which means portions want measuring rather than guessing for a quieter one.

£7.50 a kilo, sold in 2kg and 12kg bags.

There is no fixed daily figure for a growing dog. The amount climbs steadily through the early months, then settles as the pup approaches its adult frame. Use the chart printed on the bag, then adjust by what your hands tell you over the ribs.