Lovejoys Original Wet Puppy review

This recipe reaches our Excellent band, and the middle of the wet puppy field reaches it too, so a place there means good company and not a soft crowd to stand out from. It finishes above that middle mark, helped by a named meat at 65%, a short list behind it and an added nutrient panel printed dose by dose. Nutritional balance and transparency both read Outstanding, protein and processing reads Good and value Excellent in step with the overall, which is a strong showing from a food that keeps everything in plain view.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken (65%), Brown Rice (6%), Carrots (6%), Salmon Oil, Linseed, Seaweed (55.5mg/kg), Mixed Herbs, Glucosamine (38mg/kg), Chondroitin (22mg/kg), Yucca Extract, Cranberry Extract, Yeast Extract - High Nucleotide & Minerals

The foundation is chicken at 65%, and no other meat appears in the recipe. Chicken earns its place in growth foods by being easy to digest and eagerly eaten, and a share this high leaves the analysis nowhere to hide.

Brown rice and carrots follow at 6% each. The rice is a whole grain and a gentle one, and it takes the carbohydrate estimate to 4.8% as fed, or 17.5% of dry matter, a little above the 13.6% typical of wet puppy food. Carrots bring vitamin A and a soluble fibre that sits easily on a young gut.

The fats are where this recipe pulls ahead of its format. Fat converts to 32.7% of dry matter and energy reads 130 kcal per 100g against the 106 typical, largely because the declared moisture of 72.5% sits below what most wet foods carry. More food per spoonful means smaller servings, so weigh them out.

Salmon oil and linseed cover omega 3 from marine and plant directions at once, a sensible pairing in a food meant for a growing brain and coat. That salmon oil is why fish appears in the allergen picture, on a list whose only meat is chicken.

Joint support is written into the label, with glucosamine at 38 mg/kg and chondroitin at 22 mg/kg. Those are modest amounts, a gentle head start rather than a therapeutic level, which is a fair way to treat joints that have not finished forming.

The tail is busier than most: seaweed at 55.5 mg/kg for iodine and trace minerals, cranberry extract, yucca extract for stool odour, and a yeast extract chosen for its nucleotide content. Mixed herbs is the only entry that keeps its contents to itself, and at that point in the list the quantity involved is small.

The added nutrients are printed. Vitamin A comes at 2,250 IU, vitamin D3 at 328 IU and vitamin E at 26 mg, with zinc at 67 mg, iron at 42 mg, copper at 9.6 mg and manganese at 6.3 mg. What is not printed is calcium, and for a puppy who will finish large that is the figure worth chasing up with the maker before committing to the food.

£4.53 a kilo, sold in a 10 x 395g pack.

A puppy's needs change from one month to the next. Take the maker's guide for the weight they are now, then re-read it as they grow.