Lukullus Classic Junior Dry review

This one comes out in our Excellent band, a step clear of the Good band the broad middle of the dry shelf occupies. The protein is high by any measure, and estimated carbohydrate stops at 32.4% of dry matter where the typical adult dry food runs to 46.2%. The calcium figure a growth label most needs to declare is printed too. Fed to a puppy that gets on with chicken, it is a solid and generous bowl.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken protein (26%), maize (20%), peas (16%), poultry fat (10%), pea protein (9%), salmon protein (6%), hydrolysed poultry protein (5%), dried apple pulp (3.6%), hydrolysed poultry liver (2%), salmon oil (1%), potassium chloride (0.4%), sodium chloride (0.3%), pea meal, dried parsley (0.1%), mannan-oligosaccharides (0.0198%), fructo-oligosaccharides (0.015%), mojave yucca (0.015%).

Chicken protein at 26% opens the list, with salmon protein at 6% and hydrolysed poultry protein at 5% behind it. These are dried forms with the water already out, so the declared percentage is near enough what reaches the kibble. The result is 35.0% protein as fed, 38.5% once the moisture is taken out, which is a proper growth-level figure rather than an adult one with a puppy label on it.

The base is maize at 20% and peas at 16%, and estimated carbohydrate finishes at 32.4% of dry matter, well under the 46.2% typical for adult dry food. Most everyday kibble carries a heavier starch load than that, and on a growing dog the room it leaves is being used for protein and fat.

Pea protein at 9% is the entry to read carefully. It is a concentrate left over from pea processing. It lifts the protein number on the analysis, though for amino acid profile and digestibility plant protein is no match for meat. At 9% it is doing a real share of the work here, so the headline protein figure should not be read as all animal.

Poultry fat at 10% is the energy source, and the 1% salmon oil is there for marine omega 3s. A growing brain and a growing coat both draw on them. Hydrolysed poultry liver at 2% keeps the bowl interesting, dried apple pulp at 3.6% and pea meal handle fibre, and potassium chloride at 0.4% with sodium chloride at 0.3% top up minerals. The prebiotic pair of mannan-oligosaccharides and fructo-oligosaccharides sits at the bottom with mojave yucca.

On a puppy bag calcium matters more than any other number, and this label declares it at a level that converts to 1.54% of dry matter. That sits inside the window a large breed puppy needs, where too much calcium during growth causes as many problems as too little. You can read that figure off the bag, and nothing else this recipe does is more useful.

£3.79 a kilo, sold in 1kg and 12kg bags and as a pair of 12kg.

A 15kg dog in moderate condition would eat about 218 grams a day, coming to £0.82, worked from an energy need of roughly 840 kcal a day using the standard 110 × bodyweight^0.75 maintenance estimate. A growing puppy needs more than a maintenance figure, so use the maker's growth guidance and the shape of the puppy in front of you rather than that number.