More First Steps Large Breeds Dry Food review

This one lands in our Good band, and the middle of the puppy kibble field lands there too. Think of it as a solid mainstream choice. Value reads Good and transparency Outstanding, while protein and processing and nutritional balance both come out Average. The meat share and the declared calcium do most of the lifting; the cereal base and a starch load above the puppy norm are what stop it climbing further.

Ingredients, as declared: Fresh Chicken (23%), Rice, Chicken Meal (18%), Whole Maize, Beet Pulp, Chicken Fat (4%), Salmon Oil, Chicken Digest (2%), Brewers Yeast, Dried Egg, Fish Meal, Minerals, Linseed, L-Carnitine (1200mg/kg), MOS (1000mg/kg), FOS (1000mg/kg), Glucosamine (900mg/kg), Chondroitin Sulphate (900mg/kg), MSM (900mg/kg), Rosemary Extract (150mg/kg), Yucca Extract (100mg/kg), Marigold Meal (50mg/kg), Citrus Extract (50mg/kg)

Chicken arrives twice, and the two forms do different jobs. Fresh chicken at 23% brings the flavour a puppy will actually eat. Chicken meal at 18% is already dry, and it carries more finished protein into the kibble than its printed share suggests. Chicken fat at 4% and chicken digest at 2% keep the taste coming from the same bird.

Rice and whole maize do the binding, with beet pulp adding a gentle, well tolerated fibre. Carbohydrate converts to an estimated 46.8% of dry matter against 39.0% for the typical puppy kibble. That leaves the cereal shouldering a good part of the bag. Energy is declared at 388 kcal per 100g, a little ahead of the 376 typical, which makes measured portions worth the trouble.

For a bag with large breeds on the front, calcium is the first figure to look for, and this label does not dodge it. The number converts to 1.52% of dry matter, which is where a big pup's skeleton wants it. Overshooting calcium through the fast growing months is the classic error in rearing large breeds, so a printed, in range figure is genuinely reassuring.

The joint package is dosed rather than name dropped, with glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate and MSM at 900 mg/kg each. MOS and FOS sit alongside them at 1000 mg/kg apiece on the gut side. L-Carnitine at 1200 mg/kg helps turn fat into usable energy.

The tail of the list brings brewers yeast, dried egg, fish meal and linseed, a set that quietly tops up protein and omega 3. The allergen picture names fish because of those entries, whatever the chicken headline says. Rosemary extract at 150 mg/kg does the preserving, and yucca extract at 100 mg/kg with marigold meal and citrus extract at 50 mg/kg each close the list at seasoning level.

Protein is declared at 25.5% with fat at 15.0%, fibre at 2.5% and ash at 6.0%, on a moisture of 8.0%. In dry matter that converts to 27.7% protein and 16.3% fat. That is a measured protein figure for a growth food, and deliberately so in a large breed recipe, where the aim is to grow a pup steadily rather than quickly.

£5.33 a kilo, sold in 3kg and 12kg bags.

No single daily amount fits a dog who is still growing, since a large breed pup's ration climbs for months before it eases back once the frame is laid down. Follow the growth chart on the pack, reading across from how old your pup is now to the size they will finish at, and let the ribs and waistline fine tune it.