My Pet Says Grain Free Large Breed: Turkey, Sweet Potato & Cranberry review

Both recipes finish in our Good band, ahead of the typical adult dry food inside it, and the turkey edges the salmon with trout. Half the recipe declared as named animal, a printed fresh and dried split and a fully dosed mineral panel are what open that gap. Protein is the small distance between the two, with the turkey declaring 29% against the fish recipe's 24%. Choose whichever animal suits your dog.

Ingredients, as declared: Turkey 50% (including Freshly Prepared Turkey 28%, Dried Turkey 18%, Turkey Fat 2% & Turkey Stock 2%), Sweet Potato (24%), Peas (7%), Potato, Beet Pulp, Pea Protein, Potato Protein, Omega 3 Supplement, Vegetable Stock, Linseed, Minerals, Vitamins, Cranberry (0.2%), Glucosamine (170mg/kg), Methylsulfonylmethane (170mg/kg), Chondroitin Sulphate (125 mg/kg), FOS (96 mg/kg), MOS (24 mg/kg). Vitamins: Vitamin A 15,000 IU, Vitamin D3 2,000 IU, Vitamin E 95 IU. Trace Elements: Zinc (Zinc Sulphate Monohydrate) 50mg, Iron (Iron (II) Sulphate Monohydrate) 50mg, Manganese (Manganous Sulphate Monohydrate) 35mg, Copper (Copper (II) Sulphate Pentahydrate) 15mg, Iodine (Calcium Iodate Anhydrous) 1mg, Selenium (Sodium Selenite) 0.3mg.

Each label opens with 50% of the recipe declared as named animal and then does the useful thing of printing the split. The fish recipe runs 33% freshly prepared salmon and trout against 15% dried salmon, and the turkey 28% fresh against 18% dried. Before it goes near the oven, fresh meat is mostly water. So the dried entry counts for more than its low position implies, and both recipes keep enough dried meat behind the headline to make that work.

The starch base in both is sweet potato at 24%, and peas and potato sit behind it, with beet pulp bringing the fibre. No grain appears anywhere. Carbohydrate is estimated at 42.4% of dry matter in the turkey and 47.3% in the fish recipe, either side of the 46.2% typical for adult dry food. Protein converts to 31.5% and 26.1% of dry matter respectively.

Glucosamine and methylsulfonylmethane appear at 170 mg/kg each, with chondroitin sulphate at 125 mg/kg, and what makes those entries worth reading is that all three carry a figure. A dog in the 35kg to 45kg bracket the feeding table caters for puts a great deal through its hips over a decade. Having the joint package inside the daily food rather than in a jar on the shelf is a real convenience.

The gut entries are small and dosed. FOS at 96 mg/kg and MOS at 24 mg/kg are prebiotics, the sugars that good bacteria in the large intestine feed on, and beet pulp supplies the bulk fibre. Linseed and an omega 3 supplement provide the fats. Linseed is a plant source, so the omega 3 it delivers takes the body longer to convert into the forms a coat uses than a marine oil would. A coat change here is a matter of weeks, not days.

Each trace mineral is printed: zinc at 50 mg, iron at 50 mg, manganese at 35 mg and iodine at 1 mg per kilo. The turkey recipe adds copper at 15 mg and selenium at 0.3 mg. They come as sulphates, the everyday form. The turkey also brings pea protein and potato protein into its list, which is worth noticing. They raise the protein figure without adding anything animal, and the fish recipe manages without them.

Turkey supplies the whole 50%, with 28% freshly prepared, 18% dried, 2% turkey fat and 2% stock, plus cranberry at 0.2%. It is the higher protein recipe at 29% and the leaner on carbohydrate, estimated at 39%, and the named turkey fat means the fat is pinned to the same bird as the meat. Behind them sit pea protein and potato protein, and the mineral panel adds the copper and selenium the fish recipe does not print.

The salmon with trout is £5.25 a kilo and the turkey £5.21, sold in 6kg, 12kg and 24kg bags, with a 15kg working dog bag alongside them.

Take around 840 kcal a day for a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition as the basis (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). That is about £1.22 a day on the fish recipe, £1.19 on the turkey. These are large breed recipes, though, and the label's own table starts at 195 grams a day for a dog of 15kg to 25kg. Portion for the dog you actually have.