Natural & Delicious N&D Prime Puppy Medium & Maxi Dry Food review

Our Excellent band takes this recipe, one rung up from the middle of the puppy kibble market, which falls in Good. Nutritional balance and transparency both read Outstanding, with protein and processing Good and value Excellent in line with the band overall, so nothing here leans on a single strength. Two things do most of the work: an unusually high share of animal ingredients, and a carbohydrate load lighter than almost any kibble manages. The additive panel backs them up, since it is declared line by line instead of summarised.

Ingredients, as declared: Fresh boneless chicken (28%), dehydrated chicken meat (27%), sweet potatoes, chicken fat, dried whole eggs, fresh herrings, dehydrated herrings, fish oil(from herring), fiber vegetable of peas, dried carrots, dried alfalfa, chicken cartilages (source of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate), inulin, fructooligosaccharides, yeast extract (source of mannan-oligosaccharides), dried pomegranate (0.5%), dried apple, spinach powder, psyllium (0.3%), dried sweet orange, dried blueberries, sodium chloride, dried brewer's yeast, turmeric root (0.2%).

Chicken arrives in two forms, 28% fresh boneless chicken and 27% dehydrated chicken meat. The dehydrated share is where most of the finished protein comes from, having already lost the water that fresh meat carries into the oven. Between them they make this one of the meatier growth kibbles on the shelf, with protein declared at 36.0% and converting to 39.6% of dry matter.

The only carbohydrate of any size here is sweet potato, and it beats the ordinary sort for fibre and vitamin A. There is no cereal at all, and the carbohydrate estimate comes out at 24.2% of dry matter where puppy kibble typically runs at 39.0%. That is one of the lightest starch loads you will find in a bag of dry food.

Herring goes in twice over, once fresh and once dehydrated, and the oil comes from that same fish. Dried whole eggs add highly digestible protein on top. That makes for a broad amino acid picture and a good supply of marine fats for a brain and coat still developing. It also means chicken, fish and egg are all in the bowl together.

One number matters more than the rest on a bag with maxi on the front. Ash is declared at 8.6% and calcium converts to 1.65% of dry matter, which is more mineral than large breed growth plans normally aim for. For a medium breed pup that is not a worry, and plenty of dogs are reared on levels like it without incident. For a pup expected to finish at the maxi end, calcium is the figure that governs how fast the skeleton lays itself down. Feed to the chart, do not leave the bowl down, and keep growth steady. Ask your vet to cast an eye over the plan for the first year.

The tail of the list is thoughtful. Chicken cartilage is named as the source of the glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate. Inulin and fructooligosaccharides pair with a yeast extract for mannan-oligosaccharides on the gut side, and psyllium at 0.3% adds soluble fibre. Pomegranate at 0.5%, apple, spinach, sweet orange, blueberries and turmeric at 0.2% finish it off. The declared panel adds taurine at 1000 mg, L-Carnitine at 300 mg, choline chloride at 2800 mg and selenium in its selenised yeast form.

At 419 kcal per 100g with fat at 24.2% of dry matter, this is concentrated food, and the feeding guide reflects that with modest daily amounts. Weigh rather than scoop, especially through the months when a pup's appetite runs ahead of their frame.

£7.92 a kilo, sold in a 2.5kg bag.

A growing pup's needs get rewritten every few weeks. Take the amount from the chart, matched to their age and to the adult size you are expecting, and revise it as their shape changes. The label's own guide begins at 90g a day for a pup expected to reach 10kg and runs up to 480g a day for one heading for 40kg.