Natural & Delicious N&D Tropical Selection Puppy Medium & Maxi: Lamb, Spelt, Oats & Tropical Fruits review

Excellent is where this bag lands for us, a step clear of the Good band the middle of the puppy dry field occupies. Protein and processing and nutritional balance both read Good, with transparency Outstanding above them, so the result comes from steady work across the board.

The declared calcium and the named, moderate starch sources are what hold the position. The ceiling is set by a leaner additive panel than some growth kibbles carry, and by joint ingredients that arrive without figures attached.

Ingredients, as declared: lamb (20%), dehydrated lamb protein (20%), spelt (10%), oats (10%), chicken fat, dehydrated herring protein, dried beet pulp, fish oil (from herring), dried carrot, alfalfa meal, chicken cartilage (source of glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate), inulin, fructo-oligosaccharides, yeast extract (source of manno-oligo-saccharides), dried banana (0.5%), dried kiwi (0.5%), dried mango (0.5%), dried papaya (0.5%), dried pineapple (0.5%), dried spinach, psyllium husks and seeds, sodium chloride, dried brewers' yeast, turmeric, aloe vera extract.

Lamb comes in twice, fresh at 20% and as dehydrated lamb protein at 20%. The dried one has already lost its water and does more work in the finished kibble. Dehydrated herring protein follows, so the protein figure of 33.0% of dry matter is coming from more than one animal.

The starch base is spelt and oats, 10% each, and both are worth a word. Spelt predates modern wheat and carries a broader nutrient spread, though the gluten is still there. Oats digest easily once cooked and bring their own fibre. Even with two grains in the recipe, the estimated carbohydrate is 33.2% of dry matter, under the 39.0% typical of a puppy kibble.

Calcium is printed at 1.26% of dry matter, and on a bag aimed at medium and maxi puppies that is the number to check first. It sits inside the window growth wants, which means an owner rearing a big pup can plan around the label instead of guessing at it.

The tropical fruits are a nice idea kept in proportion. Each of the five fruits appears at 0.5%: banana, kiwi, mango, papaya and pineapple. That is enough for a little natural sweetness and some antioxidant value without shifting the shape of the recipe. Dried carrot, alfalfa meal, spinach, turmeric and aloe vera extract sit at similar trace levels.

Most of the fibre comes from dried beet pulp, a moderate and well tolerated choice, with psyllium husks and seeds alongside it. On the prebiotic side there is inulin, a yeast extract supplying mannan-oligosaccharides, and fructo-oligosaccharides. Fibre reads 3.0% of dry matter, gentle enough for a young gut.

The added panel here is workmanlike rather than showy. It runs to vitamin A at 12000IU, vitamin D3 at 1200IU, vitamin E at 120mg and a full trace mineral set, with DL-methionine at 2500mg and choline chloride at 2500mg. Selenium arrives as sodium selenite, which is permitted and effective without being the form most readily taken up, and green tea extract at 100mg with rosemary extract keeps the fats fresh.

Sold in bags from 2kg up to 10kg.

Portions for a growing pup move on a weekly basis, so let expected adult size set the amount. A puppy on the way to 20kg gets through somewhere around 440g to 538g a day in the first four months, on our own energy estimate. Between four and twelve months that eases back to 293g to 359g.