Nature's Harvest Puppy review

We put this one in our Excellent band, clear of the midpoint of the wet puppy field, which lands in the same band. That is strong company to be ahead of. Nutritional balance and transparency both read Outstanding behind it, while Excellent covers protein and processing and value.

Earning that placing are an analysis with very little starch in it and a meat share running to three fifths of the recipe. Holding it just short of the band above are a mineral panel that leaves calcium unprinted and joint additives too small to do much.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken (60%), Brown Rice (6%), Dried Carrots (1.3%, equivalent to 10% Carrots), Salmon Oil, Dried Basil, Dried Parsley, Dried Rosemary, Dried Mint, Dried Sage, Minerals, High Nucelotide Yeast Extract (0.015%), Seaweed Meal, Glucosamine (0.004%), Chondroitin Sulphate (0.002%), Yucca Schidigera (0.025%), Cranberry (0.002%)

Chicken at 60% sets the tone and the analysis follows through, with 48.0% protein on a dry matter basis and fat at 26.0% behind it. That protein figure is high even among wet puppy foods and is the single most impressive line on this label.

Starch barely features. Brown rice at 6% is the one grain, and estimated carbohydrate lands at 8.0% of dry matter, well under the 13.6% typical for the category. The meat headline is telling the truth about what is in the pack.

Dried carrots at 1.3% are declared as equivalent to 10% fresh carrots, a helpful way to write a label. A run of dried herbs follows: basil, parsley, rosemary, mint and sage. Rosemary counts twice, as a herb and as a natural antioxidant holding off the fats turning rancid.

Salmon oil is the fat of note, bringing the marine omega 3 that growing brains and coats use best. Fish therefore shows on the allergen picture, even with chicken the only meat in the recipe. That matters on a strict exclusion diet, less so if you simply prefer chicken.

A light touch runs right through the tail of the list. A high nucleotide yeast extract at 0.015% supports gut and immune development, and seaweed meal brings iodine with a broad mineral spread. Yucca at 0.025% is there for stool odour, and the cranberry at 0.002% is present in name more than in quantity.

The added panel is printed in full, with vitamin A at 2,500 IU, vitamin D3 at 200 IU and vitamin E at 25mg per kilo. Behind them sit zinc at 25mg, iron at 16.5mg, manganese at 6mg, copper at 2.5mg, iodine at 0.4mg and selenium at 0.05mg as sodium selenite. A calcium figure is the one thing missing. On a growth food, owners of big puppies want that number above all others, so ask the maker directly when a large adult size is on the cards.

£6.19 a kilo, sold as a single 395g pack or in a box of 10.

For a puppy, the daily amount rises steeply for a while and then levels off, so follow the growth guidance on the pack and adjust to condition. Wet food fills more of the bowl per calorie than kibble does, which is worth remembering when the pack looks modest.