Orijen Puppy Large review

This recipe holds a place in our Excellent band while the middle of the puppy dry field settles a band lower, in Good. The first eleven entries on the label are all animal, and carbohydrate converts to 22.7% of dry matter where the typical puppy kibble runs at 39.0%, which between them explain most of the gap.

For a large breed pup the interesting part is the restraint. Fat at 16% and 376 kcal per 100g put this level with the typical puppy kibble on energy rather than above it. That is the right direction of travel when the aim is a frame that grows at its own pace. Nutritional balance and transparency both reach Outstanding here, with protein and processing and value both Excellent.

Ingredients, as declared: Fresh chicken (21%), raw turkey (11%), fresh chicken giblets (liver, heart) (10%), raw whole hake (5%), raw whole herring (5%), fresh eggs (5%), raw turkey liver (5%), dehydrated chicken (5%), dehydrated mackerel (5%), dehydrated sardine (4.5%), dehydrated herring (4%), whole red lentils, whole green lentils, whole peas, lentil fibre, whole chickpeas, whole pinto beans, pea starch, dehydrated turkey (2%), chicken fat (2%), whole navy beans, pollock oil (0.5%), dried kelp, fresh whole pumpkin, fresh whole butternut squash, fresh whole zucchini, fresh whole carrots, fresh whole apples, fresh whole pears, dried chicory root, fresh kale, fresh spinach, fresh beet greens, fresh turnip greens, whole cranberries, whole blueberries, whole saskatoon berries, turmeric, milk thistle, burdock root, lavender, marshmallow root, rosehips.

The label opens with fresh chicken at 21% and raw turkey at 11%. Fresh chicken giblets follow at 10%, and raw turkey liver at 5%. Fresh meat carries its water with it, so the dehydrated block does much of the heavy lifting. Chicken and mackerel at 5% each, sardine at 4.5% and herring at 4% arrive already dried, and their declared shares come through into the kibble almost untouched.

Raw whole hake and raw whole herring at 5% apiece put two whole sea fish into the recipe before any dried fish is counted, and pollock oil at 0.5% finishes the marine fats. Oily fish is the most direct route to the long-chain omega 3 a growing nervous system draws on.

Calcium is declared, and 1.48% of dry matter is a sensible number to find on a bag aimed squarely at big pups. Skeletal growth in a large breed is the one part of puppy feeding where too much of a good thing genuinely bites. A printed and moderate figure sitting alongside a fat level of 16% reads as a recipe that has thought the job through.

The starch comes from whole red lentils, green lentils, peas, chickpeas, pinto beans and navy beans. Lentil fibre and a small amount of pea starch sit alongside. There is no cereal anywhere in it. Fibre and a range of minerals come with the carbohydrate in whole pulses, and at 22.7% of dry matter the total is modest for a kibble.

Taurine at 400mg per kilo is the notable addition here. It is an amino acid that most dogs produce for themselves, and seeing it printed in a grain-free recipe is reassuring. Zinc at 105mg, copper at 11mg, vitamin B1 at 9.8mg and vitamin E at 120 IU per kilo round out the nutritional panel. A live Enterococcus faecium culture looks after the gut. Preservation is natural, with tocopherol extract at 121mg, rosemary extract at 80mg and citric acid at 40mg.

After the pulses the list turns to whole foods in small measures. Pumpkin, butternut squash, courgette and carrots come first, then apples and pears, four sorts of leafy green, cranberries, blueberries and saskatoon berries, and finally turmeric, milk thistle, burdock root and rosehips. None of it appears in a quantity that shifts the nutrition, and none of it needs to. The meat has already done that work.

£8.51 a kilo, sold in 6kg and 11.4kg bags.

Portions for a big pup change faster than for any other dog, so work from the maker's chart by expected adult size and keep adjusting as they fill out. It runs from 160g a day for a 5kg pup heading towards a 30kg adult all the way up to 640g a day for one destined to reach 80kg.