Orygo Puppy Dry review

This one reaches our Outstanding band, well clear of where the cold-pressed field's middle falls. Cold pressing is a strong category, so matching that middle is a proper result and no formality. The fresh fish and poultry at the head of the label are what earn it. Carbohydrate converting to 34.5% of dry matter, under the 43.2% typical for the category, helps as well.

Ingredients, as declared: 53% Fresh Salmon, 32% Fresh Turkey, Partially Hydrolysed Starch, 4% Sweet Potato, Vegetable Glycerine, Orygoformula 2.6% (Products Resulting from Yeast Fermentation, S. Cerevisiae, Turmeric Longa, Olive Oil, Inulin, Chicory Pulp, Sage, Quinoa, Mint, Fennel, Yucca Mojave, Rosemary, Oregano, Thyme, Valerian, Cranberry Extract, Pomegranate Extract, Milk Thistle, Liquorice, Aloe Vera Without Aloin, Extract Artichoke, Prooil, Egg Membrane, Trout Oil 500 mg/kg).

Fresh salmon at 53% and fresh turkey at 32% make a large animal declaration for a pressed food. Both are named as species, not left as fish or poultry. Salmon brings its own oil with it, which is a tidy way for a growing dog to get the omega 3 fats without an added fish oil high on the list.

Cold pressing does the rest. The pellet is formed at far lower temperatures than extruded kibble is cooked at, and in liquid it breaks down without swelling. That suits a puppy that eats faster than it thinks. Storage and measuring are the same as any dry food, so nothing about the daily routine has to change.

In a puppy food the calcium figure matters more than any other. Here it converts to 1.46% of dry matter, a comfortable reading for a large breed puppy. Big-breed growth is the one case where calcium wants watching in both directions, so a food that prints a usable figure widens the range of puppies it can feed rather than narrowing it.

The carbohydrate is a partially hydrolysed starch, broken down before it ever reaches the bowl, converting to 34.5% of dry matter. Which plant it came from is never said, the single place an otherwise specific list goes quiet.

The extras all sit in Orygoformula at 2.6%: inulin and chicory pulp, olive oil, turmeric, yeast fermentation products, a run of culinary herbs, and fruit extracts including cranberry and pomegranate. Trout oil at 500 mg per kilo and egg membrane sit in the same blend, so fish and egg are both present in the finished food. Organic sweet potato at 4% is the only other plant entry with a percentage of its own.

The analysis is built for growth. Protein converts to 35.4% of dry matter and fat to 18.3%, with energy declared at 364 kcal per 100g. Crude ash converts to 9.4%, consistent with the mineral load a growth food has to carry.

Orygo Puppy is sold in 3.6kg boxes and 8kg bags.

Taking the standard maintenance estimate for a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, about 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75), this food feeds at roughly 231g a day. A growing puppy of the same weight eats a good deal more than a grown dog, so read that as a floor rather than a guide.