Rude Dog Food Puppy review

This recipe takes our Excellent band, sitting a step below the middle of a demanding raw puppy field. The midpoint of our own scale is another matter entirely. It does clear that midpoint. The label explains why: one itemised bird carrying its own bone, a full organ set from a second animal, and a small plant fraction that stays out of the way. Nutritional balance and transparency each reach Outstanding, with protein and processing and value both sitting at Excellent.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken with Bone - 70%, Beef Tripe - 10%, Beef Fat - 2.5%, Beef Heart - 2.5%, Beef Kidney - 2.5%, Beef Liver - 2.5%, Salmon Oil - 0.3%, Butternut Squash - 3%, Green Vegetables - 3%, Carrot - 2%, Raspberry & Blueberry - 1%, Tumeric - 0.3%, Ginger - 0.2%, Sea Kelp - 0.2%, Chicken with Bone 70%, Beef Tripe 10%, Beef Fat 2.5%, Beef Heart 2.5%, Beef Kidney 2.5%, Beef Liver 2.5%, Salmon Oil 0.3%, Butternut Squash 3%, Green Vegetables 3%, Carrot 2%, Raspberry & Blueberry 1%, Tumeric 0.3%, Ginger 0.2%, Sea Kelp 0.2%, Stated total 100%

Chicken with bone at 70% is the whole spine of the recipe, with muscle and skeleton arriving together. That bone in grind is where a raw recipe gets its calcium, and it is the reason crude ash converts to 9.4% of dry matter here. The label stops short of a calcium figure. It is the number to ask about when a food is built for growth, especially for a puppy that will finish large.

The organ share comes from beef rather than chicken, with tripe at 10% and heart, kidney and liver at 2.5% each. Liver is nutrient dense in a way little else in a bowl can match, carrying B12 and vitamin A with copper and iron in an easily digested form, and tripe brings both richness and digestibility. Beef fat at 2.5% is the only added animal fat.

The plant fraction is deliberately slight: butternut squash at 3%, green vegetables at 3%, carrot at 2% and raspberry and blueberry at 1%. Carrot adds vitamin A, plus soluble fibre and some antioxidants. Green vegetables is the one entry given as a category and not a named plant. It lets the mix follow the season, though it tells you less than the rest of this label does.

Turmeric at 0.3%, ginger at 0.2% and sea kelp at 0.2% close the list, and printing those percentages is honest about how small they are. The kelp is the one doing measurable work, as a source of iodine and trace minerals. Salmon oil at 0.3% supplies omega 3 fats and is the reason fish belongs on the allergen list.

The analysis reads like a growth recipe should. Protein converts to 46.2% of dry matter and fat to 42.6%, with energy at 173 kcal per 100g against the 155 kcal typical of raw puppy food. Carbohydrate is estimated at zero, and with nothing starchy anywhere on the list that reads as true rather than as an artefact of the method.

Sold as a 500g tub, at £7.40 a kilo.

The label's feeding table works from the puppy's current weight, not from energy. It asks 150 grams a day at 5kg, 375 grams at 15kg and 750 grams at 30kg, carrying on up to 1250 grams at 50kg. While a puppy is growing quickly, weigh the portions out.