Seven Pet Seven Grain Free Puppy review

Seven Grain Free Puppy reads in our Excellent band, a step above the Good band the typical puppy dry food belongs to. Transparency reads Outstanding, value Excellent, and both protein and processing and nutritional balance Good. The position is earned by a label that quantifies what most leave vague: the meat split, the prebiotic doses, the joint doses and a calcium figure that suits a growing skeleton.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken 36% (including Freshly Prepared Chicken (20%), Dried Chicken (14%), Chicken Digest (2%)), Vegetables (including Sweet Potato (22%), Potato, Carrot (0.2%), Peas (0.07%)), Freshly Prepared Turkey (7%), Dehydrated Turkey (7%), Freshly Prepared Salmon (7%), Dehydrated Salmon (3%), Flaxseed, Fish Oil, Digestive Care Pack (Beet Fibre, Fructooligosaccharides (96 mg/kg), Mannanoligosaccharides (24 mg/kg)), Minerals, Joint Care Pack (Glucosamine (170 mg/kg), Methylsulfonylmethane (170 mg/kg), Chondroitin Sulphate (125 mg/kg)),Nucleotides

The animal ingredients together make 60% of the recipe. The 36% chicken breaks down as 20% freshly prepared, 14% dried and 2% chicken digest. Behind it sit turkey at 7% freshly prepared and 7% dehydrated, with salmon at 7% freshly prepared and 3% dehydrated. The dried portions matter more than their figures look, because their water has already gone, while the freshly prepared meats lose most of theirs during cooking.

Chicken digest is the one entry to read carefully. It is a palatant, a processed liquid or powder used to make kibble appetising rather than a meat inclusion in the ordinary sense. At 2% it does not change the picture much, and it is at least named to the bird.

The starch sits under a 'Vegetables' heading, usually a phrase to treat carefully. Here the maker itemises what is inside it: sweet potato at 22%, potato, carrot at 0.2% and peas at 0.07%. No cereal appears on the label at all.

Flaxseed and fish oil handle the fats. Between them they supply plant and marine omega 3. That pairing suits a growing coat and a nervous system still under construction. The fish oil is also part of why fish shows up on this recipe's allergen picture.

Two supplement packs are named and quantified. The digestive care pack carries beet fibre with fructooligosaccharides at 96 mg/kg and mannanoligosaccharides at 24 mg/kg. Those two are prebiotics, and they feed the good bacteria a dog already has lower down. The joint care pack holds glucosamine at 170 mg/kg, methylsulfonylmethane at 170 mg/kg and chondroitin sulphate at 125 mg/kg, with nucleotides closing the composition.

Protein reads 28.5% and fat 14.5% on a declared 8.0% moisture, converting to 31.0% and 15.8% of dry matter. Energy is a declared figure, not an estimate, at 383 kcal per 100g against the 376 typical of a puppy dry food. Carbohydrate is estimated at 42.8% of dry matter where that typical figure is 39.0%, so the starch load runs a little above average for the category. On any growth food calcium is the figure to look for. This label prints enough for it to work out at 1.3% of dry matter, inside the range, and on a puppy bag that is the line you most want to read.

The additive panel comes with its doses attached, starting with vitamins A, D3 and E. Then zinc at 50 mg, iron at 50 mg, manganese at 35 mg, copper at 15 mg, iodine at 1 mg and selenium at 0.3 mg in every kilo.

£5.00 a kilo, sold in 2kg and 12kg bags.

Do not settle on one daily scoop. Work down the growth chart as your pup's weight changes, and check the amount again every couple of weeks through the fastest stretch of growing.