Seven Pet Seven Grain Free Puppy Large Breed review

This reads in our Excellent band, a step above the Good band the typical puppy dry food occupies. Transparency reads Outstanding and protein and processing Good, while nutritional balance reads Average, and that gap is the starch share and the broad vegetables heading showing through rather than any doubt about the fish itself.

Ingredients, as declared: Salmon 60% (including Freshly Prepared Salmon 38%, Dehydrated Salmon 20%, Salmon Digest 2%), Vegetables (including Sweet Potato (19%), Potato, Peas (0.2%), Carrots), Digestive Care Pack (Beet Fibre, Fructooligosaccharides (96 mg/kg), Mannanoligosaccharides (24 mg/kg)), Vitamins & Minerals, Flaxseed, Joint Care Pack (Glucosamine (355 mg/kg), Methylsulfonylmethane (355 mg/kg), Chondroitin sulphate (250 mg/kg)), Fish Oil, Nucleotides.

Salmon at 60% breaks into three entries: 38% freshly prepared, 20% dehydrated and a 2% salmon digest. The dehydrated portion is the one carrying the most protein into the baked kibble, since its water has already been taken out, while the freshly prepared share gives most of its weight up during cooking.

Apart from the fish oil, nothing else on this list comes from an animal. A pup held off poultry, beef and lamb gets a clean run here. The fish oil does not name its species, and a household counting fish strictly would want to ask about that. For most owners this is about as close to a one animal kibble as you will find.

The vegetables are grouped under a single heading, normally a phrase worth questioning, and the maker at least names what is in it: sweet potato at 19%, potato, peas at 0.2% and carrots. No cereal appears on the label at all.

The joint pack is the standout. Glucosamine at 355 mg/kg, methylsulfonylmethane at 355 mg/kg and chondroitin sulphate at 250 mg/kg are close to double what the brand's other puppy recipes carry. For a breed that will put serious weight through young joints, that is the right instinct.

Digestion is looked after by a named pack of beet fibre with fructooligosaccharides at 96 mg/kg and mannanoligosaccharides at 24 mg/kg, and flaxseed adds plant omega 3 alongside the fish oil. Nucleotides close the composition.

The analysis is where the large breed thinking shows. Protein is declared at 24.0% and fat at 12.0%, which on a declared 8.0% moisture convert to 26.1% and 13.0% of dry matter, both held lower than a general purpose puppy food would run them. Rearing a big pup lean and unhurried is the accepted way to do it, so the moderation is a deliberate choice. It does leave carbohydrate estimated at 51.1% of dry matter where the typical puppy dry food sits at 39.0%. Energy lands at 374 kcal per 100g, near enough the 376 typical.

Calcium is declared, and at 1.41% of dry matter it is right where growth wants it. On a food written specifically for big pups, that is the most reassuring line on the whole panel. The additives back it up with vitamins A, D3 and E, plus L-carnitine at 480 mg per kilo. A full set of trace elements runs from zinc at 85 mg down to iodine at 1.7 mg.

£5.00 a kilo, sold in a single 12kg bag.

Big pups spend the longest growing of any dog, so the daily amount belongs on the growth chart the whole way through, adjusted to keep them coming on steadily.