Vetspec

VetSpec Working Dog Food Puppy & Junior review

Name: VetSpec Working Dog Food Puppy & Junior
Brand: Vetspec

65.9/100Good

DryPuppy

A chicken kibble for a pup growing into a job, in our Good band. Glucosamine and chondroitin are written into the ingredients themselves, which is what separates it from an ordinary growth food. Chicken meat meal opens the list at 28.0%, with brown and white rice carrying the starch.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Working and sporting homes. VetSpec lists it for working dogs from puppyhood
Starting joint support early, with glucosamine HCl at 0.25% and chondroitin sulphate at 0.03%
Puppies suited to chicken, the only meat named
A gentle, mixed starch base of rice, oats and beet pulp
Owners who like amino acids in print: taurine at 1000 mg/kg among them

Worth watching

Calcium carbonate in the recipe but no calcium figure on the label
Rice and oats, so grain is squarely in the bowl
Fish oil on the list for a pup avoiding fish
Energy at our estimated 358 kcal per 100g, under the 376 typical of a puppy dry food

Written by our editorial team. Independent guidance, not veterinary advice.

How this scores

How we score

65.9/100Good

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceGood

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for puppies of every size. If yours will grow into a big breed, ask VetSpec for the calcium figure before ordering.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Puppy

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

VetSpec Working Dog Food Puppy & Junior 65.9

All one Good. Typical dry food: Good.

A meat share declared piece by piece and a starch base that names every part lift it a little above the middle of the puppy field.

What's in it

Chicken meat meal28.0%A meal arrives dry, so its share carries into the bag much as printed.
Brown rice, white rice16.1% eachEasily digested, releasing energy without fuss.
Fresh chicken, chicken fat9.0% and 5.9%
Peas, sugar beet pulp, whole oats, whole linseeds6.0%Peas carry the 6.0%; the rest are unquantified.
Chicken digest as gravy1.8%
Fish oilMarine omega 3, and the one non-chicken animal source.
Glucosamine HCl0.25%The heavier of the two joint inclusions, started early for a working life.
Calcium carbonate, sodium chlorideCalcium is in the recipe, but the amount is never stated.
Culinary herbs blend: seaweed, chicory and yeast extracts, alfalfa, yucca, kitchen herbsThe chicory and yeast extracts supply two prebiotics at 0.08% each, to help settle a young gut.
Chondroitin sulphate0.03%

Dosed openly, with L-carnitine at 250 mg/kg, biotin, added taurine, lysine and methionine, and chelated trace minerals beside the sulphates and oxides.

No calcium figure on the label. If you are rearing a big breed pup, ask VetSpec for it first.

Named ingredients

Chicken meat meal (28.0%), Brown rice (16.1%), White rice (16.1%), Fresh chicken (9.0%),chicken fat (5.9%), peas (6.0%), sugar beet pulp, whole oats, whole linseeds, chicken digest as gravy (1.8%), fish oil, glucosamine HCl (0.25%), calcium carbonate, sodium chloride, culinary herbs blend (dried seaweed, chicory extract as source of fructo-oligosaccharides (0.08%), yeast extract as source of mannanoligosaccharides (0.08%), alfalfa, yucca extract, rosemary, fennel, basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, aniseed), chondroitin sulphate (0.03%)

Against the range

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

357.5 kcal/100g

Estimated using Modified Atwater factors*

Protein

27%

Fat

15.5%

Fibre

3.5%

Ash

7.5%

Moisture

Dry weight

Protein

29.7%

Fat

17%

Fibre

3.8%

Ash

8.2%

Carbs

41.3%

As-fed composition

Estimated breakdown of the finished product by ingredient category, from the declared ingredient list and ingoing weights. These are estimates, not measurements.

Meat

38.8%

Carbs

51.1%

Veg

0.1%

Oils

Other

3.1%

Pricing & size