Wainwright's Puppy Trays: Chicken with Brown Rice review

Trays are where wet puppy food tends to be at its best, and the middle of that category already reaches our Excellent band. These land in the same band and finish clear of that middle. In company this strong, that is a genuine result.

Protein and processing and nutritional balance both read Excellent, transparency goes a step further at Outstanding and value reads Excellent as well, so the profile is one of real strengths sitting on a sound base. The meat share is high, the plant entries are declared with their fresh equivalents, and the recipe stops where it should instead of padding out. What is left to improve is the printed detail, and it is not the same detail on both trays, which is what the variety notes are for.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken (72%) (Chicken 70%, Chicken Liver 2%), Brown Rice (4%), Dried Peas (2.5%, equivalent to 8% peas), Dried Carrots (1%, equivalent to 8% carrots), Sweet Potato (1%), Minerals, Dried Alfalfa, Pear, Dried Seaweed, Dried Herbs (Parsley, Rosemary, Fennel, Marigold Flowers), Flaxseed Oil (0.08%), Chicory Root Powder (as a source of Prebiotic Fructo-oligosaccharide) (0.05%), Yucca Extract (0.005%)

Meat at 72% is a high share for any wet food, and the label breaks it open rather than leaving it as a headline: 70% meat with 2% liver alongside. Few things you can put in a growing dog's bowl carry more nutrition than liver, and dogs love the taste. Seeing it named and measured says something good about how the rest of the recipe was put together.

The plant side is small and declared with unusual care. The only cereal is brown rice at 4%. Dried peas at 2.5% are given as the equivalent of 8% peas, dried carrots at 1% as the equivalent of 8% carrots, and sweet potato adds 1%. Spelling out what the dried figures mean in fresh terms is the kind of arithmetic most labels leave the reader to do. Carbohydrate lands between 11.4% and 14.0% of dry matter across the two trays, either side of the 13.6% typical of a wet puppy food.

Dried alfalfa, pear and dried seaweed follow. The herb group is named on the label: parsley, rosemary, fennel and marigold flowers. Flaxseed oil comes in at 0.08% as a plant source of omega 3, chicory root powder at 0.05% supplies the prebiotic FOS, and yucca extract at 0.005% closes the list. These are finishing touches on a recipe whose weight is all in the meat.

Calcium is the number that decides how well a growth food serves a big puppy, and only one of these two trays prints it. The maker lists this range for medium, large and giant breed pups, so the split is worth knowing when you pick between the two. The tray that does declare calcium comes in inside the range growth needs. The variety notes give the figure.

The added panel is dosed in print on both trays, with vitamins A, D3 and E declared alongside zinc at 50mg, iron at 10mg, copper at 5mg and iodine at 0.5mg. Neither tray declares its energy figure, so both are our estimates and are best read as a guide when you set the first portion.

Chicken with Brown Rice is the leaner-looking of the pair on minerals and the fattier on energy. Chicken at 72% breaks down as 70% chicken with 2% chicken liver. The panel shows 10.5% protein and 11.0% fat as fed, converting to 35.0% protein and 36.7% fat of dry matter. Ash is declared at 3.6%, which is 12.0% of dry matter, and moisture at 70.0%.

Carbohydrate is estimated at 4.2% as fed, or 14.0% of dry matter, and energy at 145 kcal per 100g. This tray prints no calcium figure of its own. If you are rearing a pup towards a large or giant adult size, ask the maker for that number. Dried alfalfa appears here without a declared share.

£4.28 a kilo, in 395g trays.

A growing pup does not eat a steady amount for long, so there is no single daily figure to give. Portions climb as the pup ages and as the adult weight comes into view, then ease back once growth slows. The tray chart is the thing to feed to. It runs from about 98.8g a day at the smallest end up to roughly 1777.5g a day at the widest, and your pup's shape settles where inside that you land.