Walker & Drake

Walker & Drake Puppy Food: Duck review

Name: Walker & Drake Puppy Food: Duck
Brand: Walker & Drake

72.3/100Excellent

Cold pressedPuppy

Flavour

Cold-pressed puppy food in two recipes, with the duck in our Excellent band and the chicken a step behind in Good. The pressing is what sets it apart for a young dog: the pellet crumbles in water and does not swell in a pup that has eaten too fast. Neither label prints a calcium figure, and that is the gap to close for a big breed.

Where to buy: coming soon

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Our view

Likely to suit

Puppies that gulp their meals
Cereal-free feeding, with potato, sweet potato and pea doing the job instead
Growing joints. Glucosamine and chondroitin come with their doses printed
A picky pup: hydrolysed chicken in one recipe, duck fat in the other
Starting small, with a 1.5kg bag beside the 6kg

Worth watching

No calcium or phosphorus figure on either label, so ask Walker & Drake before a large-breed pup grows on it
Salmon oil in both, so fish is in the bag either way
Poultry fat in the chicken recipe names no bird

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

How this scores

How we score

72.3/100Excellent

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceGood

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueExcellent

The details

Dog fit

Listed for puppies of every size, toy to giant. For a pup heading for a large frame, get the calcium figure from the maker before ordering.

Food type

Cold pressed

Life stage

Puppy

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Duck

The score, in context

Duck 72.3
Chicken 69.3

Two recipes across Excellent and Good. Typical dry food: Good.

Named dried meat, printed joint doses and a full trace element declaration earn both their places; plant protein near the top keeps the chicken a band behind the duck.

What's in it

Dried duck34%The larger meat inclusion of the two.
Flaked potato
Pea protein, pea flourPlant protein high on the list.
Sweet potato
Duck fatKeeps duck the only bird named.
Brewers yeast, whole egg powderEgg is one of the most digestible proteins for a growing dog.
Beet pulp, gelatine powderBeet pulp is the source of FOS.
Salmon oilFish in the bag, so duck led but not duck alone.
Blueberry, cranberry, yucca extract
Glucosamine sulphate, chondroitin sulphate415mg/kg, 180mg/kg

Vitamins A, D3 and E, with the source compound named behind every trace element, from zinc oxide at 100mg to sodium selenite.

No calcium or phosphorus figure on the label. For a large-breed puppy, ask Walker & Drake for it.

Named ingredients

Dried Duck 34%, Flaked Potato, Pea Protein, Pea Flour, Sweet Potato, Duck Fat, Brewers Yeast, Whole Egg Powder, Beet Pulp (source FOS), Gelatine Powder, Salmon Oil, Blueberry, Cranberry, Yucca Extract, Glucosamine Sulphate (415mg/kg), Chondroitin Sulphate (180mg/kg).

Against the range

Meat: Dried duck 34%; The chicken has dried chicken at 26%.
Fat source: Duck fat; The chicken uses poultry fat.
Other animals on the label: Egg, salmon oil; Same in the chicken.

The cleaner choice of the two for a pup kept to one bird.

Both recipes share one analysis: 33.0% protein and 12.0% fat, with carbohydrate converting to 39.7% of dry matter, close to the usual for cold-pressed puppy food. The starch side is grain free in each, carried by flaked potato and sweet potato with pea protein and pea flour behind. Glucosamine sulphate at 415mg/kg and chondroitin sulphate at 180mg/kg are printed on both, and salmon oil and whole egg powder appear in both. What varies is the meat share, the fat source and how much of the label carries a percentage.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

370 kcal/100g

Protein

33%

Fat

12%

Fibre

Ash

8.5%

Moisture

Dry weight

Protein

35.9%

Fat

13%

Fibre

2.2%

Ash

9.2%

Carbs

39.7%

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

35.9%

Carbs

59.4%

Oils

2.5%

Other

2.3%

Pricing & size