Wellness Core Puppy review

The Ocean Salmon bag comes out in our Good band, level with the typical puppy dry food, while the turkey and chicken recipe pushes a band clear of it into Excellent. Transparency reads Outstanding on both labels, with nutritional balance Outstanding on the turkey and chicken bag and Excellent on the fish. The position is earned across the board, with nothing propped up in one place.

It is the build that earns the place. A lead meat is declared in two forms, the starch base stays modest for a kibble, and the supplement tail is written out in full. What stops either bag pressing higher is a set of smaller things, from a plant protein sitting high on the list to the calcium line that only one of the labels prints.

Ingredients, as declared: Turkey 32% (Fresh Turkey 16%, Dehydrated Turkey 16%), Chicken 30% (Dehydrated Chicken 16%, Chicken Fat 8%, Chicken Gravy 6%), Peas, Potato Protein, Beet Pulp 4%, Linseed 3%, Dried Potatoes, Salmon Oil 1%, Lignocellulose, Carrots, Apples, Yeast Extract (source of mannan oligosaccharides) 0.5%, Dried Chicory Root (source of Fructo- oligo-saccharides and Inulin) 0.5%, Broccoli, Spinach, Tomatoes 0.01%, Blueberries 0.01%, Cranberries, Dried Peppermint, D-Glucosamine Hydrochloride 100 mg/kg, Chondroitin Sulphate 100 mg/kg, Yucca Schidigera, Mixed Herbs (Dried Rosemary, Dried Turmeric, Dried Citrus, Dried Eugenia).

Both recipes use the same trick with their meat, and it is a good one. The lead animal appears twice, once fresh and once dehydrated. The dried form has already given up its water, so that half of the declared share reaches the finished kibble much as printed, with no shrinking in the oven.

Peas and dried potatoes do the binding across the range, so neither bag carries a cereal. Fibre on both lists is beet pulp at 4%, a gentle and well tolerated sort that most growing digestions handle without fuss. Potato protein appears on both lists too, and it is the one structural entry we would rather see lower down. Plant proteins are less digestible than the animal kind, and they are better topping up the amino acid picture than filling it out.

The gut and joint tail is common to both. Fructo-oligosaccharides and inulin come from dried chicory root, mannan-oligosaccharides from yeast extract. Together they are the standard prebiotic pairing, there to feed the helpful bacteria further along. Glucosamine hydrochloride and chondroitin sulphate follow, though at quite different levels in the two bags.

After that comes the garnish: broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, cranberries and blueberries in trace amounts, then yucca schidigera and a mixed herb blend of rosemary, turmeric, citrus and eugenia. Treat all of that as seasoning rather than substance. Mixed herbs is also the one broad heading on an otherwise itemised list, so a pup whose triggers are being pinned down deserves a note of it.

Both labels dose their added vitamins and trace elements in print, with vitamin A at 14000 IU and taurine at 1500 mg/kg on each. Zinc and iron come at 100 mg apiece, with smaller amounts of copper, manganese and iodine. The variety notes below carry the analysis, the calcium picture and the joint doses, which is where the two recipes genuinely part company.

The turkey and chicken bag splits its meat across two birds. Turkey makes up 32% in fresh and dehydrated halves of 16% each, and chicken adds a further 30% as dehydrated chicken at 16%, chicken fat at 8% and chicken gravy at 6%. The fats are linseed at 3% and salmon oil at 1%, and lignocellulose brings a purified fibre that adds bulk and nothing much besides.

This is the fuller label of the two. Protein reads 37.0% and converts to 40.7% of dry matter, with fat at 17.0%, ash at 8.0% and moisture declared at 9.0%. The carbohydrate estimate is 27.6% of dry matter, against the 39.0% typical of a puppy dry food. Energy sits at 359 kcal per 100g. Calcium is printed here and converts to 1.98% of dry matter, a little above where large breed growth is usually pitched. Rearing a big pup on this as the everyday bowl is a conversation to have with your vet first. The joint pair comes in at 100 mg/kg of glucosamine hydrochloride and 100 mg/kg of chondroitin sulphate.

Bag sizes across the range run from a kilo and a half up to ten kilos, depending which recipe you choose. The Ocean Salmon with White Fish bag works out at £3.50 a kilo.

Puppy rations are not a fixed number. They rise through the early months and then flatten off as the frame finishes. Let the chart on the bag and the feel of your pup's ribs decide the scoop, never habit.