Yarrah Puppy review

Yarrah Puppy sits in our Good band, level with the middle of the puppy dry field. Its pillars read Average for protein and processing, Good for nutritional balance, Outstanding for transparency and Good for value, which is where the food sits overall. The organic sourcing and the MSC fish are real points of difference, and the calcium figure is declared and in range, which is more than plenty of growth foods manage. What holds the position down is the recipe underneath the certification. Dried chicken at 19% is the only meat inclusion given a number, and oats, corn and wheat between them do a great deal of the lifting.

Ingredients, as declared: Dried chicken* (19%), oats*, corn*, wheat*, chicken fat*, rice protein*, soy husks*, dried MSC herring¹, peas*, hydrolised liver*, brewers yeast, sunflower seed husks*, MSC fish oil¹, minerals. * = organic. ¹From an MSC certified sustainable fishery, www.msc.org. 97.6% of agricultural resources is sourced from organic agriculture.

Dried chicken at 19% is the meat inclusion. Drying it first is the useful part: with the water already out, close to the whole 19% carries through to the kibble. It is also the only percentage Yarrah attaches to any ingredient, which leaves everything after it ranked but unmeasured.

Oats, corn and wheat follow in that order. Of the three, oats come out best: easy to digest once cooked and generous with fibre, manganese and B vitamins. Corn does the structural work a kibble needs and most dogs handle it perfectly well. Wheat is the one to note. Dietary intolerance in dogs is linked with it more often than with any other grain. Think twice about it for a pup that has a history of gut or skin trouble.

Chicken fat carries the richness, and at 18.0% declared fat this label sits at the fattier end of the puppy shelf. That is where the 392 kcal per 100g comes from, against a category typical of 376. Rice protein sits behind it, a plant protein used to top up the total, and while it is perfectly digestible it does not do the same job in a growing dog as protein from meat.

Soy husks and sunflower seed husks are fibre ingredients, the outer casings left once the seed has been processed, and they add bulk with very little else attached. Soya is worth registering for a dog prone to intolerance. Dried MSC herring, peas, hydrolysed liver and brewers yeast fill out the middle of the list. Hydrolysed liver in particular earns its place on palatability, liver being about as appealing as ingredients get to a dog.

Fish oil from an MSC certified fishery closes the recipe. The omega 3 it brings is what a growing coat and brain run on, and it puts fish next to chicken on the allergen list. The organic claim covers 97.6% of the agricultural ingredients, an unusually specific number to print and one that tells you far more than an unquantified organic badge would.

Calcium is declared and converts to 1.3% of dry matter, comfortably inside what a developing skeleton needs. Yarrah lists this bag for every adult size, so a large breed owner has a published figure to work from and no claim to take on trust. Protein at 28.0% converts to 30.4% of dry matter and carbohydrate to an estimated 40.3%, close to the 39.0% typical for a puppy kibble. One oddity is worth flagging: the vitamin and trace element panel is published without a unit against any number, so we reproduce those values as printed rather than interpret them.

£4.94 a kilo, sold in a 2kg bag.

A puppy has no single daily amount. The right portion follows their age and the adult weight they are heading for. Start from Yarrah's chart and adjust to the condition your pup is actually in.