There is no food that makes an anxious dog calm, and anyone selling you one is overpromising. What this recipe does is more modest and a good deal more defensible: it puts in the things associated with calm — L-tryptophan, chamomile, B vitamins from yeast — and it keeps the digestion gentle, on the reasonable ground that a dog with an unhappy stomach is a restless dog.

Turkey is 39% of it, split between fresh turkey at 26% and dried at 13%, with sweet potato at 25% and no grain. The additives are where the calming claim actually lives: L-tryptophan at 2,000mg/kg, taurine at 1,000mg and L-carnitine at 2,500mg, alongside dried chamomile at 1% of the composition. The analysis is crude protein 25%, fat 15%, crude ash 8.5% and crude fibre 4.5%.

• Complete grain-free food for adult dogs, 12KG
• Turkey 39% — fresh 26%, dried 13%
• Sweet potato 25%, with no grain or cereal
• L-tryptophan declared at 2,000mg/kg
• Dried chamomile at 1% of the composition
• Protein 25%, fat 15%, crude ash 8.5%, crude fibre 4.5%

What food can and cannot do about anxiety. Arden Grange are careful with their own wording and so will we be: this is formulated to support calm, not to treat anxiety. A dog with genuine separation distress, noise phobia or reactivity needs a behaviour plan and usually a vet, and no bag of food is a substitute for either of those. It is also worth noting that it contains chicken digest and chicken oil despite being a turkey recipe, which matters if chicken is the protein you are trying to avoid.

Who it's for: adult dogs who are generally a bit wired or a bit windy, where the owner is already working on the behaviour and would like the diet pulling in the same direction.