Burns Puppy Junior Original Chicken Rice

The instinct with a puppy is to feed the richest thing on the shelf, on the reasonable-sounding grounds that something growing that fast must need a lot. Burns build this bag on the opposite idea. They describe it as having controlled protein and fat, so that growth is steady rather than quick, on the basis that a skeleton arriving ahead of the joints holding it up causes trouble years later.

The recipe is short enough to read in one go: dried chicken 31%, brown rice 22%, white rice 22%, oats, chicken oil, peas, sunflower oil, seaweed, minerals and chicory extract as a prebiotic at FOS 0.1%. Burns say the wholegrain brown rice is there for slow-release energy and the white rice for energy spurts, which is an unusually specific reason to have two of something. The declared analysis is protein 28%, crude fat 15%, fibre 3%, ash 7%, calcium 1.6% and phosphorus 1.2%, with omega-6 at 2.97% and omega-3 at 0.37%. Burns was started in 1993 by John Burns, a vet, and it comes in three bag sizes.

• Dried chicken 31%, brown rice 22%, white rice 22%
• Protein 28%, crude fat 15%, crude fibre 3%, crude ash 7%
• Calcium 1.6% and phosphorus 1.2%
• Omega-6 fatty acids 2.97%, omega-3 fatty acids 0.37%
• Chicory extract as a prebiotic, at FOS 0.1%
• Complete food for puppies and junior dogs, in three bag sizes

No feeding guide reached us with this, which on a puppy food is the one thing you most need. Burns publish the recipe and the full analysis and not a single daily figure came through with them, and a growing puppy's amount changes month by month — so read the back of the bag and weigh it rather than judging by eye. Two other things. It is a chicken and rice food, with chicken oil in it as well as dried chicken, so it is the wrong bag if you are avoiding chicken. And it is deliberately not grain free: rice and oats are doing real work here, which is a reason to buy it or a reason not to depending on why you are shopping.

Who it's for: owners of a puppy or junior dog who want a recipe short enough to read on the shelf, and particularly anyone who has been told to keep a large-breed puppy growing slowly.