Forthglade Cold Pressed Grain Free Duck

Duck is the sensible second protein. It is the one to try when a dog has not got on with chicken, it is rich enough to tempt a fussy eater, and it is common enough that you are not paying novelty prices for it. Combined with cold pressing — compressed at low temperature rather than cooked at high heat like ordinary kibble — this is a bag aimed squarely at dogs whose digestion has been difficult.

Duck is 32.5% of it, split between 17.5% freshly prepared duck and 15% dried ground duck, with sweet potato at 28% and peas behind it. There is dried fruit at 2.3% — apples, pears, blueberries and cranberries — salmon oil at 1%, beet pulp as a source of FOS, and dried botanicals at 0.6%: fennel, nettle and dandelion. The analysis is crude protein 26%, crude oils and fats 12%, crude fibres 4.9% and crude ash 7%, with omega-6 at 1.9% and omega-3 at 0.45%.

• 6kg resealable bag
• Cold pressed rather than extruded
• Duck 32.5% — 17.5% freshly prepared, 15% dried
• Sweet potato 28%, no grain
• Protein 26%, oils and fats 12%, crude fibres 4.9%
• Dried fruit 2.3% and botanicals 0.6%

The fat in this duck recipe is chicken fat. It is on the composition and it is worth catching if you came to duck because chicken is the problem — refined chicken fat is a long way from chicken meat and most chicken-sensitive dogs manage it perfectly well, but that is a decision to make deliberately. Separately: cold-pressed food is denser than kibble, so use Forthglade's own feeding quantities rather than the amount from your last bag, change over across a week, and soak the pellets for 10 minutes in warm water for a puppy.

Who it's for: dogs with a delicate stomach, dogs who have not got on with chicken recipes, and anyone wanting to try something structurally different from ordinary kibble.