Most dogs have eaten chicken, beef and lamb by the time they are a year old, which is exactly why a duck-based food earns its place on a sensitivity shelf rather than a novelty one — it is one of the few proteins a dog is unlikely to have already reacted to.

Dried duck protein leads the ingredient list at 24%, ahead of naked oats, brown and white rice and barley. It is a complete food, formulated to be the whole diet for an adult dog, and James Wellbeloved's approach across the range is to exclude beef, pork, soya, eggs, dairy and wheat.

• Complete food for adult dogs, built on duck as the named protein
• Protein 24.1%, fat 11.1%, crude ash 6.2%, crude fibre 3.1%
• Omega-3 at 1.1%, omega-6 at 2.7%
• Energy 361 kcal per 100g
• Excludes beef, pork, soya, eggs, dairy and wheat
• 2KG bag

On the protein source. Duck is the named ingredient and the largest single one on the list, but this is not a grain-free recipe — oats, rice and barley all appear, so it suits a dog whose issue is a specific meat rather than grain generally. No feeding chart is published on the pages we can access, so use the guide printed on the bag rather than guessing a portion.

Who it's for: owners of an adult dog who has already been through chicken, beef or lamb without success, and anyone whose vet has suggested trying a genuinely uncommon protein before moving to a prescription diet.