Chicken is the most common protein allergy we see, and it is why most of our range is built around proteins your dog has probably never eaten. For a dog with a confirmed or suspected chicken allergy, we would recommend starting with our Africa (ostrich) or Montana (horse) dry foods - both are single novel proteins with short ingredient lists, and both are poultry-free. If you prefer wet food, our Pure range includes kangaroo, goat, ostrich and horse, each made with 100% of a single meat. If your dog reacts to several proteins, our Vet Hypersensitivity diet is an elimination diet using quail with sweet chestnut in a very limited recipe. The safest way to start is a trial pack, introduced gradually alongside the current food.

A novel protein is simply one your dog has never eaten before - ostrich, kangaroo, horse, buffalo or goat, rather than the chicken and beef found in most foods. Allergies develop through repeated exposure: the immune system learns to react to a protein it has seen many times. A protein it has never met is far less likely to trigger a reaction. That is why vets recommend novel protein diets both for managing food intolerances and for elimination diets, where you feed a single new protein for several weeks to identify what your dog reacts to. Our Sensible dry range and Pure wet range are built specifically for this, with single protein sources and short ingredient lists.

Honestly - it depends on the cause. If the itching is driven by a food intolerance, moving to a single novel protein diet often makes a real difference, and many of our customers see improvement within a few weeks. But itching can also be environmental: pollen, grass, dust mites and seasonal irritation cause very similar symptoms, and a food change will not fix those. One useful clue is timing - itching that flares in summer but settles in winter points towards environmental triggers. If your dog itches year-round and has other signs like recurring ear infections or an upset stomach, food is more likely to be involved. We would always recommend ruling things out with your vet alongside any diet change.

It can, and it is more common than most owners expect. Recurring ear infections - especially yeasty ones - are one of the classic signs of a food intolerance, alongside itchy paws and an upset stomach. When the immune system reacts to a protein in the diet, the inflammation often shows up in the ears and skin. It is not guaranteed, and infections can have other causes, so keep your vet involved - but if the infections keep coming back despite treatment, the diet is well worth investigating.

It means the recipe is built to minimise the chance of an allergic reaction: single or very limited protein sources, no common trigger ingredients, and short ingredient lists so you know exactly what your dog is eating. It does not mean "no dog can react to it" - no food can promise that, because any protein can theoretically trigger a reaction in a sensitised dog. What it does mean is the odds are heavily reduced, especially when the protein is one your dog has never met. For dogs with multiple confirmed allergies, our Vet Hypersensitivity diet goes further: it is an elimination diet built on a deliberately minimal recipe - quail as the single animal protein with sweet chestnut.

Go slowly - this is the single most common mistake we see. Start with a small amount of the new food mixed into the current one, and build the proportion up gradually over 7-10 days, watching that stools stay settled. For dogs with sensitive stomachs, go even slower. If you are trialling a new food to judge tolerance, avoid treats, chews and extras during that period - they make it impossible to tell what is causing any upset. And if your dog does get an upset stomach during the switch, pause: go back to the previous ratio until things settle, then reintroduce more slowly. A food trial needs a few weeks of consistent feeding to give a fair answer.

We would not recommend it unless you have no choice. A sudden switch is the most common cause of an upset stomach in the first week, especially in sensitive dogs - and an upset caused by a rushed change is easily mistaken for the food not suiting your dog. If you genuinely cannot transition (for example the old food has run out), feed smaller meals than usual for the first couple of days and let the stomach adjust.

Every product page has a feeding guide based on weight. The important detail most owners miss: feed to your dog's target weight, not their current weight - this matters for dogs that need to slim down. If you mix wet and dry food, reduce each proportionally rather than feeding the full amount of both. And if you cannot find the right guide for your dog's age and weight, send us the details and we will work it out for you.

The best trick for dry food: warm it slightly - 10-15 seconds in the microwave. This releases the fats and makes the kibble smell far more appetising, which is usually what wins a fussy dog over. A spoonful of one of our Pure wet foods stirred through as a topper also works well. For the vet diets that come as a pate, stirring in a little warm water makes more of a sauce, which many dogs prefer. And if a fussy dog is refusing everything, rule out a health cause with your vet first - a sudden loss of appetite is different from fussiness.

Puppies need their requirements met differently to adult dogs - calcium, phosphorus and energy levels all matter for a growing dog, particularly large breeds. From our range: Sensitive Junior (lamb & rice or salmon & potato) for sensitive pups, the Baby ranges for the first months, Mini Puppy for small breeds, and Giant Junior for the biggest breeds. Puppies can go onto novel proteins - if your pup has suspected allergies, that can be exactly the right move - but their intake needs to be tailored to their age and expected adult weight rather than fed off the adult guide. Contact us with those details and we will set the right food and amounts.

Both. Much of our Sensible range (Africa, Karibik, France, Piemonte) is grain-free, using potato as the carbohydrate instead - potatoes contain no gluten and suit dogs with grain intolerances. But grain-free is not automatically better for every dog, and we get asked for the opposite too: our Fit & Vital range and NaturCroq range both use rice and cereals and suit dogs with no grain sensitivity perfectly well. If your dog has never shown signs of a grain issue, there is no need to pay for grain-free.

Yes - trial packs are the way we recommend everyone starts. A trial pack is there to answer two questions: does your dog like the food, and does it agree with them initially. For a full picture of stool quality and skin improvement you need a few weeks of consistent feeding, but the trial tells you whether it is worth committing to a bigger bag. The free trial offer is limited to one per household. If you have two dogs, or want to try a second flavour after your first trial, contact us and we will sort out the best option.

Meat-and-bone meal comes from carcass processing facilities and has been banned in the EU since 2001. Meat meal, however, comes from food-safe animals and is a high-quality protein source.

We list ingredients individually. Meat appears lower in the list if multiple protein sources are used, or if a lower protein level is needed for specific dietary requirements.

Carbohydrate content (NFE) can be calculated with: NFE = 100% - crude protein - crude fat - crude fibre - crude ash - moisture.

Most labels exclude nitrogen-free extracts (NFE), which represent the carbohydrate content. If NFE were included, the total would reach 100%.

Vitamin K3 has been safely used in pet food for decades to prevent vitamin K deficiencies, which could otherwise lead to internal bleeding.

Sano N is designed for dogs with chronic renal insufficiency, not specifically for urinary calculi. A diet tailored to bladder stone prevention is a different requirement - our Vet Struvite diet is the one to discuss with your vet.