Eukanuba Growing Puppy Small Breed review

Our reading puts this in the Good band, which is where the typical puppy dry food sits as well, and it clears that mark by a modest margin. The meat share at the front and the lightest carbohydrate estimate in this family are what carry it there.

Nutritional balance reads Excellent and transparency Outstanding, while protein and processing reads Good, so the picture tilts upward. The recipe's real distinction is how much it packs into a small daily amount.

Ingredients, as declared: dried chicken and turkey (34% including chicken 24%, a natural source of glucosamine, chondroitin and taurine), fresh chicken (15%), wheat, barley, poultry fat, maize, rice, dried beet pulp (3.5%), chicken gravy, fish oil (a natural source of omega-3 fatty acids), minerals (including sodium hexametaphosphate 0.35%), dried whole egg, fructooligosaccharides (0.35%, a natural prebiotic), brewer's dried yeast (a natural source of B-vitamins and selenium), mannanoligosaccharides (0.13%, a natural prebiotic).

At 34%, the dried chicken and turkey entry is the largest in this family, with chicken accounting for 24% of it, and fresh chicken at 15% sits behind it. Because dried poultry has already given up its water, that headline share carries through to the kibble in a way a fresh meat figure never quite manages.

The analysis follows suit. Protein converts to 35.9% of dry matter and fat to 22.8%, with carbohydrate estimating at 31.9%, well under the 39.0% the typical puppy dry food runs. For a bag whose top half holds wheat and barley, that starch load is genuinely light.

Wheat leads the grain entries ahead of barley, maize and rice. Barley and rice cook down easily and bring fibre and trace minerals with them. Wheat is the grain dogs are most often intolerant of. Move a small pup with a delicate stomach across slowly.

Energy comes in at an estimated 397 kcal per 100g against the 376 typical, and that density is the point of the recipe. A small breed pup has a tiny stomach and a metabolism running hot, so a concentrated food lets a small meal do a big job. It also means the scoop is better weighed than filled by eye.

Calcium is declared at 1.41% of dry matter, inside the range growth needs, and beet pulp at 3.5% is the family's highest fibre inclusion. The prebiotics are dosed a little higher here too, fructooligosaccharides at 0.35% and mannanoligosaccharides at 0.13%, which suits the sensitive digestions small breeds are prone to.

Below that the label fills in the extras sensibly: fish oil for omega 3, dried whole egg, and brewer's dried yeast for B vitamins and selenium. The minerals also carry sodium hexametaphosphate at 0.35% for tartar, and small breeds tend to accumulate that faster than most. The label credits glucosamine, chondroitin and taurine to the dried poultry. Bone and cartilage do bring those, though no dose is printed. Poultry fat alone leaves its species unnamed.

Sold in bags of 800g and 3kg, with a larger size above those.

Small breed growth is over sooner than most, so the daily amount climbs fast and then settles. Go by the bag's chart and a regular look at your pup's waistline.