Happy Dog

Happy Dog Mini Light review

Name: Happy Dog Mini Light
Brand: Happy Dog

56.7/100Good

DryAdult

Happy Dog's small breed recipe with the calories taken out. Poultry at 16% and lamb at 4% stay put, fat drops to 7.5%, and lignocellulose pads the bowl with fibre that brings almost no energy. It reads in our Good band, and as a way of keeping a small dog full on less it delivers what the bag promises.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Small dogs the vet would like to see a little lighter
Cutting calories without cutting the portion
Dogs already settled on the poultry and lamb recipe
Quieter households: a couple of short walks a day
Fast eaters that want more, as the fibre gives the stomach something to work on

Worth watching

Lignocellulose at 5.8%, a manufactured fibre and not a nutrient
No animal named for the meat meal, hydrolysed protein or oils and fats
Fish meal at 5%, half of it salmon
Light by design, so a busy small dog needs more than the table suggests

Written by our editorial team. Independent guidance, not veterinary advice.

How this scores

How we score

56.7/100Good

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceAverage

TransparencyPoor

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for small adult dogs. The label asks 45 grams at 2kg rising to 150 grams at 10kg, so start from your dog's weight and adjust as the waistline changes.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Small

Main protein

Poultry

The score, in context

Happy Dog Mini Light 56.7

All one Good. Typical dry food: Good.

A light food always reads thin on general nutrition, since swapping calories for fibre is the whole idea; on energy it does the job.

What's in it

Animal proteins, dried (poultry, lamb)16%, 4%Dried, so near enough what ends up in the bag. Poultry is a family name, not a bird.
Maize flour, maize, rice, barleyCereal does the carrying underneath the fibre.
Lignocellulose5.8%A purified, effectively indigestible fibre that takes up room without energy.
Fish meal (50% salmon meal)5%The marine omega 3.
Meat meal, hydrolysed proteinNo animal named for either.
Beet pulp (desugared), apple pomaceSofter, fermentable fibre the gut bacteria can use.
Oils and fatsSource not stated.
Yeasts, seaweed, minerals
Linseed, dried whole egg, mussel meat0.16%, 0.1%, 0.02%
Milk thistle, artichoke, dandelion, ginger and other herbs; yucca0.15% herbs in totalThe familiar Happy Dog tail.

Vitamins A, D3, E and the B group, with L-carnitine, the usual addition on a slimming recipe; the vitamins are named without doses.

Named ingredients

Animal proteins* (poultry 16 %, lamb 4 %), maize flour, maize, rice, barley, lignocellulose (5.8 %), fish meal (5 %, of which 50 % salmon meal), meat meal, hydrolysed protein, beet pulp (desugared), oils and fats, apple pomace, potassium chloride, yeasts*, sodium chloride, seaweed*, linseed (0.16 %), dried whole egg (0.1 %), milk thistle, mussel meat* (0.02 %), yucca schidigera*, yeasts* (extract), artichoke, dandelion, ginger (0.015 %), birch leaves, stinging nettle, camomile, coriander, rosemary, sage, liquorice root, thyme, (total dried herbs: 0.15 %). *dried.

Against the range

One light small-breed kibble: the same named meats as the standard Mini, less fat, and a purified fibre doing the calorie dilution. Moisture is not declared, so dry matter figures assume 8%, and the energy figure is our estimate.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

315.8 kcal/100g

Estimated using Modified Atwater factors*

Protein

26%

Fat

7.5%

Fibre

5.5%

Ash

Dry weight

Protein

28.3%

Fat

8.2%

Fibre

Ash

7.6%

Carbs

49.9%

As-fed composition

Estimated breakdown of the finished product by ingredient category, from the declared ingredient list and ingoing weights. These are estimates, not measurements.

Meat

40.9%

Carbs

50.4%

Veg

0.5%

Oils

0.5%

Other

7.7%

Pricing & size