Happy Dog

Happy Dog Nordic review

Name: Happy Dog Nordic
Brand: Happy Dog

64.3/100Good

DryAdult

Happy Dog Nordic is the energy dense end of the brand's everyday shelf, made for medium and larger dogs that burn through their dinner. Fat is declared at 20%, and carbohydrate works out at 38.1% of dry matter against 46.2% for a typical adult dry food. It lands in our Good band, kept there by what the label leaves unnamed.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Working and sporting dogs. Around 390 kcal in every 100 grams, with fat at 20%
Medium and large breed homes, as the feeding table runs from 11kg up to 80kg
Dogs that lose condition over a cold winter or a hard season
Owners keeping an eye on starch: carbohydrate is estimated at 38.1% of dry matter
Dogs fine with poultry and lamb, the two species the label names

Worth watching

Animal fat from poultry and other animals, so the species stays open
Haemoglobin and hydrolysed liver, neither with an animal attached
Fish meal at 4%, half of it salmon meal
A quiet dog in a calm home will need noticeably less of this rich food than a working one

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

How this scores

How we score

64.3/100Good

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceGood

TransparencyAverage

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adult dogs of medium size and up. Read across the feeding table from your dog's weight, then adjust for how hard they actually work.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Medium, Giant

Main protein

Poultry

The score, in context

Happy Dog Nordic 64.3

All one Good. Typical dry food: Good.

Nordic would sit higher if the label named the species behind its fat, meat meal and liver; the analysis itself holds up well.

What's in it

Dried animal proteins: poultry, lamb20%, 4%Dried, so the declared figures are close to what reaches the kibble. Poultry is a family name, so the bird is not given.
Maize flour, maize
Animal fat (from poultry and other animals)The main fat, with no species named past poultry.
Rice flour, barleyThe starch load still ends up lower than most kibbles manage.
HaemoglobinA dried blood protein, iron rich and highly digestible. Unusually high on the list.
Fish meal4%Half of it salmon meal; the marine omega 3.
Meat meal, hydrolysed liverNeither names an animal. The liver is a palatant.
Sunflower oil, beet pulp, apple pomace, canola seed oilTwo named oils, and the fibre: crude fibre reads 2.5%.
Yeasts, seaweed, linseed, dried whole egg, mussel meat0.15% down to 0.02%
Milk thistle, artichoke, dandelion, ginger and dried herbs0.14% in totalThe usual Happy Dog tail. The meat and fat above carry this food.

Zinc and iron at 105 mg a kilo each, manganese at 25 mg, copper at 10 mg and iodine at 2 mg, all dosed in print, plus L-carnitine at 200 mg.

Moisture is not declared, so the dry-matter figures assume 8% and the calorie figure is estimated.

Named ingredients

Animal proteins* (20% poultry, 4% lamb), maize flour, maize, animal fat (from poultry and other animals) rice flour, barley, haemoglobin*, fish meal (4%, of which 50% salmon meal), meat meal, hydrolysed liver, sunflower oil, beet pulp* (desugared), apple pomace*, canola seed oil, potassium chloride, yeasts*, sodium chloride, seaweed*, linseed (0.15%), dried whole egg (0.1%), mussel meat* (0.02%), yeasts* (extract), milk thistle, artichoke, dandelion, ginger (0.012%), birch leaves, stinging nettle, camomile, coriander, rosemary, sage, liquorice root, thyme, (total dried herbs: 0.14%); *) dried.

Against the range

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

390.5 kcal/100g

Estimated using Modified Atwater factors*

Protein

28%

Fat

20%

Fibre

2.5%

Ash

6.5%

Dry weight

Protein

30.4%

Fat

21.7%

Fibre

2.7%

Ash

7.1%

Carbs

38.1%

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

45.1%

Carbs

46.3%

Veg

0.3%

Oils

5.7%

Other

2.5%

Pricing & size