Happy Dog

Happy Dog Puppy & Junior Dry: Baby Starter Lamb & Rice review

Name: Happy Dog Puppy & Junior Dry: Baby Starter Lamb & Rice
Brand: Happy Dog

59.6/100Good

DryPuppy

Flavour

A wide German range that splits growth into Baby and Junior stages, with poultry, lamb and salmon at each, plus two Mini bags for small breeds. The tail is what sets it apart: a long run of named herbs, seaweed and mussel meat on every label. Eight of the nine land in our Good band, with Mini Baby Lamb a step below in Average.

Where to buy: coming soon

Live retailer links are coming soon. Once we have them from UK retailers, where to buy and the best price will appear here.

Our view

Likely to suit

Changing protein without changing brand
Small breed pups, who get two Mini recipes of their own
A delicate stomach. Mini Baby Lamb is built around that need
Owners who like a long botanical tail
Growing dogs settled on cereal, as rice and maize carry the base

Worth watching

Greaves and the hydrolysates name no animal, and poultry is a bird group
Calcium on most bags runs past what a large breed puppy plan usually takes
A hydrolysed palatant in every recipe, which a strict elimination diet must account for

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

How this scores

How we score

59.6/100Good

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceGood

TransparencyExcellent

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for puppies of every size, the Mini bags for small breeds. For a pup heading for a big frame, raise the calcium figure with your vet; then read the chart for the stage your pup has reached.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Puppy

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Lamb

The score, in context

Baby Fit 65.7
Mini Baby Fit 64.8
Baby Lamb 61.7
Baby Salmon 61.1
Junior Fit 60.7
Baby Starter Lamb 59.6
Junior Lamb 58.1
Junior Salmon 57.0
Mini Baby Lamb (Sensitive) 46.1

Nine recipes across Good and Average. Typical dry food: Good.

The range holds together more tightly than its size suggests; how much meat is named and how much cereal fills the bag are what separate the recipes.

What's in it

Lamb protein20%
Rice flour19%
GreavesThe protein-rich solid left when fat is rendered off. A real meat ingredient, with no animal named.
Corn flourIn place of maize flour.
Beef fat
Rice protein5.5%
CornWhole corn further down.
Sunflower oil, hydrolysed liver, beet pulp, cellulose, apple pomace
Potassium chloride, yeast, sodium chloride, rapeseed oil
Seaweed, linseed, psyllium, mussel meat, herbs0.05% mussel, 0.16% herbs

The full vitamin and trace element set, dosed per kilo, plus L-tryptophan at 1000 mg.

Calcium at 1.74% of dry matter suits a small or medium pup and sits above what large breed growth plans generally aim at.

Named ingredients

Lamb protein* (20%), rice flour (19%), greaves, corn flour, beef fat, rice protein (5.5%), corn, sunflower oil, hydrolysed liver, beet pulp* (desugared), cellulose, apple pomace*, rapeseed oil, potassium chloride, yeast*, sodium chloride, seaweed*, linseed, psyllium husk, mussel meat* (0.05%), yucca schidigera*, yeast* (extracted), milk thistle, artichoke, dandelion, ginger, birch leaves, nettle, chamomile, coriander, rosemary, sage, licorice root, thyme (dry herbs total 0.16%) *) dried

Against the range

Base: Corn flour and whole corn; Maize flour in Baby Lamb & Rice.
Bag sizes: One; The only recipe sold in a single size.
Meat: Lamb protein 20%; Same as Baby Lamb & Rice.

Reads very close to Baby Lamb & Rice, with corn where that one has maize.

Every recipe is built the same way. A dried protein leads, a rendered meat ingredient usually follows and a rice or maize base fills the middle, with a long tail of named herbs, seaweed and mussel meat at the end. Greaves and a hydrolysed palatant name no animal. The Baby recipes print protein at 30.0% and fat at 16.0%; the Junior bags step down to 26.0% and 13.0%. No recipe declares moisture, so dry matter rests on an assumed 8%. Calcium, where printed, runs from 1.58% to 1.74% of dry matter.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

365.2 kcal/100g

Estimated using Modified Atwater factors*

Protein

30%

Fat

16%

Fibre

Ash

7.5%

Dry weight

Protein

32.6%

Fat

17.4%

Fibre

3.3%

Ash

8.2%

Carbs

38.5%

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

44.9%

Carbs

46.8%

Veg

0.5%

Oils

6.9%

Other

0.9%

Pricing & size