Happy Dog

Happy Dog Puppy & Junior Dry: Mini Baby Fit & Vital review

Name: Happy Dog Puppy & Junior Dry: Mini Baby Fit & Vital
Brand: Happy Dog

64.8/100Good

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.

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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

64.8/100Good

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceGood

TransparencyGood

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

Small

Main protein

Poultry

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

Animal proteinspoultry 21%, lamb 5%No species for the poultry.
Maize flour, rice
Oils and fatsNo source given.
Meat mealNames no animal either.
Maize
Fish meal5%, half of it salmon meal
Beet pulp, hydrolysed protein, apple pomace, celluloseThe hydrolysed protein is the palatant.
Potassium chloride, yeasts, sodium chloride
Dried whole egg, seaweed, linseed, psyllium, mussel meat0.2% egg, 0.04% mussel
Milk thistle to thyme0.15% dried herbs in total

Vitamins and trace elements dosed per kilo, iron at 105 mg among them.

The one recipe in the range with no calcium figure, on a growth food.

Named ingredients

Animal proteins* (poultry 21 %, lamb 5 %), maize flour, rice, oils and fats, meat meal, maize, fish meal (5 %, of which 50 % salmon meal), beet pulp* (desugared), hydrolysed protein, apple pomace*, cellulose, potassium chloride, yeasts*, sodium chloride, dried whole egg (0.2 %), seaweed*, linseed (0.15 %), psyllium husks, yeasts* (extract), mussel meat* (0.04 %), yucca schidigera*, milk thistle, 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

Calcium: Not printed; Printed on the other eight.
Energy: 382 kcal per 100g, declared; An estimate on the rest.
Fibre: 2.5%; 3.0% on most.

Built for small breed pups, but the label leaves the most unnamed.

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

382.4 kcal/100g

Protein

30%

Fat

16%

Fibre

2.5%

Ash

7.5%

Dry weight

Protein

32.6%

Fat

17.4%

Fibre

2.7%

Ash

8.2%

Carbs

39.1%

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

47.3%

Carbs

45.1%

Veg

0.8%

Oils

4.9%

Other

Pricing & size