Orijen

Orijen Small Breed: Marine Fish review

Name: Orijen Small Breed: Marine Fish
Brand: Orijen

77.6/100Excellent

DryAdult

Flavour

A smaller kibble without a smaller recipe. One bag is built entirely on fish, the other on poultry with a little quail alongside. Both reach our Excellent band, carried by the animal content stacked at the top of the label.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Small breed adults, with a kibble and a feeding table sized for them
Owners who want each animal named species by species
Dogs that get on better with no grain
Busy little dogs with a fast engine
Households torn between a fish bowl and a poultry one

Worth watching

Fish in both recipes
18% fat on the poultry bag, a lot of energy for a sofa patroller
Only the poultry bag names puppies on its label
High energy per mouthful, so weigh the portion and count the treats

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

How this scores

How we score

77.6/100Excellent

Protein and processingExcellent

Nutritional balanceOutstanding

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueExcellent

The details

Dog fit

Listed for small breeds: the fish bag for adults, the poultry bag for puppies through seniors. A 4kg to 5kg less active dog needs only 45 to 60 grams a day, so weigh it.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Small

Main protein

Salmon

The score, in context

Small Breed 78.5
Marine Fish 77.6

All two Excellent. Typical dry food: Good.

The gap between the pair is narrow and comes from construction, not quality, so pick whichever your dog gets on with.

What's in it

Raw salmon, raw whole herring17%, 16%Fresh fish leaves most of its water in the oven.
Raw flounder, hake, rockfish, sole7% down to 6%
Dehydrated herring, sardine, pollock, mackerel, blue whiting5% eachThe dried tier, doing more of the protein work than it looks.
Whole red lentils, peas, chickpeas, green lentils, lentil fibreStarch with its own protein and fibre.
Whole pinto beans, whole navy beans
Sunflower oil, herring oil2% herring oilNamed fats; the herring oil carries the long-chain omega 3s.
Raw New Zealand green mussels, dried kelpMussel is a traditional joint choice; kelp brings iodine.
Squash, pumpkin, apples, carrots, pears, courgette, greensAll used whole.
Dried chicory root, yuccaInulin for the gut's friendly bacteria.
Berries, turmeric, milk thistle, burdock, lavender, marshmallow root, rosehipsFlourish more than function.

Zinc and copper dosed, a run of B vitamins and vitamin E, the live culture Enterococcus faecium, and tocopherols with rosemary extract keeping the fats fresh.

Named ingredients

Raw salmon (17%), raw whole herring (16%), raw flounder (7%), raw whole hake (6%), raw whole rockfish (6%), raw whole sole (6%), dehydrated herring (5%), dehydrated sardine (5%), dehydrated pollock (5%), dehydrated mackerel (5%), dehydrated blue whiting (5%), whole red lentils, whole peas, whole chickpeas, whole green lentils, lentil fibre, whole pinto beans, sunflower oil, herring oil (2%), whole navy beans, raw New Zealand green mussels, dried kelp, fresh whole butternut squash, fresh whole pumpkin, dried chicory root, fresh whole apples, fresh whole carrots, fresh whole pears, fresh whole zucchini, mojave yucca, fresh beet greens, fresh kale, fresh spinach, fresh turnip greens, whole cranberries, whole blueberries, whole saskatoon berries, turmeric, milk thistle, burdock root, lavender, marshmallow root, rosehips.

Against the range

Meat: Ten named fish plus mussels; Turkey, chicken and quail with some fish on the poultry bag
Fat: 15% declared; 18% on the poultry bag
Protein, dry matter: 45.5%; 44.3% on the poultry bag
Life stage: Adults only; Puppy, adult and senior on the poultry bag

For a small dog kept off poultry and red meat this is the easy choice, and a rare one in a small breed bag.

Both bags load named animal ingredients at the front, raw and fresh first, then a dried tier that carries more of the kibble than its percentages suggest. Whole lentils, peas, chickpeas and beans supply a modest starch load in place of grain. New Zealand green mussels, dried kelp, chicory root and a long tail of whole fruit, vegetables and botanicals follow on both.

What varies is the animal: ten named fish in one bag, poultry with quail, organs and egg in the other. The poultry bag is richer, and it is the one labelled for puppies.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

371 kcal/100g

Protein

40%

Fat

15%

Fibre

Ash

10%

Moisture

12%

Dry weight

Protein

45.5%

Fat

17%

Fibre

4.5%

Ash

11.4%

Carbs

21.6%

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

58.2%

Carbs

14.4%

Veg

0.2%

Oils

2.2%

Other

25%

Pricing & size