Orijen

Orijen Small Breed review

Name: Orijen Small Breed
Brand: Orijen

78.5/100Excellent

DryPuppyAdult

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

78.5/100Excellent

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

Puppy, Adult, Senior

Breed size

Small

Main protein

Turkey

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 turkey, fresh chicken19%, 18.5%
Raw quail4%A bird most kibbles never go near.
Raw whole hake, raw whole herring4% eachA smaller marine share.
Turkey liver, chicken giblets, fresh eggs4% eachOrgan meat well represented.
Dehydrated turkey, chicken, herring, chicken liver, egg4% eachThe dried tier.
Lentils, pinto and navy beans, chickpeas, peas, lentil fibreLegume starch, no grain.
Chicken fat, pollock oil3%, 0.5%Named fats; pollock oil carries the omega 3s.
Pea starch, dried kelp, New Zealand green mussels
Squash, pumpkin, salt, apples, carrots, pears, courgette, chicory root, greensWhole fruit and vegetables.
Berries, turmeric, milk thistle, burdock, lavender, marshmallow root, rosehips

Zinc and copper dosed, vitamins B1, B5 and E, the live culture Enterococcus faecium, and natural tocopherols and rosemary extract as preservatives.

Named ingredients

Raw turkey (19%), fresh chicken (18.5%), raw quail (4%), raw whole hake (4%), raw whole herring (4%), raw turkey liver (4%), fresh chicken giblets (liver, heart) (4%), fresh eggs (4%), dehydrated turkey (4%), dehydrated chicken (4%), dehydrated herring (4%), dehydrated chicken liver (4%), dehydrated egg (4%), whole red lentils, whole pinto beans, whole green lentils, chicken fat (3%), whole navy beans, whole chickpeas, lentil fibre, whole peas, pollock oil (0.5%), pea starch, dried kelp, New Zealand green mussels, fresh whole butternut squash, fresh whole pumpkin, salt, fresh whole apples, fresh whole carrots, fresh whole pears, fresh whole zucchini, dried chicory root, 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: Turkey, chicken, quail, organs, egg, some fish; Fish only on the Marine Fish
Fat: 18% declared; 15% on the fish bag
Energy: 390 kcal per 100g; 371 on the fish bag
Calcium, dry matter: 1.59%; 1.7% on the fish bag

The richer bag, and the one to choose for a growing small breed.

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

390 kcal/100g

Protein

39%

Fat

18%

Fibre

Ash

Moisture

12%

Dry weight

Protein

44.3%

Fat

20.5%

Fibre

4.5%

Ash

10.2%

Carbs

20.5%

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

77.6%

Carbs

14.7%

Veg

0.2%

Oils

3.5%

Other

Pricing & size