Pero

Pero Cold Pressed: Calm Down Dog review

Name: Pero Cold Pressed: Calm Down Dog
Brand: Pero

59.6/100Good

Cold pressedPuppyAdult

Flavour

Three ranges under one name, spread from our Good band to Outstanding, with the meat-led 80/20 four at the top. Every recipe is cold pressed, so the pellet crumbles in water where baked kibble swells. Few ranges let you change a dog's dinner this much without changing the brand on the bag.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Meat doing most of the work: four recipes are 70% named animal or more
Fast eaters. A cold-pressed pellet crumbles once wet
Puppy, adult and senior fed from one bag; every recipe is labelled for all three
Dogs settled on one animal, with beef, chicken, duck, trout, lamb, salmon and turkey each given a recipe
Trying before committing, since every recipe comes as a trial pack

Worth watching

Fish in all but the two grain recipes, so a fish-free home is looking at those two
Cane molasses on nine of the twelve labels, a little added sugar
Green lipped mussel in ten recipes, and garlic in Calm Down Dog

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

How this scores

How we score

59.6/100Good

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceAverage

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Every recipe is labelled for puppies, adults and seniors, with the duck and fish 80/20s singled out for small breeds. Check the back of the exact bag: one name covers very different labels.

Food type

Cold pressed

Life stage

Puppy, Adult, Senior

Main protein

Turkey

The score, in context

80/20 Chicken 84.6
80/20 Fish 83.7
80/20 Duck 82.0
80/20 Beef 77.4
Beef 64.4
Lamb 63.5
Salmon 63.3
Chicken 62.0
Turkey Slim Down 60.4
Calm Down Dog 59.6
Chicken 56.1
Beef 56.0

12 recipes across Outstanding and Excellent and Good. Typical dry food: Good.

Meat share moves Pero up and down: the 80/20 four sit at the top, and the rest keep normal company for the format.

What's in it

Turkey28%The smallest named meat share Pero prints.
Sweet potato, potato27%, 20%The base that carries the recipe.
Salmon protein5%Shores up the amino acids, and puts fish on the list.
Goose fat5%
Whole egg5%
cane molasses, brewer's yeastMolasses is a little sugar.
Minerals, gravy, prebiotic inulin, alfalfa
Salmon oil, sunflower oil
Herbal blend, widened: hawthorn berries, burdock, milk thistle, marjoram, garlic among the additions0.25%The most elaborate herb list Pero prints. Garlic is in it.
Joint blend, taurine, lysine0.1% glucosamine down

Taurine and lysine are declared after the herbs; vitamins and minerals carry no doses here.

Garlic is in the herbal blend, an entry some owners like to know about first.

Named ingredients

Turkey 28%, Sweet Potato 27%, Potato 20%, Salmon Protein 5%, Goose Fat 5%, Whole Egg 5%, Brewers Yeast, Cane Molasses, Vitamins and Minerals, Liver Gravy, Prebiotic Inulin, Alfalfa, Salmon Oil, Sunflower Oil, Herbal Blend 0.25% (Chicory Root, Parsley, Thyme, Nettle Leaf, Rosemary, Camomile Leaf, Sage, Yucca Extract, Rosehip, Dandelion Leaf, Turmeric, Aniseed, Red Carnation, Marjoram, Yarrow, Lady's Mantle, Hawthorne Berries, Burdock, Milk Thistle, Garlic), Joint Care Blend, Glucosamine 0.1%, Collagen 0.08%, Green Lipped Mussel 0.05%, Chondroitin Sulphate 0.05%, Taurine, Lysine

Against the range

Meat: Turkey 28%; Smallest in the range.
Herbs: Widened blend with garlic; The standard blend elsewhere.
Carbohydrate, dry matter: 52.3%; Highest in the range.

The recipe for an anxious dog, with the most herbs and the least meat.

Three constructions share the name. The four 80/20 recipes put named meat at 70% to 76% with sweet potato at 8%. Six more sit on sweet potato at 27% and potato at 20% under 28% to 37% meat, and two grain recipes swap that base for wheat and barley.

All twelve are cold pressed and carry a herbal tail. Ten add a joint blend with green lipped mussel, and cane molasses appears on nine labels. Fish, through salmon oil, salmon protein or white fish hydrolysate, is on every recipe except the two grain ones.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

332 kcal/100g

Estimated using Modified Atwater factors*

Protein

23%

Fat

10.2%

Fibre

2.9%

Ash

6.8%

Moisture

10%

Dry weight

Protein

25.6%

Fat

11.3%

Fibre

3.2%

Ash

7.6%

Carbs

52.3%

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

39.4%

Carbs

50.3%

Veg

0.3%

Oils

5.3%

Other

4.7%

Pricing & size