Royal Canin

Royal Canin Mini Puppy review

Name: Royal Canin Mini Puppy
Brand: Royal Canin

47.2/100Average

DryPuppy

Royal Canin's general small breed growth kibble, in our Average band. It is dense at 407 kcal per 100g, yet carbohydrate sits under the puppy norm, so the energy is not coming from extra starch. Naming is the sticking point: the poultry, the fats and the hydrolysed proteins all go without a species.

View on Amazon

Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, Off the Leash earns from qualifying purchases.

Our view

Likely to suit

Small breed puppies
Busy pups burning through energy, against the 376 kcal typical for puppy dry food
DHA named outright, from algal oil
Young digestions that do better with a prebiotic
A pup already eating this range. Keeping the food the same takes one upset out of the move

Worth watching

No species named for the poultry, fats or hydrolysed proteins, so it cannot anchor an exclusion diet
Wheat gluten and maize in several forms
No calcium figure, the first number people look for on a growth food

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

How this scores

How we score

47.2/100Average

Protein and processingAverage

Nutritional balanceGood

TransparencyAverage

ValueAverage

The details

Dog fit

Listed for small breed puppies. The right amount moves with age and expected adult size, so come back to the bag's chart every few weeks.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Puppy

Breed size

Small

Main protein

Poultry

The score, in context

Royal Canin Mini Puppy 47.2

All one Average. Typical dry food: Good.

The analysis is not the weak part; the shortfall is in naming, where most of the protein arrives under category terms.

What's in it

Dehydrated poultry proteinIts water is gone, so it delivers more protein than fresh meat at the same weight. It never says which bird.
Rice
Animal fatsNo species.
Wheat gluten, maize, maize flour, maize glutenThe gluten fractions lift the protein figure without meat behind them.
Beet pulpGentle, well tolerated fibre.
Hydrolysed animal proteinsAnother category term with no animal named.
Minerals, soya oil, fish oilThe fish oil rules out a pup kept off fish.
Fructo-oligo-saccharides, hydrolysed yeastyeast 0.30%A prebiotic pair for a gut still settling.
Algal oil (source of DHA)The omega 3 a young dog's brain and eyes develop on.
Yucca schidigera juice, marigold meal

Vitamins A and D3 with iron, iodine, copper, manganese, zinc and selenium dosed per kilo; the preservatives and antioxidants are named only as categories.

No calcium figure on a growth food. For a small breed pup the margin for error is wider, but the balance is taken on trust.

Named ingredients

Dehydrated poultry protein, rice, animal fats, wheat gluten*, maize, beet pulp, maize flour, hydrolysed animal proteins, maize gluten, minerals, soya oil, fish oil, fructo-oligo-saccharides, hydrolysed yeast (source of manno-oligo-saccharides and betaglucans) (0.30%), algal oil Schizochytrium sp. (source of DHA), Yucca Schidigera juice, marigold meal.

Against the range

One small breed growth kibble on dehydrated poultry protein, with rice and maize carrying the starch and wheat and maize gluten lifting the protein figure. No species is named for the poultry, the animal fats or the hydrolysed animal proteins, and the label gives no calcium figure.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

407.2 kcal/100g

Protein

31%

Fat

20%

Fibre

1.4%

Ash

Moisture

Dry weight

Protein

33.7%

Fat

21.7%

Fibre

1.5%

Ash

8.7%

Carbs

34.4%

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

40%

Carbs

50.6%

Oils

8.5%

Other

0.9%

Pricing & size