Royal Canin Miniature Schnauzer Adult review

Our bands put this recipe at Average, one tier below where the typical adult dry food sits, in our Good band. The sums behind that are simple enough. Rice, maize and two glutens between them carry more of the bowl than the meat does. Estimated carbohydrate finishes at 49.1% of dry matter against the 46.2% typical of adult dry food, and protein at 27.2% of dry matter is on the modest side. The breed specific touches are real, and they are not what the band is measuring. If it is the tartar work and the joint entries you are after, this is where they live.

Ingredients, as declared: Rice, dehydrated poultry proteins, maize, wheat gluten*, maize gluten, animal fats, hydrolysed animal proteins, minerals (including pentasodium triphosphate (0.35%)), chicory pulp, vegetable fibres, fish oil, fructo-oligosaccharides, psyllium husks and seeds, soya oil, borage oil, glucosamine from fermentation, marigold meal, hydrolysed cartilage (source of chondroitin). *L.I.P.: protein selected for its very high digestibility.

Rice at the top is a sensible base for a small dog, easily digested and rarely a source of trouble, with dehydrated poultry proteins following in second. After that the cereal carries on with maize, and both wheat gluten and maize gluten arrive to lift the protein figure using plant protein rather than meat. Protein lands at 25% as fed, or 27.2% of dry matter, which is modest for a kibble.

Fat at 12% is the number that fits this breed best. Miniature Schnauzers are known for putting weight on readily, and 362 kcal per 100g keeps the energy density sensible for a dog whose exercise tends to be enthusiastic and brief.

The tartar entry is the most specific thing on the label. Pentasodium triphosphate at 0.35% sits inside the mineral declaration, and its job is to bind the calcium in saliva so that less of it is available to harden onto the teeth. Kibbles that make a dental claim commonly include it. Printing the percentage, as this label does, is the honest approach.

The pick of the fibre entries is chicory pulp, whose inulin feeds the bacteria further down the gut. Vegetable fibres, psyllium husks and fructo-oligosaccharides work alongside it. Crude fibre is low overall at 2.2%, so digestibility is what the recipe is chasing.

Joint support comes from glucosamine produced by fermentation and chondroitin from hydrolysed cartilage. The fermentation route is worth noticing, because it means the glucosamine here has not come from shellfish, though the fish oil elsewhere on the list keeps the recipe from being free of marine ingredients. Borage oil adds gamma linolenic acid. The trace minerals carry printed doses too, zinc at 144 mg and manganese at 60 mg per kilo.

The gap here is naming. Poultry stands in for the bird, animal fats and hydrolysed animal proteins stand in for anything at all, and crude ash at 7.6% reflects a generous mineral inclusion. A healthy dog is untroubled by any of that. An owner trying to narrow down a suspected sensitivity is the one left short, since the label gives nothing to work from.

£6.98 a kilo, in 3kg and 7.5kg bags.

On the standard comparison, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition would eat about 232 grams a day, assuming around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). That is £1.62 a day. A Miniature Schnauzer sits well below that weight. The label's own low activity column puts a 5kg dog at 88 grams and an 8kg dog at 125 grams.