Specific CPD-S Puppy Small Breed review

Our Average band is where this one lands, one step under the Good band that the middle of the puppy kibble market occupies. Protein and processing reads Poor while transparency reaches Good. The shortfall is easy to trace: a cereal-led recipe with an unquantified meat share and an analysis that stops before ash gives us less to work with.

The thinking behind the formulation is not in question. The amino acids are topped up one by one, the trace elements come partly chelated, and the fibre is covered from two directions. It is the disclosure, rather than the intent, that holds the position where it is.

Ingredients, as declared: Wheat, fish meal, maize protein, pork fat, minerals, animal protein hydrolysate, beet pulp, vitamins and trace elements (including chelated trace elements), fish oil, egg powder, lysine, psyllium husk, methionine, threonine, tryptophan, rosemary extract. With natural antioxidants (tocopherols and vitamin C).

Wheat opens the ingredients list, which tells you where most of this kibble comes from. It binds beautifully and cooks easily, and the great majority of pups handle it without a flicker. It is also among the grains most commonly reported behind dietary intolerance. That is a fact worth carrying if your pup has a history of upsets.

Fish meal is the named protein and it is a good form to see. Rendered and ground, it is only a few percent water, so it carries a dense load of amino acids and marine minerals into the recipe for its weight. The label never puts a figure beside it. Nothing on this list is quantified, so the declared 25.6% protein is the only handle an owner gets.

Maize protein sits close behind the fish meal, and that is plant protein topping up the total, not meat doing the work. Pork fat supplies the named animal fat at a declared 14.3%, and fish oil brings the omega 3. Egg powder adds a small quantity of protein, and protein does not come much more digestible than that.

The back half of the list reads like a nutritionist's checklist. Lysine, methionine, threonine and tryptophan are each added by name. The trace elements include chelated forms, which tend to be absorbed better. Psyllium husk joins beet pulp so that both soluble and insoluble fibre are covered. Rosemary extract with tocopherols and vitamin C keeps the fats stable without reaching for a synthetic preservative.

Animal protein hydrolysate is the one entry with no species behind it. Hydrolysed protein is broken into fragments small enough that the immune system tends to overlook them. That is why it appears in sensitivity work. An unnamed source, though, means this recipe cannot anchor a formal elimination trial.

The analysis is where a growth owner will feel the gaps. Protein at 25.6%, fat at 14.3% and fibre at 1.8% are printed alongside moisture at 8.5%. Ash is missing, so this panel cannot be converted to a dry matter basis and set fairly against other foods. Calcium is absent too. Energy is declared at 386 kcal per 100g, a little above the 376 typical for a puppy kibble. That suits a little dog whose stomach holds only so much.

£6.85 a kilo, sold in 1kg, 4kg and 7kg bags.

A small breed pup's daily amount climbs quickly through the early months and then levels off. Match the bag's chart to the adult weight you expect your pup to reach. The guide runs from 20g a day for the tiniest pups up to 175g.