Hill's Science Plan Small & Mini Puppy Dry Dog Food with Chicken - 6kg

Small & Mini Puppy Dry Dog Food with Chicken is a complete dry food for growing puppies of small and mini breeds, up to about 10kg, made with chicken. It is the everyday Science Plan recipe for this life stage, sold without a prescription.

Key Features

• Brain And Eyes: DHA from fish oil, during the window when the brain and retina are forming.
• Bones And Teeth: Calcium and phosphorus balanced for growth.
• Lean Muscle: High-quality protein at growth levels.
• Immune Support: An antioxidant blend including vitamin E and vitamin C.
• Pack Size: A single 6kg bag.

Feeding A Growing Puppy

• Growth food is not just richer adult food. Calcium, phosphorus and energy are balanced deliberately for a skeleton that is still forming, which is why a growth recipe should be fed as it comes and never supplemented with extra calcium or minerals.
• Feed several smaller meals a day rather than one big one: roughly four a day to four months, three to six months, then twice daily. Little stomachs do better with that, and it helps with house-training too.
• Keep your puppy lean. Growing fast is not the same as growing well, and a chubby puppy carries a higher risk of joint problems later. You should be able to feel the ribs easily the whole way through.

Why Breed Size Changes The Recipe

• A small dog has a far higher metabolic rate per kilo than a large one, so small-breed foods are more energy-dense and the kibble is made small enough to chew comfortably. Large-breed foods go the other way, with controlled energy and added joint support.
• Kibble size is not a detail. A dog that cannot comfortably pick up and chew its food either bolts it whole or eats less than it needs, and both cause problems.
• If your dog sits on a boundary between sizes, go by adult bodyweight rather than by how it looks: small and mini is up to about 10kg, medium about 11 to 25kg, and large breed 25kg and up.

Feeding, Storage And The Range

• How much: start from the chart on the pack by weight, then adjust to what you can feel. You should find the ribs easily under a thin layer of cover. Weigh the food rather than using a cup, and count treats towards the day's total.
• Changing over: move across gradually over about seven days. A sudden switch is the usual cause of a loose stool that then gets blamed on the food.
• Storage here: keep the bag sealed, cool and out of sunlight and use it within about six weeks of opening. UAE heat turns the fats in kibble stale faster than the packaging assumes, and that is the usual reason a pet goes off a food it used to like. Keep it in its own bag rather than tipping it into a bin.
• Who makes it: Hill's was founded by an American vet, Mark Morris Senior, who formulated a kidney diet for a guide dog in the 1940s. They run feeding trials on their recipes, which is why they can say clinically proven where most brands cannot, and the main reason the range costs what it does.
• Science Plan is not Prescription Diet: this is the everyday range for healthy pets. Prescription Diet is the separate therapeutic range for diagnosed conditions, sold on a vet's recommendation. The names overlap confusingly and they are not interchangeable, so if your vet has set a diet, ask them before changing it.

Good To Know

• This listing is the 6kg pack.
• Complete dry food. Nothing needs adding to a complete diet.
• Keep fresh water available at all times.
• Store sealed, cool and out of sunlight. Use an opened bag within about six weeks.
• Science Plan is a non-prescription everyday food, not a veterinary therapeutic diet.
• Made by Hill's Pet Nutrition, part of Colgate-Palmolive.