Superior Care Puppy Small Breed Grain-Free Salmon & Krill Dry Dog Food, 3.3-lb bag
Graded by The Sniff System
Nature's Protection Superior Care Puppy Small Breed Grain-Free Salmon & Krill Dry Dog Food is a dry formula for small breed puppies, primarily featuring salmon.
This formula uses quality carbohydrate sources like dried potato and sweet potato, which also provide fermentable fiber for gut health. Good fat sources, including poultry fat, krill meal, and salmon oil, offer beneficial EPA and DHA. Salmon and krill meals also contribute to a diverse protein profile.
Nothing concerning in the deck.
Good fit for small breed puppies who need a grain-free diet with marine-sourced omega-3s. Nothing serious working against it.
Summary written by The Sniff System from the data above. Same rubric, same drivers, expressed in English.
Strong fit for lower-energy small companion breeds, including the French Bulldog, navigating a sensitive stomach. Working in its favor: explicitly formulated for small-breed dogs. Salmon meal leads at position 1, with dried plain beet pulp (prebiotic fiber) at position 7 on the deck, and a single-species protein design that makes trigger isolation easier. What we'd flag: calorie density (843 kcal/cup) is rich for a lower-activity breed. Frenchies have notoriously sensitive GI tracts plus a tendency toward obesity given their low activity needs. Limited-ingredient formulas with moderate calorie density tend to fit them well.
Looking at this for puppy French Bulldogs or French Bulldogs with a sensitive stomach ? We are building dedicated pages for these combinations.
Auto-matched from this product's measurements (ingredients, life stage, calorie density) to a breed archetype. Not a substitute for vet input on your specific dog.
Middle-of-pack grade. 58/100 (C) reflects the structural fit of this formula against The Sniff System's eight scoring components. Carbohydrate quality did the heavy lifting (+14 points): Quality carbohydrate sources with fermentable fiber. The supporting beat: fat quality (+12 points). Quality fat sources: named fat with marine oil (EPA and DHA source). What's keeping it out of B-tier: protein quality (11.5 of 27 possible). Full protein quality requires named-species named-cut proteins in the top of the deck (e.g., "deboned chicken" rather than "chicken meal" or "poultry meal").
Quality carbohydrate sources with fermentable fiber.
Quality fat sources: named fat with marine oil (EPA and DHA source).
Includes egg, named fish, or organ meat for diverse high-bioavailability protein.
No negative drivers crossed our reporting threshold.
- Top 10% for DMB protein in Nature's Protection's lineup (29.7%)
- Bottom 10% for fat quality in Nature's Protection's lineup (12/16)
- Top 10% for carb quality in grain-free dry kibbles (14/16)
Computed against the rest of our catalog. Percentiles refresh on each catalog update.
Similar dog foods worth considering
Three lenses on products with formulation profiles similar to this one.
ORIJEN Grain-Free High-Protein Small Breed Puppy Dry Dog Food, 4-lb bag
Scores 13 points higher with a similar formulation profile.
Next Level Super Premium Pet Food Salmon River Grain-Free Canine Adult Sea Food & Fish Dry Dog Food, 40-lb bag
$1.95/lb vs your seed's $5.82/lb (66% less) at a comparable score.
Surfaced from a vector similarity search across 3,491 scored dog foods. How this works.
Read why each ingredient is good or bad for dogs.
- 1protein animalsalmon meal
Salmon cooked into a dry concentrate. Carries both protein and natural omega-3s in one ingredient. See why →
Position 1: primary protein source. After cooking removes water, this may drop in proportional weight, but it anchors the recipe.
- 2dried potato
Standard white potato. Steady carb source, common starch in grain-free recipes.
- 3vegetablesweet potato
Complex carb with fiber and beta-carotene. Gentle on the stomach.
Position 3: meaningful whole-food inclusion. Source of vitamins, antioxidants, or natural fiber.
- 4poultry fat
Position 4: secondary fat. Often where marine oils sit when present alongside a primary land-animal fat.
- 5krill meal
- 6legumepeas
Cheap protein bulk. Fine in small amounts, but when peas stack with lentils and chickpeas in the top ingredients, it's the pattern the FDA flagged in its heart-disease investigation. See why →
Position 6. Moderate inclusion. Contributes carbohydrate and some plant protein.
- 7dried plain beet pulp
Beet fiber, with the sugar removed. Long unfairly maligned. It's a real soluble fiber that supports stool quality. See why →
Position 7: functional fiber for digestion or satiety.
- 8fatsalmon oil
Pure omega-3s. The thing skin-and-coat formulas are usually built around.
Position 8. Moderate marine-oil inclusion. Supplements EPA/DHA without being the primary fat.
- 9monocalcium phosphate
Source of calcium and phosphorus. Standard mineral inclusion in complete dog foods.
- 10fatflaxseed
Plant source of omega-3. Helpful for skin and coat, though dogs absorb omega-3 from fish more efficiently.
Position 10: trace fat. Below the level that materially shifts the fat profile.
- 11fructooligosaccharide
Prebiotic fiber, often abbreviated FOS. Feeds beneficial gut bacteria.
- 12sodium aluminosilicate
Anti-caking agent that keeps powder ingredients flowing. Functional, not nutritional.
- 13supplementyucca schidigera extract
Plant extract added to reduce stool odor. Functional, not nutritional. Fine in trace amounts.
- 14fruitcranberries
Often added with a urinary-tract-support marketing angle. Real cranberry compounds help in concentrate form, but kibble doses are small.
Position 14: garnish-level inclusion. Marketing-prominent but minimal nutritional impact at this position.
- 15pot marigold
- 16mineraliron sulfate
- 17mineralcalcium iodate
Source of iodine for thyroid function. Functional, required in complete formulas.
- 18mineralcopper sulfate
Inorganic copper. Standard, effective at small doses. Premium formulas tend to use copper proteinate instead.
- 19mineralmanganese sulfate
Inorganic manganese. Functional but less well-absorbed than the chelated proteinate form.
- 20mineralzinc sulfate
Inorganic zinc. Effective at AAFCO doses but less well-absorbed than chelated forms like zinc proteinate.
- 21mineralsodium selenite Flagged
Inorganic selenium. Effective at AAFCO levels, no documented safety concern in dogs despite what some pet food blogs claim. Selenium yeast is a marginal upgrade, not a necessity. See why →
- 22l-tyrosine
- 23l-cysteine
- 24supplementl-tryptophan
Essential amino acid. Sometimes added in calming or weight-management formulas.
- 25preservative naturalmixed tocopherols
Natural vitamin E used to keep fats from going rancid. The good kind of preservative. See why →
Showing first 25 of 26. Position 1-5 has the largest weight in the recipe.
19 of 25 ingredients have a curated note. Coverage grows over time.