Breed Health Nutrition Shih Tzu Puppy Dry Dog Food, 2.5-lb bag
Graded by The Sniff System
Royal Canin Breed Health Nutrition Shih Tzu Puppy Dry Dog Food is a dry formula for puppies, primarily featuring chicken by-product meal.
This formula includes quality carbohydrate sources that provide fermentable fiber, which is good for gut health. It also uses quality fat sources like named chicken fat and fish oil, providing beneficial EPA and DHA. The food's nutritional adequacy for growth is substantiated by AAFCO feeding trials.
The main thing to watch here is that the formula is plant-protein-dominated, with brewers rice listed as the first ingredient.
Good fit for Shih Tzu puppies. Less ideal if you prefer a formula with a meat-first ingredient list.
Summary written by The Sniff System from the data above. Same rubric, same drivers, expressed in English.
Good fit for active large sporting breeds like Golden Retrievers, Labrador Retrievers, and Irish Setters navigating diet-associated DCM concerns. Working in its favor: taurine listed as added ingredient. Chicken by-product meal anchors position 2, with zero pulses in the top 15. Goldens appeared disproportionately in the FDA's DCM reports. Pulse-heavy grain-free formulas warrant extra caution; named animal protein with organ meat or marine sources is the safer fit.
Looking at this for puppy Golden Retrievers or Golden Retrievers with diet-associated DCM concerns ? 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.
Research informing this analysis
MethodologyThe Sniff System grades this product against 2 cited studies relevant to its profile. Each link opens the original source.
- FDA, 2022epidemiology · breed predisposition· cited in 4 claims
- FDA, 2019diet composition· cited in 2 claims
Every claim on Sniff traces to a source. If you find a citation that's wrong, outdated, or misapplied, tell us.
Solid grade. 60/100 (B) reflects the structural fit of this formula against The Sniff System's eight scoring components. Carbohydrate quality did the heavy lifting (+13 points): Quality carbohydrate sources with fermentable fiber. What we'd flag for vet discussion: protein quality (-20 points). Plant-protein-dominated formula. brewers rice as the #1 ingredient.
Quality carbohydrate sources with fermentable fiber.
Quality fat sources: named fat with marine oil (EPA and DHA source).
AAFCO feeding trial substantiation for growth.
Plant-protein-dominated formula. brewers rice as the #1 ingredient.
- Bottom 10% for fat quality in Royal Canin's lineup (12/16)
- Bottom 10% for protein quality in grain-inclusive dry kibbles (5.2/27)
- Bottom quartile for crude fiber in grain-inclusive dry kibbles (4.0% DMB)
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.
Royal Canin Breed Health Nutrition Boxer Puppy Dry Dog Food, 30-lb bag
Scores 13 points higher with a similar formulation profile.
Royal Canin Size Health Nutrition Large Puppy Dry Dog Food, 40-lb bag
$3.00/lb vs your seed's $10.80/lb (72% 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.
- 1brewers rice
Broken rice kernels left over from milling, usually destined for human beer-making. Cheaper than whole or even white rice. Same carbs, less nutrition than the brown version. See why →
Position 1 grain: primary carbohydrate base. This is a grain-inclusive formula with brewers rice as the dominant carb.
- 2protein animalchicken by-product meal
Ground organs, bone, and tissue. Nutritionally dense, especially the liver and gizzard fractions. Named species ('chicken') is what matters. Generic 'poultry by-product meal' is the one to worry about. See why →
Position 2: co-primary protein. Two named animal proteins in the top 2 is a strong protein build.
- 3graincorn
Whole corn is more nutritious than it gets credit for, with decent amino acids and steady carbs. The bigger concern is when corn dominates the top of the ingredient list at the expense of named meat.
Position 3: major carbohydrate source.
- 4fatchicken fat
Despite the name, a high-quality energy source. Concentrated calories plus essential fatty acids like linoleic acid. See why →
Position 4: secondary fat. Often where marine oils sit when present alongside a primary land-animal fat.
- 5protein plantwheat gluten
Concentrated wheat protein. Like other plant gluten meals, it pads the protein number on the label without contributing meat-quality amino acids.
Position 5: plant protein in the top 5. Stacked with animal protein, can inflate the crude protein number without matching the amino-acid quality of named animal sources.
- 6dried 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 6: functional fiber for digestion or satiety.
- 7othernatural flavors
Same as natural flavor. Usually hydrolyzed liver or broth, adds palatability.
- 8fatfish oil
Concentrated omega-3s. The reason 'EPA' and 'DHA' get to show up on the bag.
Position 8. Moderate marine-oil inclusion. Supplements EPA/DHA without being the primary fat.
- 9mineralcalcium carbonate
Source of calcium. Functional. Required in complete dog foods, especially those without bone-in meat meals.
- 10vegetable oil
Unnamed plant oil. Could be soy, canola, corn, or a blend. Named oils like sunflower or canola are more transparent.
Position 10: trace fat. Below the level that materially shifts the fat profile.
- 11sodium silico aluminate
Same role as sodium aluminosilicate. Anti-caking agent at trace inclusion.
- 12monocalcium phosphate
Source of calcium and phosphorus. Standard mineral inclusion in complete dog foods.
- 13mineralpotassium chloride
Required mineral. Sometimes used as a salt substitute. Standard inclusion in complete diets.
- 14mineralsalt
Sodium chloride. Required at small doses for normal physiology. Not a quality concern in standard amounts.
- 15fiberfructooligosaccharides
Prebiotic fiber, often called FOS. Feeds beneficial gut bacteria, similar in function to inulin.
Position 15: trace fiber inclusion.
- 16supplementdl-methionine
Essential amino acid. Often added when plant proteins dominate, since methionine is naturally lower in pulses than meat.
- 17mineralsodium tripolyphosphate
Preservative and texture agent in wet food. Functional at small doses, not a major concern, but some brands avoid it.
- 18hydrolyzed yeast
Yeast broken down with enzymes. Strong palatant plus a real source of B vitamins and amino acids.
- 19supplementtaurine
Amino acid critical for heart health. Especially important in grain-free or pulse-heavy formulas where natural taurine precursors run thin.
- 20supplementcholine chloride
Essential nutrient for liver and brain function. Standard inclusion in complete dog foods.
- 21supplementl-lysine
Essential amino acid. Plant-protein-heavy formulas sometimes add it to round out the amino acid profile.
- 22l-tyrosine
- 23marigold extract
- 24zinc oxide
Inorganic zinc. Cheapest mineral form on the market. Functional but less bioavailable than chelated alternatives.
- 25mineralferrous sulfate
Inorganic iron. Standard mineral source. Iron proteinate is the gentler, better-absorbed premium form.
Showing first 25 of 35. Position 1-5 has the largest weight in the recipe.
23 of 25 ingredients have a curated note. Coverage grows over time.