Four Foods, One Method

• 01 Blue Life Protection Formula Adult Small Breed Lamb and Brown Rice Swap Remove
• 02 Science Diet Hill’s Science Diet Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Small Bites Chicken Swap Remove
• 03 TruDog Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 04 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove

Four Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.

	01 Blue Life Protection Formula Adult Small Breed Lamb and Brown Rice Swap Remove	02 Science Diet Hill’s Science Diet Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Small Bites Chicken Swap Remove	03 TruDog Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free Swap Remove	04 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream.	01 Life Protection Formula Adult Small Breed Lamb and Brown Rice 26.7%	02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Small Bites Chicken 27.8%	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 43.5%	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 56.5% Best in this row
02 Carbohydrate Load, Dry Matter Lower Is Better Estimated, 6% ash assumed. iEstimated, not measured. It is what is left of the guaranteed analysis once protein, fat, fiber and moisture are taken out, with ash assumed at 6%. That leftover is mostly starch but also carries sugars and the fiber a crude-fiber test misses, so read it as a close estimate rather than an exact figure. Measured as fed, the same basis as the bag.	01 Life Protection Formula Adult Small Breed Lamb and Brown Rice 44% 40.0% as fed	02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Small Bites Chicken 45% 40.8% as fed	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 9% 8.0% as fed Best in this row	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 13% 0.0% as fed
03 Named Proteins In The First Five Count of named animal proteins. iThe count matches any named animal word in the opening five ingredients, so it also counts animal fats and flavourings as proteins. It is shown because it is one of the five measured lines, but it is too rough to call a winner on.	01 Life Protection Formula Adult Small Breed Lamb and Brown Rice 2 of 5	02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Small Bites Chicken 2 of 5	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 5 of 5	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 3 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list.	01 Life Protection Formula Adult Small Breed Lamb and Brown Rice None	02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Small Bites Chicken None	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free None	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe.	01 Life Protection Formula Adult Small Breed Lamb and Brown Rice 2 None in the last 3 years	02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Small Bites Chicken 4 None in the last 3 years	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free None Best in this row	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row
Starch, As Fed iEstimated, not measured. It is what is left of the guaranteed analysis once protein, fat, fiber and moisture are taken out, with ash assumed at 6%. That leftover is mostly starch but also carries sugars and the fiber a crude-fiber test misses, so read it as a close estimate rather than an exact figure. Measured as fed, the same basis as the bag.	01 Life Protection Formula Adult Small Breed Lamb and Brown Rice 40.0%	02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Small Bites Chicken 40.8%	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 8.0%	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%
Kcal / Cup	01 Life Protection Formula Adult Small Breed Lamb and Brown Rice 388	02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Small Bites Chicken 393	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 233	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes	01 Life Protection Formula Adult Small Breed Lamb and Brown Rice $2.93 15 lb bag, PetSmart	02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Small Bites Chicken $3.00 30 lb bag, Amazon	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free -- No price on file.	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.
Cost / 1,000 Kcal Lower Is Cheaper To Feed What the same amount of energy costs, so a denser food is not penalized for a higher price per pound.	01 Life Protection Formula Adult Small Breed Lamb and Brown Rice $1.74 Best in this row	02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Small Bites Chicken $1.76	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free -- No price on file.	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients	01 Life Protection Formula Adult Small Breed Lamb and Brown Rice Deboned Lamb, Menhaden Fish Meal (source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids), Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Barley	02 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Small Bites Chicken Chicken, Chicken Meal, Yellow Peas, Cracked Pearled Barley, Brown Rice	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free Beef, Beef Heart, Beef Liver, Beef Lung, Beef Kidney	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen White fish (Pollock), Turkey neck, Turkey heart, Broccoli, Sweet potato

Every figure here is the food's own. Protein and carbohydrate are converted to dry matter so foods of different moisture can be set beside each other; starch is estimated from the guaranteed analysis with ash assumed at 6.0%, and the recall record belongs to the manufacturer rather than to the recipe. Two rows are printed but never marked: the named-protein count, because the detection behind it is too rough to call a winner on, and calories, because neither more nor fewer is better without knowing the dog.