Canadian Brand. Royal Canin Small Starter Mother & Babydog is a unique nutritional solution designed to meet the needs of the mother and her puppies during the first 5 stages of life: gestation, birth, lactation, weaning, and growth up to 8 weeks. Small Starter helps to promote an easy transition to solid food and optimal stool quality through a highly digestible formula, including highly digestible proteins called low indigestible proteins (LIPs), as well as prebiotics and highly digestible carbohydrates.