Big Country Raw Dog Food Reviews

Big Country Raw offers 3 lines of frozen raw dog food. They have one line of dehydrated food that are all considered low risk dog foods. There is some light processing involved in the raw foods. That does not affect the nutritional value. However, dehydration involves moderate processing. The Trek line loses a few points for that.

BCR doesn’t use fillers or grains in its recipes. This is clear from the low carbohydrate count expected in raw dog foods. Trek Dehydrated recipes have average carbohydrates of 38%. This is quite high for a dehydrated dog food. The dehydrated recipes include ingredients like sweet potato, pumpkin and some fruit. They contribute to the carbohydrate level. They also provide nutrients.  

All recipes have a lower percentage of fat than protein. This is desirable in raw dog food. Animal protein is the priciest ingredient. High fat diets can shift gut bacteria. This can cause chronic inflammation in dogs. They can also be indicative of cheaper protein sources. 

It’s noteworthy that 3 of their 4 dog food lines have no added vitamins and minerals. This speaks highly of the quality of the whole food ingredients. They don’t need synthetic supplements to balance these foods. Only their Raw Dinner line has a few added minerals.

BCR Signature Blends offers 3 recipes that blend 2 or 3 proteins plus organs and bones. They don’t add fruits or vegetables. Average protein is 60% and average carbohydrate is 3%. All recipes score 10/10 for ingredient quality and ingredient safety.

BCR Pure offers 8 single protein recipes. They contain meat, organs and bone. Single proteins address food sensitivities. Average protein is 60% and there are negligible carbohydrates. They offer chicken and beef and novel proteins. They include rabbit, lamb, duck and kangaroo. All recipes score 10/10 for ingredient quality and ingredient safety.

BCR Dinners has 9 recipes. They blend lean muscle meat, ground bone and organ meats. They also have fruit and vegetables and various greens. Average protein is 56% and average carbohydrate is 8%. It has a score of 9.2/10. The only concerns are the addition of barley grass. This is a high herbicide crop, and some added minerals. 

BCR Trek Dehydrated has 2 recipes, and is the lowest scoring line with a score of 8/10. These recipes are moderately processed. They have 38% carbohydrates and some GMOs. Average protein is 30%. 

BCR ingredients include pasture-raised beef, lamb, and buffalo, and chicken, turkey and duck. They’re sourced from local, free range farmers. The produce used in some lines is organic. The wheat and barley grasses used are not. All fish used is wild caught. This is preferable to farmed as it is more nutritious than farmed fish and has a healthy fatty acid balance. Ingredients go directly to their processing plant in Smithville, Ontario. This is where they make all their food. Once processed, products are flash frozen at temperatures below –20 degrees.

Big Country Raw doesn’t provide the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio for its foods. This isn’t unusual for most dog food makers. The ratio is always a concern because AAFCO allows a highly inflammatory ratio of 30:1.

BCR offers good options for those wanting a commercially prepared raw diet. The company is also very responsive to customer inquiries. 

Listed below are the average scores of each line of Big Country Raw. Click on any line to view the individual foods and scores.