Big Dog Natural Grain Free DOG FOOD Review

With an average score of 6.7, Big Dog Natural Grain Free dog food is a moderate risk food by our criteria. There are 6 recipes that average 33% protein, which is acceptable. Average carbohydrates are 31% as calculated. This is considerably higher than we like to see in air dried dog food.

These recipes include sweet potatoes and fruit. They contribute to the high carbohydrate content. Dogs have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrates. Excessive carbohydrate is an indicator of food quality. It can reduce manufacturing cost. High carbohydrate food can increase insulin levels. They can increase the risk of obesity and cause unwanted changes to the gut microbiome.   

These recipes also have higher levels of fat. Ideally, there should be twice as much protein as fat. Fat is relatively devoid of vitamins and minerals. High fat diets can lead to unwanted changes in the gut flora. Recipes include sunflower oil, which is an inflammatory seed oil. 

One of the benefits of these foods is that there are no vitamins or minerals, which is good to see. Processing air dried dog food involves some heat, which causes a loss of some nutrients. But, there are no added vitamins and minerals. This means the whole food ingredients are better quality to meet nutritional standards.  

Also on the safety side, it’s noteworthy that the company doesn’t use GMO ingredients. However, the recipes contain several ingredients known for high pesticide or herbicide residues. These include kale, apples, tomato and spinach. Crops are often spray-dried with glyphosate. This is an antibiotic that can kill beneficial gut bacteria. It has links to cancer and other diseases. It would be good to see the company use organic ingredients. That would remove the herbicide/pesticide risk. 

It’s worth pointing out that Big Dog Natural uses wild-caught salmon. This is more nutritious than farmed fish and has a better balance of omega fatty acids.

It’s also worth noting that Big Dog Natural doesn’t state the omega-6:omega-3 ratio in their foods. While this is true of most foods, it’s unfortunate since AAFCO allows a very inflammatory limit of 30:1.