Big Dog Natural is a small, family-owned independent dog food company. The company has limited information available. The company lists Carl Van Bael as the president. He’s shown in early Facebook posts. He’s preparing food and feeding his dogs these products. It shows the installation of equipment at a manufacturing facility in 2019. It’s assumed they make Big Dog Natural dog food inhouse. There are also posts from earlier in the 2010s so the company appears to be about 20 years old.
Big Dog Natural produces dehydrated and fermented dog food. The company appears to produce its dog food in its own facility in Lakewood, New Jersey.
For our Big Dog Natural dog food review, we’ll look at the food ingredient quality and safety of each line of food. Our dog food reviews are based on these criteria.
IS BIG DOG NATURAL A GOOD DOG FOOD?
Big Dog Natural offers two lines of air dried dog food. One is grain-free, the other has whole grains. Both are moderate risk dog foods by our criteria.
The grain-free line has 6 recipes. It has a higher score with 33% average protein and 31% average carbs. The whole grain line has low average protein of 23%. It has high average carbs of 48%. Both are unusual for air dried dog food.
Both lines have high pesticide ingredients and inflammatory seed oil. They also have higher levels of fat. Ideally, raw diets will have nearly twice as much protein as fat. Fat is a valuable nutrient. But, it lacks vitamins and minerals. High fat diets can harm the gut flora.
Big Dog Natural uses a 48-hour air drying and fermentation process. They don’t use added vitamins and minerals. Nutrients come from whole food ingredients.
Ingredients are non-GMO, and sourced locally. They also use their own naturally fermented vegetables.
The company website states they use free-range turkey and chicken. They also use grass-fed and finished beef and tripe from the US. They use lamb from Australia and wild-caught salmon. However, they don’t offer any certifications on the website or packaging. These could include Global Animal Partnerships (GAP) or Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).
Big Dog Natural doesn’t state the omega-6:omega-3 ratio in their foods. This is unfortunate since AAFCO allows a very inflammatory limit of 30:1. They note that the salmon used is wild caught. Wild caught fish is more nutritious and has a better fatty acid profile.
Let’s look at each line in a little more detail.
BIG DOG NATURAL GRAIN FREE
Score: 6.7/10
Ingredient List For Grain Free Turkey Supreme Recipe: Turkey, beef, green tripe, fermented veggie mix (collard greens, kale greens, cilantro, cabbage greens, carrots, sweet potatoes), dried vegetable mix (parsley, spinach, mango, apples, coconuts), vitamin E oil, sunflower oil.
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 and 31% carbohydrate as calculated. These foods rank low in ingredient quality. They have high carbs, inflammatory oils, and high fat in 1 recipe. However, they have no added vitamins and minerals. On the ingredient safety side, these foods are moderately processed. They have high pesticide foods listed in their top 5 ingredients.
Grain Free Benefits
- No added vitamins and minerals
- No added amino acids
- Made in house
- No GMOs
- Wild-caught fish
Grain Free Concerns
- High in carbohydrates
- Moderately processed
- High fat in 1 recipe
- Uses seed oil
- High pesticide/herbicide foods in top 5 ingredients
- Does not provide omega-6:omega-3 ratio
View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews.
BIG DOG NATURAL WHOLE GRAIN
Score: 6/10
Ingredient List For Supreme Whole Grain Tripe Barley Recipe: Green tripe, beef, spent barley, fermented veggie mix (collard greens, kale greens, cilantro, cabbage greens, carrots, sweet potatoes), dried vegetable mix (parsley, spinach, mango, apples, coconuts), vitamin E oil, sunflower oil
Big Dog Natural Whole Grain dog food is a moderate risk dog food by our criteria. There are 5 recipes that average 23% protein and 48% carbohydrate as calculated. These foods rank low in ingredient quality. They have excessively high carbohydrates. There are inflammatory seed oils and high fat in 1 recipe. However, they have no added vitamins and minerals. On the ingredient safety side, these foods are moderately processed. They have high pesticide foods listed in their top 5 ingredients.
Whole Grain Benefits
- No added vitamins and minerals
- No added amino acids
- Made in house
- No GMOs
- Wild-caught fish
Whole Grain Concerns
- High in carbohydrates
- Moderately processed
- High fat in 1 recipe
- Uses seed oil
- High pesticide/herbicide foods in top 5 ingredients
- Does not provide omega-6:omega-3 ratio
View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews
BIG DOG NATURAL DOG FOOD RECALLS
To date, Big Dog Natural has not had any recalls or voluntary withdrawals.
Evaluation Criteria
We evaluate and score dog foods based on two criteria:
Are the Ingredients High Quality?
Here are some common low-quality ingredients or markers we look for:
- Is there excessive carbohydrate content, which can cause gut imbalances?
- Does the food contain unnamed proteins, which are low quality?
- Does the food use cellulose (wood pulp) as a source of fiber instead of real food?
- Are there excessive vitamins and minerals added in place of real food nutrition?
- Are there excessive added amino acids or plant proteins instead of expensive meat protein?
- Does the food contain inflammatory processed seed oils?
How Safe Are the Ingredients?
Many ingredients come from unhealthy, inflammatory sources or are full of pesticides so we look for:
- How processed is the food?
- Does the food contain known genetically modified foods?
- Does the food contain ingredients known to be high in pesticides?
- Does the food contain natural flavor, which are often MSG or animal digest?
- Does the food contain rice, which is high in arsenic?
Each food is objectively evaluated by these criteria and a score is assigned using the average of ingredient quality and safety. This is NOT a paid list and there are no affiliate links. Dogs Naturally has partnered with DogFoodReviews.com to make sure dog owners have unbiased, objective criteria to help them choose the best dog food on the market. You can view the full Evaluation Criteria at DogFoodReviews.com.
