Gentle Giants Dog Food: Review

Gentle Giants is one of several dog food ranges with a celebrity face, this one being Burt Ward, who’s known for his role as Robin in the much-loved 1960’s Batman series. Unlike many celebrity endorsements, however, Burt has played a central role in the Gentle Giants non-profit organization, including when it began making food in 2008.

As true advocates for dog welfare, Burt and his wife have saved the lives of more than fifteen thousand dogs through their shelter, and take a special interest in caring for larger breeds and the health issues they commonly face—hence the name Gentle Giants. 

The brand has attracted a group of loyal owners and pups and is recommended by Oak Village Animal Hospital in Illinois after vet Ron Bowen observed improvements in dogs’ symptoms and bloodwork after switching to Gentle Giants.

The first thing you’ll notice about the Gentle Giants dry food is their packaging, think: The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s album cover. It grabs your attention, and rightfully so. This dry good has received rave reviews. Made with natural ingredients (non-GMO) this recipe includes farm-raised chicken (meal), a great source of protein and fat. It has brown rice and barley as its main sources of carbs. We do like the addition of superfoods like sweet potatoes, beets, spinach, cranberries, pumpkin, blueberries, and more! These provide valuable antioxidants. If your pup has some joint issues, or your want to ward them off, this recipe is packed with glucosamine and chondroitin sourced from New Zealand green mussels. 

While this recipe isn’t as high in protein as we would have liked (22%), it has adequate fats at 9%. However, the quality of the ingredients makes up for the lack of protein %. It is also a nice recipe for digestion, with added prebiotics and probiotics that aid digestion and increases the absorption of vitamins and minerals

Customer reviews:

“We have fed our GS the chicken dry formula mixed with a third of a can of the canned beef from day one. His coat is shiny and thick. He is very muscular and strong boned. The vet says he is in perfect health. This is a wonderful food.”

“We seen a commercial on national geo wild for this food, and I want you all to know that this food is great especially for older dogs. All our dogs are seniors and since we started this food they are more energetic and their coats are improving. Will not buy another brand”

Guaranteed analysis:

• Protein (min): 22.0%
• Fat (min): 9.0%
• Fiber (max): 4.0%
• Moisture (max): 10.0%

Nutritional Info
Ingredients: Chicken Meal, Pearled Barley, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Natural Flavors, Whole Flaxseeds, Fish Meal, Dried Saccharomyces cerevisiae Fermentation Product, Salt, Dried Kelp, Dried Egg Product, Dried Tomatoes, Dried Sweet Potatoes, Whole Dried Peas, Choline Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Dried Cranberries, Dried Blueberries, Dried Apples, Dried Carrots, Dried Celery, Dried Beets, Dried Parsley, Dried Lettuce, Dried Watercress, Dried Spinach, Dried Chicory, Vitamin E Supplement, Taurine, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Chondroitin Sulfate, Zinc Methionine Complex, Manganese Methionine Complex, Copper Lysine Complex, Sodium Selenite, Ethylenediamine Dihydroiodide, Beta Carotene, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum Fermentation Product, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Cobalt Carbonate, Cobalt Glucoheptonate, Folic Acid, Citric Acid, Mixed Tocopherols (a source of Vitamin E), and Rosemary Extract.

Caloric Content

3,323 kcal/kg, 358 kcal/cup

While Gentle Giant’s dry food has less protein than the industry average, their wet food has a higher protein content than the wet food industry average. With 9.5% protein from mainly chicken and chickpeas, this is quite an appealing recipe. It has a simple recipe, which is always good to see, as it generally means there is less of a chance of fillers. And this recipe has NO FILLERS! 

For digestive health and this recipe use dandelion greens, a unique ingredient you won’t find in many other dog foods. It is alamo made using New Zealand green-lipped mussels, a good source of glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health, to keep your dog mobile.

Customer reviews:

“My long haired dachshund is 11 years old now and she chases tennis balls like a 2-year-old. People constantly ask me what my beautiful puppy is. Gentle giant dog food keeps her happy and healthy and the vet says her muscles are strong.”

“Our pets love the gentle giant dry food, but I needed to add some wet for an older girl that has some tooth loss due to age. they dance in the kitchen now when I open these for their dinner. I have never seen them get so excited about meals as they do now. Definitely a hit!” 

Guaranteed analysis: 

• Protein (min): 9.5%
• Fat (min): 7.0%
• Fiber (max): 1.5%
• Moisture (max): 78.0%

Nutritional Info
Ingredients: Chicken, Chicken Broth, Chickpeas, Natural Flavor, Sweet Potatoes, Agar-Agar, Potassium, Chloride, Salmon Oil, Salt, Choline, Parsley, Pumpkin, Apples, Cranberries, Blueberries, Dandelion Greens, Dried Green-lipped Mussels, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Magnesium Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid.

Gentle Giants dry food uses animal meals rather than whole meat products as the primary ingredient and main source of protein. They also contain fish meal and egg, but these sit further down the ingredient list than foods like rice, flaxseed, and barely, suggesting that nutritional levels in Gentle Giants products may not give an accurate reflection of ingredient quality.

To be clear, we like a lot about Gentle Giants recipes lists, which are full of fibrous vegetables and grains like sweet potatoes and carrots, and antioxidant-rich fruits like cranberries and blueberries. However, we also think that the balance of meats to grains and vegetables isn’t optimal. Gentle Giant’s dry range is also light on fats compared to the industry average levels.

Gentle Giants wet foods feature real meats and meat broths as their primary ingredients, which are the best way to give your dog the hydration, essential amino acids, and nutrients that they naturally crave. Their ‘90% meat’ claim suggests that the lengthy list of additional ingredients are only minimally present in the formula, which helps ensure that the range sits above industry averages for proteins and fats.

However, we also noticed that chickpeas and sweet potatoes feature prominently within those secondary ingredients—plant foods that can pump up protein levels without offering the same nutritional value as meat. Something else that concerns us about Gentle Giants is the presence of ‘natural flavor’ within the top 5 ingredients in several flavors, which is an unusually high position for an unnamed additive.

The FDA and AVMA recall databases have no record of Gentle Giants, and a few Google searches suggest that the brand has not encountered any major contamination issues over its decade-long history—all great signs that Gentle Giants carefully oversees their entire production process, from sourcing to packaging.