Natural dog food
'Natural' isn't a strictly regulated term on UK dog food the way 'organic' is, so it's worth reading past the word on the front of the bag. In practice it usually signals a recipe with fewer artificial colours, flavours and preservatives, and often a named meat as the main ingredient - but two bags both marketed as natural can still differ a lot in what's actually inside.
What 'natural' tends to mean in practice
It generally points to fewer or no artificial additives, and often a named single or primary protein rather than a vague 'meat and animal derivatives'. Sometimes it overlaps with grain-free, though the two aren't the same thing - a food can be natural and still contain grain, or grain-free and still carry additives.
'Natural' covers dry, wet and raw formats equally - it describes the ingredients, not the format the food comes in. It also doesn't automatically mean higher quality or better suited to every dog; a dog with a specific sensitivity needs the actual ingredient list checked, not just the word on the front of the bag.
How the range breaks down
Dry recipes like Burns Adult/Senior Dog Original Chicken & Brown Rice sit toward the natural, simply-formulated end of dry food. Grain-free options such as Arden Grange Adult Dog Grain Free Lamb & Superfoods and Naturo Puppy Grain Free Chicken with Potato & Vegetables Pouch go a step further by removing grain from the ingredient list entirely.
Raw frozen formulas like Benyfit Natural Chicken Tripe Complete Raw Dog Food and Nutriment Adult Dog Raw Lamb Formula Frozen sit at the most minimally processed end, since almost nothing is cooked or added beyond the meat and its complementary ingredients.
Reading the label properly
Check where the named meat sits in the ingredient list - higher up generally means more of it - and whether it's a single named protein or several combined. Check too whether the food is labelled complete rather than complementary, if it's meant to be the main diet rather than a topper.
A 'natural' claim on the front of a bag is worth less than the actual ingredient panel underneath it, so treat the word as a starting point for reading further rather than as the answer in itself.
Switching to a natural diet
Introduce any new food gradually over several days rather than swapping overnight, watching your dog's stools and appetite as you go through the change.
A dog with an existing health condition, or one being moved onto a very different format like raw from a lifetime of dry food, is best switched with a vet's input rather than done cold. Keep a note of what you've fed and when if you're trying more than one new food in succession, since it makes any reaction far easier to trace back to its actual cause.
What we stock
Everything below is in stock with us, priced with delivery worked out, and packed and posted by hand in the UK.
Forthglade Cold Pressed Natural Turkey
Cold-pressed turkey kibble for dogs from 2 months, soft enough to mix with water for young pups
£45.99
Nutriment Natural Instinct Working Dog Chicken & Beef
A grain-free frozen raw recipe for working dogs, built on beef and chicken
£5.09
Natures Menu Natural Raw Turkey Necks
500G complementary food or treat for dogs, with composition and analysis stated clearly
£3.99
Benyfit Natural 80 10 10 Chicken Meat Feast Raw Dog Food
An 80:10:10 raw chicken and organ recipe, fed as part of a varied raw diet
From£3.65
Natures Menu Natural Raw Beef Ribs
SGL complementary food or treat for dogs, with composition and analysis stated clearly
£3.99
Nutriment Natural Instinct Adult Dog Tripe & Turkey
A grain-free frozen raw recipe for adult dogs, built equally on beef tripe and turkey
£5.29
Benyfit Natural Sensitive Support Raw Dog Food
A two-meat raw recipe, lower in fat and protein than Benyfit's wider organ-meat range
From£3.65
Nutriment Natural Instinct Working Dog Chicken & Salmon
A 1kg complete raw frozen food for working dogs, built on human-grade chicken and salmon
£4.69
Natures Menu Natural Raw Poultry Heart Chunks
1KG complementary food or treat for dogs, with composition and analysis stated clearly
£6.99
Natures Menu Natural Raw Beef Chunks
1KG complementary food or treat for dogs, with composition and analysis stated clearly
£7.99
Nutriment Natural Instinct Puppy Turkey & Tripe
A grain-free frozen raw recipe for puppies, built on turkey, turkey heart and beef tripe
£5.69
Forthglade Natural Dental Sticks 5pk
Forthglade Natural Dental Sticks 5pk: complementary dog chew with dried potato — 170G
£3.00
Common questions
- Is natural dog food better than regular dog food?
- Not automatically. 'Natural' generally means fewer artificial additives and often a clearer named protein, but a regular, well-formulated complete food can suit a dog just as well. What matters most is the actual ingredient list and whether the recipe is complete for your dog's life stage.
- Is grain-free the same as natural?
- No, they're different labels that sometimes overlap. Grain-free means no grain in the ingredients, while natural generally refers to avoiding artificial additives, so a food can be one, both or neither.
- Is raw dog food more natural than dry?
- Raw is generally the least processed format, since almost nothing beyond the meat and its complementary ingredients is added, but that doesn't automatically make it more suitable for every dog - it comes with its own storage and hygiene demands that a dry food doesn't.
- How do I switch my dog to a natural food?
- Introduce it gradually over several days alongside your dog's current food rather than swapping overnight, and speak to a vet first if your dog has an existing health condition or you're moving between very different formats, such as from dry to raw.
Related
Written by Matt Garnett, who runs Giddy Pets and is a lifelong pet owner — not a vet. This is general information, not veterinary advice, and it cannot replace an examination by the vet who knows your animal. How we write these guides.