Be Frank Dog Food Review

If you buy your dog food at PETstock then the Be Frank range could well be your best choice.

The brand is made by Hypro in the Hawkesbury Valley, and I consider that a plus. I receive a great deal of information on Australian pet foods and have to say Hypro pet foods have a really good track record.

If you have a sensitive dog and need a hypoallergenic formula without grains or poultry, then check out the Kangaroo Single Protein formula. For the sake of this review we’ll focus on the higher protein Gluten Free Duck & Turkey.

What the marketing says

I find the Be Frank dog foods very good. If you want to know why then skip to the next section where I cover the ingredients.

But first, with a little bit of jest, I’d like to “roast” some of the marketing.

Firstly, on the front of the bag we find the statement “Truly honest pet food”. I’m not sure if any pet food is truly honest?

Under that we find a picture of succulent duck and turkey steaks with delicious looking vegetables. My guess is that isn’t a truly honest representation of what goes into the dog food, but it’s something many pet foods do to make the product look more appealing to us as consumers.

The word “Premium” is another word used on many pet foods, and a word I always laugh at. I could take up knitting and start selling “Premium Quality Scarfs” on Esty – it’s pretty much a meaningless marketing word which again is designed to appeal to us as consumers.

All that said, many dog foods are far less honest. Such as the many made mostly of cereal grains despite the succulent meat and cute healthy puppies pictured on the front of the bag.

Not the case with Be Frank dog food, which is much better.

Let me point out some facts about Be Frank dog food which aren’t mentioned on the front of the bag, but should matter to you and your dog:

• High protein, low carbohydrates – The Duck & Turkey formula boasts 30% protein and 16% fat, and that’s much better than many dog foods which skimp on protein and fat and pack the bag full of cheap carbohydrates.
• Meat is not only the first ingredient, but the main ingredient – Usually dog food labelling panels are designed to show meat first, but then a laundry list of non-meat ingredients. The reality of these formulas are there isn’t much meat at all, but that’s not the case with Be Frank. Here we have a load of meat, which I’ll clarify later.

I’ll add some marketing claims from the bag which should matter to you:

• Grain & Gluten Free – This is great, because dogs don’t really need grains or gluten.
• Australian Sourced Meat – I’m not sure if all ingredients are Australian. I imagine not, but the benefits of buying an Australian dog food such as this is you’re supporting the Australian economy and Australian farming.
• Probiotics for better gut health – I wish more dog foods would include probiotics to help manage our dog’s gut health and allow them to better digest the food they eat.

That’s enough on the marketing. Let’s take a look at the ingredients panel and guaranteed analysis to find out what the Be Frank dog food is really all about.

What the ingredients really say

We’ll focus on Be Frank Gluten Free Duck & Turkey Dog Food, available in 2.5kg and 15kg bags. The other formulas do differ, but there’s no reason you can’t rotate between different formulas – variety never hurt anyone, did it?

You would be surprised how many dog foods are named “This Meat or That Meat Recipe”, when the first and main ingredients are something entirely different. This is particularly the case when the recipe name is “With Chicken” or “With Beef” – watch out for those, as they won’t have much meat.

Not the case here – the first ingredient is duck, and the second ingredient is turkey. Now that is honest, and that is good for your dog.

As a bonus, the third ingredient is chicken. So that’s three meat ingredients, and a resounding assurance you’ll be feeding your dog a meat-based dog food rather than some concoction of grains or plants.

These three meat ingredients are meals. This is a form of meat which is pre-cooked into a concentrated protein powder, usually inclusive of carcass, connective tissues, organs, and muscle meat, so not just the succulent cuts shown on the bag. When meals are used as the main ingredients in a dog food it assures us the protein content in the food really does come from meat, which is the protein your dog will benefit from the most.

The 4th and 5th ingredients round off what I would class the “main ingredients”, and these are chickpeas and faba beans (broad beans).

Generally I consider some legumes in a dog food formula beneficial. “Science” tells us dogs are omnivores. I disagree with pet food industry-funded “science”, and prefer to classify dogs as facultative carnivores – i.e. their diet should be primarily from animal sources, but they can benefit from other types of food.

Chickpeas and faba beans will provide your dog with additional protein, fibre, and essential nutrients.

There are numerous beneficial ingredients in all Be Frank dog foods, and although minor should set this food apart from those you’ll find in the supermarket.

To list just a few – prebiotics and probiotics for digestive health, fish and flaxseed oil to boost health and wellbeing and further support the more prominent poultry fat in the food, plus a range of fruits, vegetables, and superfoods.

To offer a conclusion, I would consider Be Frank dog food fairly decent in comparison to most dry dog foods, and may work well for your dog.

Recommended.

Ingredients

The ingredients of Be Frank Duck & Turkey Dry dog food:

Duck meal, Turkey meal, Chicken meal, Chickpeas, Faba beans, Poultry fat with mixed tocopherols & rosemary extract, Chicken gravy, Sweet potato powder, Beet pulp, Lentils, Sea salt, Prebiotics (chicory) with Probiotics (Bacillus Subtilis, Bacillus Licheniformis), Vitamins & minerals (including calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, zinc, iodine, selenium, Vitamins A, C, D3, E, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, B12, choline), Fish oil, Flaxseed oil, Carrot, Spinach, Kelp powder, DL-Methionine, Taurine, Turmeric, Yucca schidigera, Kale, Broccoli, Tomato, Apple, Almond, Chia seed Cranberry, Blueberry, Rosemary, Parsley, Rosehip powder, Green tea.

Guaranteed Analysis

The guaranteed analysis of Be Frank Duck & Turkey Dry dog food: