Baxter's Dog Food Review -
The Complete Overview

The three products above comprise the bulk of this dry food. The rest of the ingredient list barely has anything else. This brand doesn’t add any vegetables or fruit beyond peas, which are probably used for their high protein content to boost the crude protein percentage.

Baxters has also added some problematic additives that we’ll cover down below. In general, we’re not fans of this composition and this high-carb food isn’t the best option to give your dog a balanced diet.

Because of that, we’re giving this brand 3 out of 5 stars.

Protein Content 3/5

This food is average at best when it comes to protein content. Like most dry dog foods in the market, it offers a protein percentage well above the bare minimum 18% recommended by the AAFCO.

Their dry kibble recipes feature around 22% protein in their adult version, while puppies get 28%. Although they don’t make any claims as to the source of this protein, we’re guessing at least half of it comes from meat and meat by-products, as mentioned in their ingredient list. Of course, the addition of peas as the fourth ingredient is also a good clue. This protein-rich legume is used in plenty of dog food recipes to bump up the protein content without hiking the manufacturing cost.

Finally, it’s important to mention all their recipes have multiple animal protein sources. While this is fine for most dogs, if yours is on a limited-ingredient diet or has to avoid poultry, this isn’t the brand for you.

As we already mentioned, meat and its by-products can be beneficial or harmful depending on the source, and this brand isn’t too keen on explaining where they source their meats.

The protein content isn’t the worst out there, so we’re giving this brand 3 out of 5 stars.

Additives 1/5

This is the most problematic category, and the main reason why we dislike this brand.

While the main ingredients in Baxters are mediocre at best, their additives are concerning, particularly when taking into account the numerous reports of sick and dead pups.

First, we have bentonite, a substance also found in clay. Bentonite helps dogs -and people- digest better, lower bloating, vomiting and diarrhoea. Going back to the common indigestion claims from owners, it’s suspicious at best to see this uncommon ingredient so high up on the list. According to different sources, very few pet food manufacturers use bentonite in their recipes [2].

Then we have potassium chloride, one of the tell-tale signs of the poor quality of this kibble. Potassium lowers the pH in pet food. This is an uncommon ingredient in high-quality recipes, but cheaper brands use it to balance the pH if the food is poorly formulated. While in small amounts it can be innocuous, potassium chloride is one of the 3 drugs used in lethal injections and when ingested can cause intestinal ulcers [4].

In general, this wouldn’t be concerning, but many owners complain about poor quality control in Baxters dog food. Of course, as consumers it’s easier to see when canned food has poor quality control -if, for example, cans are half-filled with water [3]- but with dry kibble this is almost impossible.

Since potassium chloride can be so harmful in large quantities, it’s an especially concerning additive considering the quality-control in other products by this manufacturer.

The remainder additives are neither good nor bad: salt, a generic "essential vitamins and minerals", beet pulp -for fibre- and whole linseed -for omega 3 and 6-. Finally, the ingredient list ends with the mention of preservatives and antioxidants. We’ve already mentioned several times the controversy surrounding pet food preservatives, especially after sulphites were found to cause dangerous thiamine deficiency and even death. This brand, like many others, doesn’t bother to clearly label their foods and keeps their chosen preservatives secret.

Because of the various claims by owners, and the presence of less-than-desirable potassium chloride, we’re giving Baxters 1 star out of 5.

Variety 2/5

This brand offers different presentations meant to fit any dog. As such, there’s traditional dry kibble, as well as several canned options for those pups that prefer wet food. They also carry treats.

Their recipes, however, change very little from one product to the next. For example, their adult and puppy dry food recipes are identical except for the protein percentage.

We’re not particularly thrilled with the flavour options, since there is no other protein source available, nor there are any grain-free recipes. They also don’t tailor recipes to your dog’s size or specific dietary needs.

Because of the limited range offered, we’re giving Baxter’s 2 out of 5 in this category.

Price 4/5

When it comes to price, Baxter’s is pretty difficult to beat. Being a supermarket brand -made by Woolworths - and choosing cheap ingredients means they can sell every bag at one of the lowest prices in the market. However, for the budget you’d allocate to buying this kibble you could just as easily purchase fresh ingredients and make homemade dog food. It would definitely be a better option nutrition-wise.

Even though this is probably the cheapest dog food available in Australia, we don’t consider nutritional value an appropriate trade-off and we’re taking off 1 star because of it.