Last Updated on April 18, 2025 by Kieran Beckles
Are you ready to make the switch to fresh dog food, but you can’t decide between The Farmer’s Dog or Freshpet?
If you’re a long-time reader of Life With Klee Kai, you’ll know that we believe in feeding fresh food to our Alaskan Klee Kai based on the success we’ve had compared to regular pet foods like traditional kibble and canned food.
Having seen the benefits of personalized meal plans as part of fresh dog food subscriptions, we’ve largely stuck to feeding fresh dog food or raw food to Copper and Skye to ensure they’re eating a balanced, complete, and healthy diet.
However, on a recent trip to Costco with my wife, I noticed Freshpet dog food available to buy, so I was curious to see how Freshpet compares to one of our favorite fresh pet food brands – The Farmer’s Dog.
In this comparison article, we’re going to take a look at The Farmer’s Dog and Freshpet to see what recipes they’ve got on offer, how their subscription plans work, give a price breakdown and share our verdict.
The Farmer’s Dog Vs Freshpet: Our Verdict
Let’s get right to the key part of our Freshpet vs The Farmer’s Dog comparison review. Who do we recommend? Our pick would be The Farmer’s Dog.
We like that The Farmer’s Dog uses human-grade ingredients, uses clear labeling and pre-portion their dog food.
The Farmer’s Dog offers four recipes (beef, chicken, pork and turkey), which is a good variety for a picky eater. If your dog has special dietary needs, The Farmer’s Dog tailors their pet food accordingly. Unfortunately, Freshpet doesn’t offer the same meal customization.
Copper and Skye enjoyed eating The Farmer’s Dog, which is the most important factor for me. They finished their meals consistently at dinnertime.
From a dog owner’s perspective, I loved that The Farmer’s Dog pre-portioned their dog food and provided a clear graphic to show how much to feed at mealtime. While Copper and Skye received individual meals with The Farmer’s Dog, this wasn’t the case with Freshpet as I purchased a bag to share.
The Farmer’s Dog is reasonably priced when compared to other dog food subscription companies. We paid just over $190 a month. While it costs more than Freshpet, you’re getting an elevated dog food service.
So, with all things considered, I believe The Farmer’s Dog is the way to go if you want to feed fresh.
The Farmer’s Dog
The Farmer’s Dog is one of the leading fresh dog food companies in the USA, with a reputation for creating dog food that’s perfect for picky eaters or pet owners looking to embrace a fresh approach to pet nutrition.
The Farmer’s Dog food only uses human-grade food such as high-quality USDA-approved meat, fresh vegetables and other good stuff. You won’t find any meat meals, fillers, artificial ingredients, artificial or natural preservatives in their recipes.
To get started, you need to fill out The Farmer’s Dog sign-up questionnaire to allow the fresh dog food brand to get to know your furry friend. They’ll ask about your dog’s age, breed, food allergies or food sensitivities, health issues or special dietary requirements.
We fed a fresh dog food brand in the UK, but we had to find a new pet food company when we got to the USA because Copper and Skye’s favorite fresh food option didn’t operate stateside.
Having tested and reviewed a lot of fresh dog food companies over the past seven years, we’re used to completing sign-up questionnaires. We considered The Farmer’s Dog to be one of the most thorough and easy-to-use that we’ve completed.
Once we provided details about our dogs, The Farmer’s Dog suggested a meal plan comprised of custom recipes to meet Copper and Skye’s specific goals. For instance, while our dogs don’t have health concerns, Skye is a healthy weight, but Copper needs to lose some pounds.
When we received our first box, I loved that The Farmer’s Dog labelled Copper and Skye’s meals. Each dog’s individual needs were met, so Copper was eating fresh dog food formulated to help him lose weight.
The Farmer’s Dog follows through on the pre-portioned meals, unlike some pet food brands. Not only do they label each dog’s individual meals, but there’s a graphic on the front to show how much of each meal pouch your dog should eat at mealtime.
It’s convenient food with a high nutritional value that doesn’t require pet owners to have to consult with feeding guidelines in a pamphlet or open your email to find the meal plan. I found mealtime to be super simple: check the label, cut open and pour into their dog bowl.
My only criticism would be a lack of a meal container to store the remaining food. It would have been a really thoughtful inclusion to prevent mess.
To feed The Farmer’s Dog to Copper and Skye costs $193 a month when I set up deliveries every 40 days. Having reviewed a lot of fresh pet food brands, it’s a competitive price.
Freshpet
Freshpet is a dog food brand well-established in the USA, and you can likely find their meals at your local grocery store or local pet store. These grocery stores and retail stores include Costco, Safeway, Target and Walmart.
They offer a range of pet food, including wet dog food, dry dog food, and fresh dog food. For this comparison article, we’ll only be reviewing their fresh food.
Freshpet food is comprised of high-quality ingredients such as beef, chicken, and fish, alongside fresh fruit and vegetables. They don’t use preservatives, you won’t find meat meals, meat powders and by products.
Freshpet state on their website that their dog food undergoes over 20 quality and safety tests before leaving their kitchens.
Freshpet doesn’t offer custom meal plans, which isn’t surprising, see as their food can be ordered online from retail stores or picked up at your grocery stores.
Therefore, your dog won’t get the same detained meal plan like some dog food delivery companies and you won’t be able to share your dog’s health concerns or digestive issues with the company to allow them to tailor their recipes accordingly.
We were first approached by Freshpet almost seven years ago but Copper and Skye weren’t big fans. However, we tried their wet food and dry food as opposed to their fresh food.
Knowing now that my Klee Kai doesn’t like dry food or wet food, we were prepared to give Freshpet another try, seeing as we conveniently found their fresh meals at Costco at a good price.
We got home and fed some Freshpet to Copper and Skye, but their reaction was lukewarm.
Copper was reasonably happy eating Freshpet but Skye was rather more picky and had a few bites but didn’t finish her portion.
Freshpet has a shelf life in your fridge of seven days once opened, which is a good sign that their food is truly fresh.
Every dog is different, so you may find your dogs love Freshpet, but we struggled to get Skye to eat their recipes regularly.
Wrapping Up
We’ve reached the end of our Freshpet and The Farmer’s Dog comparison article.
We recommend The Farmer’s Dog because they offer a truly customized fresh pet food diet comprised of human-grade ingredients tailored to your dog and shipped to your door.
One of the big The Farmer’s Dog pros is that they pre-portion your dog’s food and make it easy to exact portion control at mealtime.
The Farmer’s Dog is competitively priced when you consider that they provide custom fresh dog food.
Kieran runs Life With Klee Kai on social media and other online platforms alongside his wife Yasmin. With over 10 years of experience as a journalist and a passionate dog owner, Kieran loves to combine his passion for pets and writing to share useful insights and product reviews to help other dog owners.