Last Updated on June 4, 2024 by Kieran Beckles
Are you thinking about making the switch to a fresh dog food delivery service – but you can’t decide between Maev’s raw dog food or The Farmer’s Dog frozen dog food meals?
Well, I’ve bought, tested and reviewed these two fresh dog food delivery brands to provide our Life With Klee Kai community and readers the chance to learn more about the key differences between these two pet food options.
The Farmer’s Dog has established themselves as one of the leading suppliers of fresh pet food, having created a range of frozen meals that are balanced, complete, use human-grade ingredients and are tailored to meet your dog’s specific needs.
Maev, on the other hand, has created raw dog food that makes switching your dog onto a raw diet extremely convenient and hassle-free, unlike some raw feeding diets that require lots of freezer space and careful handling of raw meat.
I invested my money in The Farmer’s Dog and Maev to learn about the differences between their pet food, examining the recipes on offer, the ingredients used, how their dog food is made and provide our verdict.
Cut To The Chase: We recommend The Farmer’s Dog and you can save 50% on your first order here.
Maev Vs The Farmer’s Dog: Who Do We Recommend?
Before we take a deep dive into this comparison article, if you want the answer now, here you go. We’ll cut right to the chase.
Who do we recommend: Maev or The Farmer’s Dog? Well, it’s a difficult choice but I’d go for The Farmer’s Dog.
Copper and Skye enjoyed eating The Farmer’s Dog and always finished their portions at mealtime, which was great to see considering Skye is a picky eater.
I liked that The Farmer’s Dog created individual meal plans and labelled Copper and Skye’s meals to make sure I got the portions right. They had a handy portion guideline on the front of each meal packet too.
There was very little difference in price. The Farmer’s Dog cost me $188 a month and Maev set me back $179. So that’s a difference of $9. While Maev is ever-so-slightly cheaper, I felt I got more value with my subscription with The Farmer’s Dog.
I was massively surprised by how much my Klee Kai loved Maev’s raw food, seeing as they’ve had a lukewarm reaction when I tried to feed raw in the past.
It was a close battle when it came to the taste test and my Klee Kai did get really excited about Maev. But they always finished The Farmer’s Dog in their bowl. With Maev, they started to pick out the fruit and vegetables after a few weeks and leave a mess by their bowl.
I don’t think you’ll go wrong with either Maev or The Farmer’s Dog. It comes down to whether you plan to feed raw or a fresh food diet.
While our pick would be The Farmer’s Dog because they took extra steps to customize my Klee Kai’s meals and my dogs always finished their meals, you won’t go too far wrong with Maev either.
Maev Raw Dog Food
Maev offers a range of raw dog food to cater to pet parents who are ready to ditch traditional kibble or wet food in favor of a fresher approach to their dog’s diet.
You can feel confident feeding Maev’s raw food to your dog because it’s been created by veterinarians, uses USDA lean proteins and human-grade ingredients, and is tailored to meet your dog’s needs.
You can clearly see the natural ingredients in Maev’s recipes – such as chunks of lean meat, vegetables like green beans and fruits like blueberries. It allows pet owners to feel good about the healthy raw food.
Maev offers a beef recipe and a chicken recipe – or you can go for variety pack. The dog food delivery service formulate their meals to help with specific health and behavioral issues. You can get Weight & Digestion, Anxiety & Calming, Skin & Coat and Hip & Joint formulations.
Maev recommends serving their raw food frozen because it can help remove plaque built up on your pup’s teeth as well as slow down rapid eaters like my dog Copper.
Maev don’t just offer raw food meals – there’s more to their dog food delivery service. You can purchase Maev’s bone broth or their supplement bars to supplement your dog’s diet.
Our Verdict On Maev Dog Food
Having previously tried raw food in the UK with mixed results, I was interested to see how Copper and Skye would react to Maev’s raw meals.
Seeing as Skye can be a picky eater, I was intrigued to see if she would enjoy raw food over fresh frozen meals or customized kibble.
I liked that Maev use USDA-approved lean meat in recipes that can be formulated to target specific health conditions affecting your dog. As Copper and Skye suffer with separation anxiety, I decided to go for the Anxiety & Calming formula.
To my surprise, Copper and Skye didn’t hesitate to get stuck into Maev. Their food was a hit with my Alaskan Klee Kai, judging by their clean bowls.
Copper usually wolfs down his meals but he took his time, grabbing a mouthful and going to his bed to slowly chew it before returning. Skye showed a lot of mealtime excitement which nearly never happens with any dog food brand.
While I had great success with Maev initially, Copper and Skye started to leave the fruit and vegetables in their bowl or spit them out to the side of their bowl after a few weeks. They continued to eat the frozen chunks of meat, but the defrosted fruit and veg left a big mess, which wasn’t ideal with an inquisitive toddler!
Maev is competitively priced – I pay $179 every month for Copper and Skye’s meals. In my experience paying for fresh dog food, I feel Maev is priced fairly.
The Farmer’s Dog
The Farmer’s Dog is one of the best-known dog food delivery companies in the USA. Their service offers a range of different recipes that have been created by vets, tailored to meet your dog’s specific needs, pre-portioned, and shipped to your door.
The Farmer’s Dog only uses human-grade ingredients in the recipes, such as USDA-approved meat, healthy fruit and vegetables. Compared to some fresh dog food delivery services, I could clearly see the natural ingredients in my Klee Kai’s meal pouches with splashes of green and orange.
By filling out The Farmer’s Dog questionnaire, they were able to tailor Copper and Skye’s recipes to meet their needs.
The Farmer’s Dog offer a beef recipe, chicken recipe, pork recipe and turkey recipe. While they’ll suggest a protein source based on your answers, you can still override their recommendations.
They use pre-portioned packaging with a handy guide on the front of the meal pouch to indicate exactly how much pet parents should feed their dogs – so you don’t overfeed or underfeed.
Once you’ve defrosted your dog food, you can simply cut open the ready to serve meals and pour into your dog’s bowls or feeding mat.
Our Verdict On The Farmer’s Dog
If you’ve been following Life With Klee Kai for some time, you’ll know that we typically like to feed fresh dog food meals to Copper and Skye.
When we landed back in the USA after five years in the UK, The Farmer’s Dog appeared to be one of the best dog food delivery options, so we gave them a try.
We found The Farmer’s Dog sign-up questionnaire pretty easy to use when compared to some dog food subscriptions that can be awkward to navigate.
My Alaskan Klee Kai’s meals arrived still frozen in the box and I really liked that The Farmer’s Dog labelled Copper and Skye’s respective meals. In my experience, not all dog food delivery services do this.
They had different meal plans because Copper needs to shed a few pounds but Skye needs to gain a little weight because she’s a fussy eater. So I really liked that The Farmer’s Dog clearly labelled their individual meals and suggested meal portions.
Copper and Skye consistently finished The Farmer’s Dog irrespective of the recipes, although their favorite seemed to be the beef judging by the mealtime excitement whenever I poured the beef into their bowls.
I paid $188 to receive Copper and Skye’s meals every 30 days, which is the best-priced fresh dog food subscription I’ve found so far.
Where To Buy Maev?
You can only buy Maev’s pet food direct from their website via this link or the button below. We reached out to Maev and managed to secure an exclusive discount for our Life With Klee Kai community.
You can get 20% off your first Maev order when you click this link or the button below and use the coupon code KleeKai20.
Where To Buy The Farmer’s Dog?
Just like Maev, The Farmer’s Dog can only be purchased from their official website. The Farmer’s Dog provided us with a unique discount for our Life With Klee Kai readers.
You can save 50% on your first box of The Farmer’s Dog when you click this link or hit the button below.
Wrapping Up
We’ve reached the end of our comparison article, taking a look at Maev and The Farmer’s Dog.
Based on my experience feeding their dog food to Copper and Skye, I’d recommend The Farmer’s Dog. My Alaskan Klee Kai consistently finished The Farmer’s Dog and appeared to enjoy their fresh recipes.
As a dog owner, I felt like I was getting good value for money. The Farmer’s Dog offered a truly tailored service by ensuring Copper and Skye got individual meal pouches with individual feeding guidelines on the front of each packet.
Having said that, it was a close call. Copper and Skye showed a lot of enthusiasm for Maev and I don’t think you’ll go wrong with their raw food if you decide to give raw feeding a try.
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.