Last Updated on January 7, 2025 by Kieran Beckles
Have you been contemplating a switch to Ollie’s dog food, but you want to know the pros and cons of the fresh and baked recipes?
I’ve been buying and reviewing different fresh dog food brands in the USA over the past couple of years to find food my fussy dogs love.
Copper and Skye are two Alaskan Klee Kai dogs who typically enjoy fresh dog food, but it’s been tricky to find a brand they love since returning to California from the UK.
Ollie is one of the best-known brands in the fresh dog food space, alongside the likes of The Farmer’s Dog and Nom Nom.
In this article, I’m going to be sharing my pros and cons of Ollie dog food, discussing their dry and fresh recipes.
If you’re ready to sign up, we can offer Life With Klee Kai readers 50% off their first order of Ollie.
Ollie Pros
Two formats
When I first reviewed Ollie during my first stint in California, they only offered fresh dog food. However, Ollie introduced baked food alongside their fresh meals at the end of 2023. This provides dog owners with the ability to order fresh or both. It’s a great option to have if you’ve got a picky eater like me. I find mixing textures keeps my picky dog, Skye, more interested at mealtime.
Mix and match
Ollie allows pet owners some great flexibility when deciding which meal plan works best for you, your pup and your budget. You can opt for fresh, half fresh or mixed. I know that a dog food subscription can be pricey. Ollie’s offerings allow pet owners to stick to their budget if a premium fresh subscription is too expensive, but dog parents still want to try fresh and dry.
Multiple recipes
If you’ve got fussy dogs like me, you’ll probably be accustomed to mixing up their protein sources to keep your dog excited about their dinner. Ollie offer a great range of recipes (as good as any fresh dog food company on the market). Ollie have beef, chicken, lamb, pork and turkey recipes on the fresh menu and beef and chicken on their dry menu.
Scooper and storage
It’s a small touch, but Ollie does provide a scooper and container with your first order. This is a nice addition and something that other dog food subscription companies don’t include. I particularly appreciate a container and a scooper when it comes to feeding fresh dog food. There’s nothing worse than half-opened meal pouches in the fridge. They can smell and be messy.
Custom meal plans
As you would come to expect from a dog food subscription company charging hundreds of dollars a month, Ollie do provide custom meal plans. There’s an advantage to ordering online rather than collecting Ollie from your local pet store. Ollie will tailor your dog’s food to meet their specific needs based on your answers in their sign-up questionnaire.
Discount on the first box
If you’re a Life With Klee Kai reader and you’re ordering from Ollie for the first time, you can save 50% on your first order through the button below.
Ollie Cons
Expensive
Ollie do offer different meal plans to accommodate different budgets. But if you opt for just fresh dog food, Ollie is expensive. Of all the fresh dog food brands that I’ve reviewed, Ollie is one of the most expensive. They’re significantly costlier than The Farmer’s Dog. Ollie is priced similarly to Nom Nom and The Pets Table.
Only two baked recipes
This might be slightly harsh given their great fresh menu, but I was disappointed that Ollie don’t offer more dry recipes. I’d love to see more baked recipes to pair with their fresh dog food meals.
Don’t offer dry food only plan
If you’re only interested in Ollie’s baked recipes, then you’ll be disappointed to learn that you can’t order their dry food by itself. You can only get the baked food as part of their mixed plan subscription. This is a shame. For instance, The Pets Table does allow pet owners to sign up for fresh-only and dry-only plans.
No portion guideline
Ollie doesn’t provide a potion guideline on the meal pouch, unlike some other fresh dog food brands. It would be great to have some sort of pre-portioned element to Ollie’s service to remove some of the hassle (and brainwork). The Farmer’s Dog does a great job with using pre-portion labeling (for example).
Hit and miss with my Klee Kai
If you’ve read this far, you’re probably wondering how Copper and Skye liked Ollie’s meals. Ollie was hit and miss with my Klee Kai. They liked some of the fresh recipes, beef and lamb, but Skye refused pork and turkey. I had to mix fresh and dry to encourage my fussy Klee Kai to eat. Ultimately, we didn’t stick with Ollie.
Wrapping Up
We’ve reached the end of our Ollie pros and cons article. I’ve shared some of my insights based on my experience testing out their food on my Klee Kai.
Ollie is a good option if you’re feeding kibble right now and you’d like to introduce fresh but keep feeding some dry food at the same time.
Ollie have three different plans to cater to various budgets and a lot of recipes to appeal to picky eaters.
Ultimately, we didn’t stick with Ollie and currently feed this raw dog food brand alongside this air-dried dog food company, but Ollie could be a good fit for you.
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.