Last Updated on October 31, 2023 by Kieran Beckles
Are you thinking about making the switch to a fresh dog food brand but you can’t decide between The Farmer’s Dog and Ollie?
There’s a lot of choice for dog owners who want to feed fresh pet food that uses human grade ingredients, is formulated by veterinary nutritionists and delivered to your door.
By signing up to a fresh pet food service, you can ditch the traditional dog food and feed human grade dog food to promote a healthy diet and lifestyle for your pet.
Alternatively, you could be accustomed to making homemade dog food but you’re trying to balance other responsibilities and you want the convenience of signing up to a dog food delivery service.
As a father to a toddler and two Alaskan Klee Kai dogs, I don’t have time to make homemade dog food but I truly believe in the benefits of a fresh food diet.
We were using a fresh dog food service in the UK but we’ve been searching for an American equivalent who can cater to Copper and Skye’s needs since returning to California.
In my research on the best fresh dog food in the USA, I came across the Farmer’s Dog and Ollie, placed two orders and tested their food on my picky Alaskan Klee Kai dogs.
In this article, I’m going to take a look at these two fresh dog food brands, explaining how they work, what recipes they’ve got on offer, how they customize their food and provide our verdict.
CUT TO THE CHASE: We recommend The Farmer’s Dog and you can save 50% on your first orders of The Farmer’s Dog when you click here.
Who Are The Farmer’s Dog?
The Farmer’s Dog are one of the leading fresh dog food brands in the USA – and I decided to give them a try after reading a lot of positive reviews online.
If you’ve been thinking about embracing a fresh food diet for your dog, you’ve probably come across The Farmer’s Dog and their recipes using human grade ingredients.
The Farmer’s Dog want to help our canine companions bless our lives as long as possible, so they’ve created a range of human grade food for dogs to promote a healthy life.
They only use human grade ingredients in their recipes, which have been formulated by veterinary nutritionists. This provided me with peace of mind that Copper and Skye were getting a balanced and complete diet.
The Farmer’s Dog offers beef, chicken, pork and turkey recipes – so that’s four different options for picky pups like Skye.
Not only do The Farmer’s Dog recipes contain human grade ingredients, but they tailor your dog’s meals in pre-portioned packaging to make sure your pet is eating just the right amount of fresh food on a daily basis.
In order to allow The Farmer’s Dog to customize their recipes to meet your dog’s specific needs, dog owners will need to fill out their sign-up questionnaire. I found this to be an easy and seamless experience thanks to the simplicity of their website design.
Once pet owners have completed this process, The Farmer’s Dog will suggest a meal plan. You can decide whether to go ahead or change the plan if you think your dog will prefer a specific protein source.
Finally, The Farmer’s Dog will ship your fresh dog food direct to your door with ample insulation to keep the food frozen before you get your hands on it.
Our Verdict
When we first got Copper and Skye in 2017, we fed Nom Nom before moving to the UK and signing up to Butternut Box. While the Farmer’s Dog wasn’t on my radar six years ago, they were created in 2015 so they’ve been steadily improving their business.
I was intrigued to try The Farmer’s Dog after seeing so many sponsored posts and positive reviews on social media of their fresh dog food.
Signing up to The Farmer’s Dog was really straightforward and they’ve got an easy-on-the-eye sign-up questionnaire when compared to other pet food brands operating in the fresh food marketplace.
I liked that The Farmer’s Dog have lots of information about their food as you complete the questionnaire. They use high quality meat and human grade ingredients formulated by veterinary nutritionists.
It felt good reading that The Farmer’s Dog doesn’t use any additives, nasties or preservatives. There’s no meat meals, brown pellets or mislabelled recipes. Just fresh, healthy ingredients.
When I received my first The Farmer’s Dog delivery, I really liked the family feel to the box. It contained a pamphlet with more information about their fresh food plus a cooler bag.
Most importantly, The Farmer’s Dog meals were frozen rather than thawed. Having received multiple deliveries from this dog food brands, I haven’t had any issues with The Farmer’s Dog.
I was really impressed with the vibrancy of the meals – there’s lot of colorful vegetables plus healthy-sized chunks of meat.
The Farmer’s Dog do standout from all the other fresh dog food delivery brands that I’ve tried when it comes to the pre-portioning element.
Whether you’ve got one dog or two like me, The Farmer’s Dog have a helpful graphic on the front of each meal pouch to display how much to feed Copper and Skye at mealtime.
This makes their meals truly pre-portioned unlike some other fresh pet food brands.
Crucially, Copper and Skye really enjoyed The Farmer’s Dog meals – empty bowls and full Klee Kai dogs.
With regards to price, Copper and Skye’s meals would cost me $6.44 a day ($193.20 per 30-day month) if I went for deliveries every 14 days or $5.12 a day ($153.60 per 30-day month) if I went for deliveries every 40 days. I had the freezer space to go for the latter option to make a saving.
I think The Farmer’s Dog are competitively priced when compared to their competitors in the fresh frozen meal marketplace.
Who Are Ollie?
Ollie are another dog food brand offering pet owners the chance to adopt a fresher approach to their pet’s nutrition.
They’ve created a range of recipes that have been formulated with the help of veterinarians to ensure your dog’s needs are met.
Just like The Farmer’s Dog, you’ll need to complete Ollie’s questionnaire to get started with the fresh food brand.
Once you’ve provided your dog’s age, breed, weight, activity level and more, Ollie will be able to recommend a meal plan.
Ollie also offer four fresh food recipes – beef, chicken, pork and turkey. You do have choice with your Ollie dog food because you can still alter the recipes if you’d like to try a different protein.
Ollie will ship your meals direct to your door, allowing owners to automate their dog food deliveries rather than heading to the local pet store or local grocery store.
Your Ollie dog food will arrive with a container and a scooper, which are two useful tools to make storing your fresh food less messy in the fridge once thawed.
Our Verdict
I was aware of Ollie when I first searched for fresh dog food meals back in 2017 – but ultimately decided to go with Nom Nom because of a recommendation from a dog owner.
They’ve been growing since I first heard of them and I was impressed some of the improvements made – such as the pet food container and scooper.
Ollie’s sign up questionnaire is pretty simple, but could be a little smoother to use.
They’ve got a good range of recipes to cater to pet parents with a fussy eater like Skye. As a dog owner with a fussy eater, I also appreciate the ability to mix fresh food recipes.
While I thought the container and scooper was a thoughtful inclusion, I was disappointed that Ollie’s packaging didn’t appear to be pre-portioned like The Farmer’s Dog.
Just to look at, Ollie’s dog food didn’t look overly appetizing. It was more like a slab of pâté rather than an enticing, fresh dog food meal. Ollie food packs had the shape of a brick rather than pet food.
When it came to feeding Ollie to Copper and Skye, it was hit and miss. Copper showed a lot of interest at the start but as the weeks went by, he started to show less interest.
Skye wasn’t really a fan of Ollie and she was slow to go to her food bowl and even slower to finish her meals. At the start, Copper was happy because he got leftovers but eventually he barely emptied his bowl.
Ollie is more pricey than The Farmer’s Dog – their meals cost $7.32 a day (or $219.60 a month based on 30-day month).
When compared to other pet food brands who offer frozen meals, I don’t consider Ollie to be extortionately expensive but they do carry a premium price tag.
The Farmer’s Dog Vs Ollie Dog Food: Our Pick
We’ve reached the key part of our dog food review – who do we recommend?
Based upon my experience ordering from and feeding their food to Copper and Skye, I’d encourage readers to pick The Farmer’s Dog over Ollie.
I think The Farmer’s Dog is pretty much superior to Ollie in every category – apart from accessories.
The Farmer’s Dog provide a more pleasant experience on their website – it’s easy to navigate and their sign-up questionnaire is simple to use whether you’re young or old.
I really like The Farmer’s Dog range of recipes to cater to picky eaters like Skye and dogs carrying a little timber such as Copper.
In my first delivery, I felt The Farmer’s Dog did a good job of making me feel part of their community, with some nice inclusions in the box such as a cooler bag.
My first impression of The Farmer’s Dog packaging and their food was positive – it looked like healthy dog food containing human grade ingredients. In fact, it almost looked like human food!
Critically, The Farmer’s Dog passed the Klee Kai taste test with no leftover food. Copper and Skye have remained motivated at mealtime when eating The Farmer’s Dog food so its stood the test of time.
From a dog owner’s perspective, I really appreciated that The Farmer’s Dog followed through on their pre-portion promise unlike a lot of fresh dog food brands. This made my life a lot easier – Copper and Skye’s meal pouches were individually labelled with a guide on how much of the food packs to feed per meal.
While Ollie food is still better than traditional kibble or wet food, it doesn’t quite hit the mark for me.
I will say Ollie did a good job of providing a container for the remaining food to go in the fridge and this is an area where The Farmer’s Dog could improve. I did find it awkward storing half opened meal pouches in the fridge.
Both Ollie and The Farmer’s Dog provide a premium service but The Farmer’s Dog costs $2.20-a-day less to feed Copper and Skye.
Where To Buy The Farmer’s Dog?
You can only buy The Farmer’s Dog direct from their website so you’ll need to fill out their sign-up questionnaire to get your hands on their food.
Where To Buy Ollie?
Just like The Farmer’s Dog, Ollie require dog parents to sign up to their subscription service through their website to get their meals.
Do We Have The Farmer’s Dog Discount Code?
We reached out to The Farmer’s Dog to get an exclusive discount code for our Life With Klee Kai community.
You can save 50% on your first The Farmer’s Dog order via this link or the button below.
Do We Have Ollie Discount Code?
We can offer our Life With Klee Kai community the chance to save 50% on their first order of Ollie dog food. Just hit this link or the button below.
Wrapping Up
We’ve reached the end of our The Farmer’s Dog and Ollie comparison dog food review.
I would recommend The Farmer’s Dog for any dog owners ready to try a fresh dog food diet for their canine companion.
Having tried The Farmer’s Dog for multiple months, they offer great fresh dog food and a seamless dog food delivery service.
While you won’t go wrong if you choose Ollie, I do feel like The Farmer’s Dog are the superior fresh dog food brand.
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.