The Farmer's Dog Reviews

What It’s Like to Subscribe to The Farmer’s Dog

Read reviews further down the page, too, for more personal experiences.

How The Farmer’s Dog Works

The Farmer’s Dog crafts recipes specifically for your dog, so when you subscribe, they ask you a handful of questions that help formulate your dog's recipe just right. The Farmer's Dog follows the AAFCO industry standard to make sure each recipe is nutritionally sound. The important information they need is your dogs age, breed, weight, and activity level. They also ask about any health conditions to make sure the recipes are compatible. You can specify which recipes you want based on either beef, chicken, turkey, or pork.

After you complete your order, deliveries are shipped within days of being cooked to maintain freshness, and are shipped cold. Make sure to bring your box inside ASAP to keep the food cold.

Food comes pre-portioned in packages so serving is easy - just open one package per meal and empty into a serving bowl so your dog can enjoy!

Pricing

The Farmer’s Dog is priced specifically to your dog’s needs, just like their bespoke recipes. For reference:

• A 5 year old, 75lb, mildly active, mixed breed dog would cost just over $8 per meal to start or $141 for two weeks.
• A 7 year old, 20lb, low activity, mixed breed dog would cost just over $3 per meal to start or $58 for two weeks.
• A 1 year old, 30lb, very active, mixed breed dog would cost just over $6 per meal to start or $108 for two weeks.

The Farmer’s Dog Pros and Cons

Pros

• High quality, fresh food cooked in USDA kitchens for your best canine friend
• Packaging makes it easy to prep each meal and also prevents you from over- feeding with kibble
• Veterinary-approved recipes based on AAFCO industry standards, using your survey responses to tailor nutrition to your dog’s specific needs

Cons

• Expensive option compared to kibble; you’re paying for the quality ingredients and freshness
• Food can spoil in the box if not collected quickly, especially in summer heat
• Not great as a training food
• Puzzle toys are usually designed for kibble, not fresh food
• Requires dedicated fridge/freezer space

What Else You Should Know About The Farmer’s Dog

It is very important to answer the survey questions about your dog accurately because these directly affect the nutritional quality of the meals. If you under-report weight or activity level, you might end up under-feeding your dog and they will become hungry all the time. Alternatively, if you over-report you might end up feeding too much, although with this kind of service it is much more likely you will be under-feeding.

Is The Farmer’s Dog Worth It?

Fresh food is a more expensive option, but for those looking to improve the wellbeing of their dogs while maintaining most of the convenience that kibble offers, The Farmer’s Dog is a worthwhile option.

For those with tight budgets who still want to try to move to healthier foods, a high-end kibble is still more affordable than this fresh option. If you live in an area with poor delivery service then Farmer’s Dog might also not be a great option, as you risk having entire shipments spoil in heat.

How The Farmer’s Dog Compares to Other Top Dog Food Subscriptions

The Farmer’s Dog VS Ollie: These are both high quality, customized dog food subscriptions that serve up fresh, human grade meat and vegetables that your dog will love. Ollie was priced about $20 cheaper every two weeks for a 75 lb, mildly active dog according to our research, however to get the most accurate price you will have to enter your dog’s personal information on each site, since we have heard that prices vary in different ranges. Ollie offers sealed containers to help with fridge storage, too. Overall, these are very similar options so it may be worth doing a discount trial period for each before committing longer-term.

The Farmer’s Dog VS PetPlate: PetPlate is another high quality, customized dog food subscription with human-grade ingredients with recipes tailored by vets. When we researched these brands, PetPlate recommended a bit more calories per day, and ended up costing $17 more for two-weeks of food. PetPlate had more options for treats and supplements on top of the daily meal, so you can tailor your food even more, including treat-based training.

The Farmer’s Dog VS NomNom: Again, these dog food subscriptions both deliver high quality, human grade food that meets AAFCO industry standards. NomNom makes it hard to see prices without sharing all of your personal information, but it appears based on our research that they are priced on par with Farmer’s Dog. NomNom has easier to open packaging, but Farmer’s Dog has better custom labels which are great if you have multiple dogs. NomNom also offers more supplementary products to round out your dog’s diet, so on the whole NomNom has a more complete offering.