The Farmer’s Dog review: is the fresh food worth the price?
We are not affiliated with The Farmer’s Dog and earn nothing from this review. Prices, recipes, and trial offers change often — always check the brand’s current details and talk to your vet before switching your dog’s food.
The Farmer’s Dog helped make fresh, delivered dog food mainstream. It is genuinely high-quality — and genuinely expensive. If the ads have you wondering whether it is worth rearranging your freezer and your budget, here is a balanced look at what you actually get.
What is The Farmer’s Dog?
It is a subscription service that delivers fresh, gently cooked meals made from human-grade ingredients, portioned to your specific dog. You complete a questionnaire about your dog’s age, weight, body condition, and habits, and the company builds a tailored plan, cooked in facilities that meet USDA human-food standards and shipped frozen to your door.
The pros owners report
- Human-grade ingredients, cooked in human-food-standard facilities — about as high-quality as commercial dog food gets.
- Vet-developed recipes, customised to your individual dog and pre-portioned to help manage weight.
- Many owners report real improvements — better coat, energy, digestion — and some credit it with fewer vet visits for dogs with sensitive stomachs.
- Transparent, recognisable ingredients rather than a proprietary blend.
The cons and common complaints
- It is one of the most expensive ways to feed a dog — and the cost scales steeply with your dog’s size.
- Fresh food needs freezer space, and meals must be thawed and used within a few days of opening.
- Some owners report digestive upset or, in higher-fat cases, pancreatitis — a risk with any rich food introduced too quickly.
- Consumer complaints mention friction cancelling the subscription and the structure of the heavily discounted trial — read the terms before signing up.
Has The Farmer’s Dog been recalled?
There has been no FDA recall of The Farmer’s Dog to date. In early 2025 the company did flag a quality deviation — excess moisture in some beef-recipe packs — and asked affected customers to discard those products. That is a voluntary quality notice rather than a safety recall, and arguably a sign of active quality monitoring, but it is worth knowing.
Transition to any fresh, richer food gradually over about a week. Dogs prone to pancreatitis or on a prescribed diet should change foods only with veterinary guidance, and very high-fat recipes deserve extra caution.
How it compares
The Farmer’s Dog sits at the premium end of fully fresh food, alongside Ollie. If the cost is a stretch, Freshpet (sold in store fridges, usually cheaper per meal) or a fresh-style dry food like Spot & Tango’s Unkibble offer a step up from kibble for less. See our fresh dog food comparison for the wider picture.
The verdict
The Farmer’s Dog is a top-tier fresh food, and for owners who can afford it — and have the freezer space — it is a genuinely good choice, especially for dogs who do better on fresh, gently cooked meals. The barriers are practical, not nutritional: price, storage, and the subscription commitment. If those work for you, it is hard to fault the food itself.
Frequently asked questions
Is The Farmer’s Dog worth the cost?
For owners who can comfortably afford it and want fully fresh, human-grade food, many find it worth the premium — especially for dogs with sensitive stomachs. On a tight budget, the cost (which rises with dog size) is the main reason to consider cheaper fresh options.
Has The Farmer’s Dog ever been recalled?
There has been no FDA recall to date. In early 2025 the company issued a voluntary quality notice about excess moisture in some beef packs and asked customers to discard them — a quality alert rather than a safety recall.
Does The Farmer’s Dog need to be frozen?
Yes — it ships frozen and needs freezer space. Once thawed and opened, meals should be refrigerated and used within a few days, so plan storage before you subscribe.
