Ollie vs. The Farmer’s Dog: Which Food is Better for Your Pup?
If you’ve ever fallen down the rabbit hole of fresh dog food ads, you’ve probably seen Ollie and The Farmer’s Dog pop up again and again. Both promise human-grade ingredients, customized meal plans, and happier, healthier pups—but which one actually deserves a spot in your freezer?
I put these two subscription heavyweights nose-to-nose to see how they really compare in terms of quality, convenience, price, and (most importantly) dog approval. Spoiler alert: both brands deliver on nutrition, but depending on your priorities, one may edge out the other.
Both Ollie and Farmer’s Dog are subscription services offering customized meal plans, so you’ll need to do a little work to get everything set up. Here’s what to expect:
Ollie: After completing a detailed questionnaire about your dog’s age, breed, weight, activity, and health needs, Ollie crafts a personalized meal plan. You can choose from fresh meals and gently baked kibble, plus treats and supplements. You’ll get helpful tools like a scoop and container for messy-free feeding.
The Farmer’s Dog: Same concept—start with a questionnaire and get vet-designed, portion-controlled, gently cooked meals delivered frozen. Everything arrives beautifully packaged and ready to thaw and serve.
Ingredient Quality & Sourcing: Ollie Stands Out for Transparency
On the surface, there are very few differences between Ollie vs Farmer’s Dog as far as ingredients go. Both brands meet AAFCO and WSAVA nutrition standards.
Ollie uses human-grade, minimally processed ingredients—meats, fruits, veggies—with no fillers, flavors, or preservatives. All of their recipes are vet-formulated to be complete and balanced.
The Farmer’s Dog also uses human-grade ingredients in their and vet-developed recipes. Their meals feature visible ingredients—like lentils, kale, carrots—and include salmon oil for omega-3s.
However, when it comes to transparency, Ollie comes out way ahead simply because they make it so easy to see what you’re getting BEFORE you start the subscription process. You can look up each recipe on their site without logging in or starting the questionnaire. Each one comes with a full ingredient list and guaranteed analysis, along with clear explanations of why those ingredients were chosen. No digging required—just click a recipe and all the details are right at your fingertips.
The Farmer’s Dog, on the other hand, requires a bit more digging. You won’t get a full ingredient breakdown until after you’ve filled out their questionnaire (and handed over your email). Even then, it’s a little buried—you’ll need to click “nutrition facts” at the end of your plan setup to see recipe details. That said, the Farmer’s Dog customizes each recipe to meet your dog’s needs, so your ingredients may be different than mine. Still, I like to see a general breakdown before I hand over my email and waste time answering questions.
