What is a pet food subscription service?
Dog food meal delivery or dog food subscription services cater to dog owners who want to feed their pet high-quality raw or homecooked food with the convenience of home delivery, and the peace of mind that comes with having a diet tailored to their pet by a qualified veterinarian. It’s a lot like meal delivery services for humans — you sign up to get custom meals delivered based upon your dietary preferences and any special health concerns. But unlike with Hello Fresh, you won’t have to cook the meal yourself: Just measure the right portion, thaw it out, and serve it up to your pup.
To find the best dog food meal delivery services, we focused on companies that offer subscription-based, complete meals and skipped any that only delivered dry food or that required you to supplement their recipes with additional ingredients.
If you are looking for a customed designed treat rather than a full meal, check out ChowJoy. They customize treats based on your dog’s unique needs by finding the perfect ratio of fresh ingredients and supplements, delivered to your door, ready-to-chow. You can create your own treats for dogs needing specific supplements, like L-carnitine or glucosamine and come in a handy 28 day supply.
How does a dog food subscription work?
Typically, you will be asked to complete a short quiz which will ask you about your dog’s age, breed, activity level, current weight, and any allergies or special dietary requirements. This information will be used to create a veterinary-endorsed, completely balanced diet plan, tailored to your dog including recommended portion sizes to optimize his weight.
You will then be able to establish your preferred delivery schedule (usually weekly or fortnightly) and you can sit back, relax and be confident your dog will have all he needs to be in tip-top shape as the meals will be delivered directly to your door. You will receive your dog’s food on a flexible, regular schedule so you’ll always have the right amount and all you have to do is feed out the pre-portioned meals. All the services we recommend below offer free shipping and flexible delivery service so you can change or cancel at any time.
Why use a pet food subscription?
It’s easy, fuss-free and makes feeding your pup simple and you can be confident they are getting a healthy, balanced diet. If you lack the time to meal prep for your dog as well as yourself, or you just want to be completely sure your dog is getting all he needs in his daily diet, a pet food subscription is a great option. All our recommended dog food subscriptions provide a completely balanced diet that meets AAFCO standards and are made from only human-grade ingredients.
Do we recommend using a pet food subscription?
Absolutely! If you have the time and inclination to thoroughly research the perfect diet for your dog, and can commit to preparing healthy food for your dog from scratch than a dog food subscription service probably isn’t necessary. However, if you are time-poor or want to be completely confident your dog is getting all the nutrition he needs a dog food subscription service can be a great way to simplify your life!
Which dog food subscription service should you use?
There are many dog food subscription services offering home-delivered meals for your pup and it can be difficult to choose which is right for you. We reviewed all the dog food subscription services currently available in North America (check back soon for the Australian review) and we narrowed down our top three recommendations.
Why we recommend the dog food subscription services below:
- customized meal plans based on your dog’s specific needs
- they meet or exceed the AAFCO requirements
- suitability for all life-stages
- veterinary endorsed nutritional plans
- free and flexible delivery
- human-grade ingredients and no fillers
NomNomNow
NomNomNow creates healthy, natural and fresh personalized dog food that is made from real, whole food ingredients and based upon the recommendations of NomNomNow’s Chief Nutrition Officer, Dr. Justin Shmalberg. Meals are perfectly portioned based and are measured and sealed in their own bags.
The cost starts from $28 per week depending on the size of your dog and shipping is free! In order to find the perfect diet for your dog, you simply complete a quick survey which includes questions about your pet’s weight, age, activity level, and any health issues. You can then choose from a variety of suggested recipes depending on your dog’s preferences including Heartland Beef Mash, Tasty Turkey Fare, Chicken Chow-Wow, Porkalicious Potluck, or Egg & Veggie Medley. NomNomNow also provides free nutrition consultations to ensure your pet’s needs are met.
The NomNomNow meals are perfectly balanced for all life stages, including puppies and older dogs. They have also created a range of healthy human-grade treats as well as a canine microbiome testing kit ($59 USD) which can help you identify any unique dietary requirements your dog may have.
You can currently get 20% off your first order of NomNomNow here!
Pet Plate
PetPlate’s motto is “designed by vets, made by chefs” and they are so confident your dog will love their meals they offer a ‘Clean your Plate’ guarantee. PetPlate create pre-cooked meals in pre-portioned containers which means less stress and less mess for you and a healthier diet for your dog. They provide your doggy’s dinner in recyclable, pre-portioned containers (think yogurt-style containers) are snugly packed in recyclable boxes and delivered right to your door.
PetPlate use only human-grade ingredients, with no rendered meat or by-products. All their meals are preservative free and every batch of doggy meals is tested for safety. Like NomNomNom, PetPlate offer personalised meals using an online quiz and all their meals are complete and balanced for all life-stages.
You can choose from Barkin’ Beef, Chompin’ Chicken, Lip Lickin’ Lamb or Tail Waggin’ Turkey which is sure to keep even the fussiest pup licking their chops. The meals cost from $2.65 – $19 per day depending on the size of your dog, and they cater all the way up to giant breeds.
PetPlate provides free shipping to your door and you can try it today with 50% off!
Ollie
Ollie tailor your dog’s meal plan based on their age, breed, activity level, allergies, and ideal weight—so their portion is juuust right. They only use human-grade ingredients including high-quality meats, superfoods, fruit and vegetables with zero fillers. Every meal is delivered fully cooked, customised and delivered to your door ready to eat. You can choose from Healthy Turkey Feast, Hearty Beef Eats, Chicken Goodness or Tasty Lamb Fare. They ship your dog’s food on a flexible, regular schedule so you’ll always have the right amount. All you have to do is store your food packs in the freezer and thaw them in the fridge.
The Ollie website has a great interface with a through quiz which allows you to design your doggos dins depending on their specific requirements. Ollie has been featured in Vogue, Forbes and Martha Stewart Living. Not only do they provide a great product, 1% of all their revenue is also donated back to rescue organizations.
The team at Ollie work with a specialized veterinarian to formulate AAFCO-compliant recipes, deriving the exact nutrition your dog needs from natural sources like sweet potato and cod liver oil, instead of supplements. The customized meal plans are gently cooked low temperatures so the nutritional value is preserved, and they offer a full refund if your dog isn’t satisfied.
The cost of the meals ranges between $2-6 per day, depending on the size of your dog and you can get 50% of your first Ollie box here!
