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Business Insider
3 days ago
- Health
- Business Insider
I fed my pup Ollie fresh food for a month, and I've never seen her more excited for mealtime
My dog is obsessed with food — and I'm obsessed with giving her the happiest, healthiest post-rescue life possible. While vets don't claim fresh dog food is always healthier, it makes sense that meals made from whole ingredients with real-food flavors offer my 60-pound mutt, Crocodile, a far more exciting dinnertime experience. Ollie is one of the more prominent fresh dog food brands, promising 100% whole food recipes designed to be not only delicious for dogs, but also help improve their weight, stool quality, and overall happiness. As a health and pet health writer — including deep dives into the best dog supplements — I was curious to see how Ollie stacked up, especially when considering that one month of Ollie costs more than double Croc's usual food. Over the course of four weeks, we tested four of Ollie's Fresh Food recipes. Croc, who's healthy and already eats a nutritionally complete and balanced dehydrated diet, did most of the hard work, carefully analyzing the tastiness of each recipe. I focused on Ollie's subscription process, delivery model, food packaging and storage, and, of course, how wildly excited Croc got when mealtime rolled around. How it works Recipes: Each of Ollie's five Fresh recipes is made with 100% whole food and for all life stages, from puppies to older dogs. Each formula is made with a whole meat protein base — beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, or pork — and then a combination of fruit, veggies, and grains. There's no salmon option, but Ollie adds salmon oil to all of their recipes. Research shows that fish oil offers many health-boosting benefits. All of Ollie's recipes meet the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) nutritional standards for puppies and adult dogs. That said, without a full-time veterinary nutritionist (the brand consults with two board-certified veterinary nutritionists), they don't fulfill the Global Nutrition Guidelines set by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA). Ordering: Ordering through Ollie is incredibly easy: You complete a short screening outlining your dog's name, current and goal weight, spayed status, and how active they are (mellow, active, or very active). The system then generates a recommended meal plan for your dog of either full fresh, half fresh (which you'd mix with their current food), or a mixed plan of Ollie's fresh recipes and its baked kibble. For all options, you can also select up to four out of the five fresh food recipe options, as well as any add-ons, such as Ollie-branded treats and supplement chews. Customization: Based on the initial screening, you're able to select one of three potential meal plans: full fresh, half fresh, or a mixed plan. Within each of these, you can customize which fresh recipes you want (up to four) and which baked recipes, if applicable. There are five fresh recipes to choose from, each with a different protein base, but you can't customize ingredients in the recipes themselves. It's important to note if your dog has a sensitivity or allergy, such as to grains, the ordering process doesn't explicitly tell you which formulas have potential triggers. Instead, you have to click "view ingredients" to see, though they do make this easy to spot and access in the customization process. Delivery: Your first Ollie order takes around six days to ship, and then another one to two days to be delivered, so seven to eight days total. After your initial order, Ollie runs on a recurring subscription at the default of every two weeks. If you need your pup's food delivered sooner than planned, you can go into your account and click "ship now," and it's delivered within two to five days. While two weeks' worth of delivery is the default, you can also opt to have a larger supply delivered every four weeks. Packaging: Ollie's fresh food is packaged as a plastic-wrapped food brick, which is frozen and shipped inside a medium-sized cardboard box with a Climacell cooler inside, covered with dry ice bags. The frozen food bricks are stacked inside the cooler, and this overall setup does a great job of keeping the food frozen. In your first shipment, you'll also get a welcome kit which includes a silicone food storage container that perfectly fits two food bricks, a plastic food scoop, and a pamphlet outlining how to best switch your dog to their new food over the course of the first week. Our review of Ollie dog food After placing my Ollie order, I received emails with tracking info and an estimated shipping and delivery timeline. My box arrived a day earlier than expected, in the evening, and sat on my porch overnight in June, so I felt mildly stressed. But I opened the box the next morning to find all 28 of my fresh food bricks still fully frozen — a true testament to Ollie's packing method. While the dry ice on top of the cooler was packed in disposable plastic, I was happy to find the Climacell cooler was recyclable, and the cardboard box, too, of course. The 28 frozen bricks stacked nicely in my freezer, taking up about a quarter of the space in my standard top-door freezer. My first Ollie order came with a silicone container to hold two food bricks side by side while they defrost in the fridge, as well as a paddle to chop the food up. At first, the container seemed like a nice but unnecessary touch. Two days in, I realized its real value: Sure, it caught any melting ice before it could puddle on my fridge shelf and made it easy to stack other containers around Croc's defrosting meals. But most importantly, it served as a visual reminder to keep the food rotation on track. Croc eats one brick per meal, so I always needed one defrosting for serving in 24 hours and another partially defrosted and ready in 12. The new house rule became two bricks in the container at all times. If you take one out, replace it. Ollie recommends a 24-hour defrost, which I found spot-on, and many were even ready in 20. The food is good for up to four days once thawed. The food looked a lot like ground-up human food with small chunks of recognizable ingredients like sweet potatoes and spinach — reassuring proof of the 100% fresh promise. I was especially pleased to find the food didn't smell, unlike Croc's regular dehydrated food. Its texture was also perfect. It crumbled easily with the included paddle or a fork, but was just sticky enough that I didn't lose pieces when transferring it from the package to the bowl. Transitioning Croc over to Ollie's food was relatively easy using the included pamphlet. It says you should slowly integrate the new food into the old in quarter increments over seven days. At that pace, Croc didn't have any digestive unease or discomfort. In fact, she was overjoyed at the switch. Croc has always been food-motivated and is generally a fan of her usual The Honest Kitchen Dehydrated meals — especially over kibble — but her reaction to Ollie's fresh food was next level. After just two transition meals with one-quarter Ollie Fresh, she was already more alert during food prep. Once she was fully switched over, she'd sit beside me as I opened the package (I let her lick the empty container one time and created a monster). Then she'd literally sprint to her feeding area as I carried the bowl. We're typically strict with her mealtime manners, and she waits on her bed until released, but Ollie had her sneaking back underfoot in case of dropped crumbs, then racing to wait obediently for her Ollie bowl. She seemed to enjoy all the recipes equally: beef with sweet potatoes, lamb with cranberries, pork with apples, and turkey with blueberries. I liked that I could select specific proteins since she's intolerant to chicken (the fifth recipe option), and I especially appreciated having four distinct formulas to rotate through. With her usual dehydrated food, even though it has varied ingredients, I've always felt her gut would benefit from more diversity, just like ours. Ollie's rotating recipes gave her a wider mix of micronutrients and amino acids throughout the week without me needing to buy multiple flavors separately. One thing worth noting: Croc was asking for her meals earlier than usual with Ollie. It's hard to know whether she wasn't staying full for as long or was just very, very excited for her next meal and trying to trick me into feeding her earlier. Considering Ollie tailors calories to your dog's weight and activity level — and knowing my dog's food-hound personality — I suspect it was the latter. The Ollie app made it very easy to adjust my subscription cadence, change meal selections, and track when the next box would be delivered. A major feature of the app is its Health Screenings, where a vet assesses your dog's weight, digestion, skin and coat, and dental health based on photos you upload. The "veterinary scientist" who is a veterinary technician either gives a "Looking Good" thumbs-up or offers basic recommendations for improvement. Personally, I didn't find this to be super helpful. For example, Croc's weight and stool were fine, as I already knew, but her skin and screening flagged some dryness and flakiness. The veterinary scientist suggested an oatmeal bath and omega-3 and -6 supplements, which makes sense, but left me with a lot of unanswered questions: What is the best fish oil for dogs? Could her regular food be the cause? Is there an oatmeal conditioner, or am I rubbing her down with breakfast oats? Although the advice came from a real vet, the app doesn't let you ask follow-up questions, which limits its usefulness. Ultimately, a photo analysis can only tell you so much, and your primary vet should always be the one to evaluate your dog's health and make recommendations Cons to consider Even with the minimum two-week delivery frequency, Ollie's frozen fresh food takes up a decent amount of freezer space — roughly a quarter of a standard top-door freezer (about 24 by 14 by 18 inches) for a medium-sized dog's meals. In a household like mine with an always-packed freezer, this can be hard to contend with long-term. While it is nice that 95% of the shipping packaging is recyclable, the individual food packs are single-use plastic. Since my dog eats an entire pack per meal, I was throwing out two plastic containers per day. Day after day, this felt really wasteful and was a huge con for our low-plastic household. A smaller issue is that the paddle was a letdown. It's decent for vertically chopping the food block into smaller pieces, but its spoon-like curved shape makes it nearly impossible to scrape remnants of the packaging into the bowl. I always needed a finger or a different utensil to get the last bits off. After a few days, I gave up and just used a regular spoon. It also would've made more sense if the paddle could attach to the Ollie container, either a groove on the lid or a space inside to store it with the food bricks. Instead, it lived separately in a drawer, making it feel like an afterthought I didn't actually need. The biggest con, though, is that Ollie is downright expensive. The cost depends on your dog's specific caloric needs, and the full Fresh plan starts at $1.80 per meal for a small dog, which is pricier than some of the best fresh dog foods out there. But for my 60-pound active dog, a 28-day supply of Ollie's Fresh Food came out to $73.33 a week or $293.32 a month. The average person cannot spend nearly $300 a month on dog food. Ollie does offer a half-fresh plan for $41.30 a week for Croc's caloric needs, which I could then cut with a more affordable dog food, but that's still $165.20 a month for just half her calories. The bottom line Ollie offers a well-designed subscription service that delivers high-quality, stink-free, well-frozen fresh dog food delivered right to your door. Though the food bricks do take up a bit of freezer space, it's easy to store and serve, and my dog went wild for every recipe. I appreciated that I could choose up to four formulas to give her a range of nutrients and proteins. While Ollie, like all fresh dog foods, is a bit expensive for the average person, it is a very good value for dogs who are picky eaters or people who want to introduce more variety in their dog's diet.
Business Insider
25-06-2025
- General
- Business Insider
I fed my picky dog The Pets Table fresh food for a month, and she loved every bite
As a reporter and tester of pet products, I've tried many of the best fresh dog food delivery services with my pup. Since my first round of testing a couple of years ago, I've fed my picky 50-pound pit mix, Lyla, everything from traditional kibble and canned food to some of the fresh brands she's already enjoyed. So when I got a chance to try The Pets Table — a newcomer in the pet food world from human meal delivery service HelloFresh — I was excited. Over the course of a month, I fed Lyla three of the brand's fresh frozen recipes: Chicken Casserole with Green Beans, Beef Stew with Carrots, and Turkey Casserole with Broccoli. I assessed the brand based on factors like ordering, delivery, and nutritional value, but what truly stood out was Lyla's positive taste-testing experience and the brand's thoughtful packaging. Thanks to both, The Pets Table will be a mainstay in our home. How it works Recipes: The Pets Table recipes meet the nutrition standards set by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) for dogs of all life stages (puppies, adults, and pregnant or nursing dogs). The brand also follows the Global Nutrition Guidelines set by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA). These guidelines help veterinarians and pet parents make informed choices about pet food based on expert formulations, nutrition, quality control, and more. Our top picks for the best dog foods also meet these guidelines. The Pets Table offers five recipes featuring four animal protein options: chicken, turkey, beef, and pork. Each recipe includes added vitamins, minerals, and salmon oil, which can support skin and coat health like the best fish oil for dogs. Ordering: When you sign up, you'll enter your dog's details, including their age, weight, and activity level. From there, you can choose up to three recipes and set your delivery preferences. Customization: Unlike other sites, The Pets Table doesn't recommend specific recipes after you complete the questionnaire. Instead, you can choose up to three of the five recipes. Keep in mind that individual ingredients cannot be added or removed from the food. Delivery: Delivery days vary by zip code. You can usually choose from four different delivery days. You can also add delivery instructions if you'd like the food left somewhere other than your front door, such as your back door or garage. Packaging: The Pets Table ships its frozen meals in vacuum-sealed plastic bags packed in a cardboard box insulated with dry ice. Trial boxes include a reusable container for storing thawed food in the fridge. Food should be kept in the freezer until you're ready to thaw and serve it. Our review of The Pets Table After placing my order, The Pets Table sent frequent notifications about shipment and delivery status, both of which I could also track from my website account page. While this level of communication is standard among the brands I've tested, it's still a valuable feature. The food arrived in a cardboard box packed with dry ice that kept it frozen solid. I've gone back and forth on whether I prefer dry ice or ice packs for fresh dog food deliveries, but ultimately I've landed on dry ice as the better option. I try to cut down on waste by reusing ice packs, but finding space in my freezer gets tough as orders stack up. The Pets Table also includes a few extras in your trial box: a storage container for thawed food, a feeding guide, a bandana, and a sample bag of treats for your pup. Unpacking my order was a breeze thanks to the smart packaging — a major pro for me. The food comes in long, rectangular bags that lie flat in the freezer, making them easy to stack and helping conserve valuable freezer real estate. The feeding guide included in the box provides thawing and serving instructions. After thawing the food in the refrigerator (at least 12 hours before serving), I simply cut open the bag and followed the measurement directions. Lyla's included feeding guide said she should eat one bag per day. This recommendation was fine, according to both her veterinarian and her appetite. For pet parents with dogs that require smaller portions, the measurements printed on the bag will be especially useful. Any leftover food went into the provided storage container to save for the next meal. I've tried some fresh foods in the past that had a strong odor, but The Pets Table had virtually no smell. What I did smell of the food was pleasant, even when the food was leftover from the day before. While I was impressed by the convenient packaging and feeding instructions, Lyla was, unsurprisingly, far more interested in the food. With most dog food brands, she tends to lose interest after a few weeks. But during our monthlong trial with The Pets Table, she ate every single meal without hesitation. If you have a picky eater, you'll understand my joy when she polished off each bowl twice a day. Lyla enjoyed all three of the recipes we tried: the Chicken Casserole, Turkey Casserole, and Beef Stew. I eventually stopped feeding her the Beef Stew due to some slight stomach upset, but even that didn't deter her from coming back for more of The Pets Table. If your dog has food sensitivities, you can easily review the full ingredient lists for each recipe on The Pets Table website. However, you should consult your vet if you're unsure what may be causing your pet to have frequent stomach upset, as there may be a variety of causes. Cons to consider Unlike kibble or even canned food, fresh dog food isn't exactly budget-friendly. For this review, I was given a complimentary month of food, but had I subscribed myself, it would have been about $145 for two weeks of meals, plus $10.99 shipping. While The Pets Table is more affordable than some other fresh dog food delivery services, it's still more expensive than Lyla's usual rotation kibble and wet food. Subscribers can swap recipes before delivery, but individual ingredients can't be customized. When it comes to scheduling delivery, The Pets Table also doesn't offer as much flexibility as other brands. You can choose the delivery date and pause or skip shipments, but The Pets Table determines your delivery frequency, which can range from two to eight weeks. One other drawback is the limited availability of grain-inclusive recipes. Currently, The Pets Table offers just two grain-inclusive recipes, which were added shortly after I began testing. While my veterinarian and I determined that a grain-free diet is fine for my pup, that might not be the case for all dogs. It's best to consult your vet, who can determine the best diet to keep your four-legged friend healthy and happy. The bottom line I was pleasantly surprised by how much my picky dog liked The Pets Table — she enjoyed the flavor of all three recipes she tried. I also appreciated the simple ordering process and the convenient packaging. While it's not the most customizable option for fresh dog food, it's a great choice if you value a no-fuss, straightforward approach to feeding your pet.
