Ollie Dog Food Review: Is Ollie’s Fresh Food Worth the Price?

Today we’re reviewing the fresh dog food brand Ollie in order to help YOU decide – is Ollie worth trying for your dog?

Let’s dig in!

Ollie Review: Key Points & Recap

• Ollie is a fresh dog food delivery service that provides customized pre-portioned freshly-cooked dog food.
• They offer several vet-designed recipes featuring USA-sourced chicken, lamb, beef, or turkey.
• Many owners find that switching to Ollie’s fresh food results in shinier coats, fewer allergies, more energy, and better overall health for their dogs.
• Special discount for K9 of Mine readers – get 50% off your first box of Ollie!

What is Ollie & What is “Fresh” Dog Food?

Ollie is a brand of fresh dog food brand that provides direct delivery food on a subscription basis.

Ollie’s recipes are designed to focus on quality and freshness, with minimally-processed foods containing large amounts of real animal protein and organ meats, along with fruits, veggies, and added superfoods to benefit canine health.

The belief is that fresh foods can provide more nutrients to dogs than ultra-processed dry kibble. It’s hard to say for sure whether fresh dog food is inherently “better”, but it does seem that many dogs that have previously suffered some stomach issues or allergies do much better on a fresh diet like Ollie.

Ollie Ingredients & Recipes

A couple things worth noting about Ollie’s ingredient list:

• Real meat is the number one ingredient, followed by organ meat.
• Having the #1 and #2 ingredients as whole meats and organ meats results in a protein-packed composition, with recipes ranging from 35% – 44% protein (with a dry matter analysis).
• Recipes include tons of veggies, with kale, carrots, pumpkin, spinach, peas, squash, and others.
• All recipes are designed by veterinarians.
• No fillers like soy, corn, or wheat.
• No artificial flavors, preservatives, or by-products.
• Recipes are minimally processed and human-grade – you could eat it, if you wanted to!

For those who are nervous about the FDA’s alert of a undetermined correlation between grain-free dog food and DCM, Ollie also has a grain-inclusive recipe; their chicken recipe contains a healthy dose of rice, in addition to carrots, chia seeds, spinach, potatoes, and other tasty ingredients.

Ollie offers four recipes that owners can choose from:

• Beef: Beef, beef heart, sweet potato, peas, potato, beef kidney, carrot, beef liver, spinach, chia seed, dicalcium phosphate, blueberries, fish oil (preserved with tocopherols), iodized salt, zinc gluconate, rosemary, vitamin E supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), riboflavin (vitamin B2), potassium iodide | 37% protein with dry matter analysis
• Chicken: Chicken, chicken gizzard, carrots, peas, chicken liver, rice, chia seeds, spinach, potatoes, whole dried eggs, dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, blueberries, fish oil, Iodized salt, cod liver oil, zinc gluconate, rosemary, copper gluconate, vitamin E supplement, potassium Iodide, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), riboflavin (vitamin B2)| 35% protein with dry matter analysis
• Turkey: Turkey breast, turkey liver, kale, carrots, lentils, blueberries, coconut oil, pumpkin, chia seeds, dicalcium phosphate, iodized salt, zinc gluconate, cod liver oil, iron sulfate, manganese gluconate, manganese sulfate, copper gluconate, vitamin E supplement, thiamin hydrochloride, potassium iodate | | 44% protein with dry matter analysis
• Lamb: Lamb, lamb liver, butternut squash, kale, chickpeas, cranberries, potato, chia seeds, dicalcium phosphate, iodized salt, calcium carbonate, zinc gluconate, taurine, vitamin E supplement, iron sulfate, pantothenic acid, potassium iodate, manganese gluconate, thiamin hydrochloride, folic acid | 36% protein with dry matter analysis

Ollie Review: My Personal Experience

Let’s get into my personal experience with Ollie and see what Remy thought of it all.

Prefer video? You can check out our video review too!

Part 1: Ollie Arrives!

When our first box of Ollie dog food arrived, it was quite exciting!

Remy’s fresh food arrived in frozen blocks, which were kept ultra-cold with dry ice! The food blocks were so cold that they burned my fingers a little – don’t be dumb like me, wear some gloves!

Once Remy’s fresh food was safely packed away in the freezer (we did have to make some considerable room for his eats – just a good excuse to finish off the ice cream), I read through the material that came with the Ollie shipment.

I know this is a small thing, but I absolutely love the container Ollie sent with Remy’s food shipment.

It’s cute and – I have to say – really, really useful. When trying fresh dog food in the past with The Farmer’s Dog, managing the dog food packs was a bit of a pain. I had to keep re-wrapping the dog food packets in cellophane or a 2nd plastic bag to keep everything sealed and sanitary in the fridge.

Ollie’s included tupperware is a perfect fit for the fresh food packs, making it easy to pop a half-pack in the container and whip it out for dinner.

It’s also worth noting that the food packs themselves are really well designed. The plastic tabs are easy to open and the top sheet of plastic slides right off, making it really easy to scoop out the food.

The packets also have a bit of a lip on the top which managed to keep my counter pretty darn clean – I rarely had a stray piece of food make a mess. Easier cleanup is always appreciated!

Part 2: Making the Switch & Transitioning to Ollie

With Ollie (and any dog food switch for that matter), it’s important to make the transition slowly. Switching your dog’s diet from one type of food to another without any gradual transition is a recipe for an upset stomach.

This is part of the reason I always question folks who claim that a certain brand of dog food gave their dog diarrhea, as it could have to do with not properly migrating your dog to a new food, rather than being entirely the food’s fault.

Anyway, as instructed, we started out giving Remy just 1/4 of Ollie, along with 3/4 of his normal kibble. We did that for two days, then switched to 1/2 and 1/2 for another couple of days, before finally switching entirely to Ollie.

Part 3: What Did Remy Think Of It?

Remy definitely loved his fresh food experience with Ollie! In fact, he might have liked it a little too much.

I usually feed Remy at 5:30pm. This schedule has never earned any kind of reaction from Remy in the past. He usually just hangs out or sleeps until I call him over for dinner.

But, after switching to Ollie, Remy started to get very antsy at around 5:00pm, whining at me to feed him. It was tough to stand firm and make him wait!

His change in attitude certainly seems to indicate that he’s a big fan. That, and the copious amounts of drool he would dispense as I prepared his bowl!

LickiMats + Ollie: A Great Match

I was initially a little nervous about switching to fresh dog food because Remy absolutely loves eating his dinner out of puzzle toys.

Usually we put some kibble in a Kong Wobbler and let him have at it – he has so much fun!

Since fresh food is wet and sticky, many of our favorite kibble-dispensing puzzle toys were out when feeding with Ollie. However, I just decided to start using more LickiMats and stuffed Kongs and it worked out great.

LickiMats are a pretty awesome tool to use in conjunction with fresh food – pressing the food into a LickiMat will take your dog considerably more time to finish it, and the licking motion is very soothing for anxious puppers.

As a bonus, try freezing the frozen Ollie-filled LickiMat – that should keep even ultra-hungry dogs occupied for at least 30 minutes or longer!

Part 4: What Were the Results?

So – after trying Ollie for a couple weeks, what were the results?

Many owners have testified to noticing a shinier coat, reduced itching due to allergies, improved energy and – in some cases – even some behavioral improvements, after switching to Ollie’s fresh food.

But what about me – did I notice any kind of change in Remy? I did notice a few big changes worth noting:

1. Poop Improvements

One of the major things I noticed after switching Remy to Ollie was his poop! His poops got smaller, greener, and much less smelly – all general indications of improved health.

2. Reduced Itching & Allergies

Another thing I didn’t immediately notice until switching back to Remy’s old kibble was that Ollie definitely reduced Remy’s itching.

Remy has been an itchy boy for quite a while now, so I’ve gotten pretty accustomed to his scratching and licking. When I switched Remy to Ollie, I didn’t make any particular note or observations regarding his itchiness.

But, when switching off of Ollie and back to his original kibble, I quickly realized Remy was itching and scratching much more than he did before. 

Since he went back on kibble, he’s been licking his paws a lot more, indicating that he probably has some allergy issues that Ollie had been helping with. This means I’ll probably end up making the switch back to Ollie at some point, or – at the very least – will experiment with other kinds of foods that can help Remster with his allergies.

Ollie Cost: What You’ll Pay

As you might have imagined, Ollie isn’t exactly cheap.

The exact price of your Ollie shipment will depend on the size and needs of your dog, but Ollie costs roughly anywhere from approximately $3.50 per day to feed a 10 lb dog, and up to $11 per day for an 80 lb dog.

Unfortunately, this may be outside of many pet parents’ budgets.

However – it is worth considering some of the other benefits of feeding your dog a fresh diet when evaluating cost vs value.

For one, free delivery means time and effort saved since you won’t need to regularly visit PetSmart and lug around giant bags of kibble.

Feeding your dog a healthier food long-term could also mean fewer trips to the vet’s office, saving serious cash over time and potentially extending your pooch’s lifespan.

Don’t forget – K9 of Mine readers can get 50% off their first box of Ollie! While this isn’t a discount that will last long-term, it certainly makes the idea of at least trying and experimenting with fresh dog food much more achievable, even for tight budgets.

Ollie Review Recap: Pros & Cons

Let’s summarize the pros and cons of Ollie.

Ollie Pros:

• Fresh, high-quality food
• Better for digestion + may alleviate some health issues and allergy issues
• Smaller, firmer, less odorous poops
• Doesn’t require careful handling like raw food does, while still providing some of the same nutritional benefits
• Pre-portioned packets for added convenience and to prevent overfeeding
• Dog food is delivered to your door – no carrying heavy bags of kibble around town
• Great for using alongside Kongs or LickiMats
• [Bonus] Includes adorable reusable dog food container, which sets Ollie apart a bit when it comes to comparing Ollie vs Farmer’s Dog vs Nom Nom.

Ollie Cons:

• Expensive as a long-term food option
• Not compatible with most puzzle toys
• Slightly more work than feeding kibble (although about the same amount of effort as feeding wet canned dog food)
• Not very portable – it’s certainly not as convenient as kibble for on-the-go eating
• Not great for training work – if you usually use your dog’s food as a training reward, wet fresh food just doesn’t work as well

Is Ollie Worth It For Your Dog?

If you want to offer your dog great grub, definitely give Ollie a try.

It’s a very high-quality fresh food with an impressive ingredient list. While Ollie is a great option for any dog, owners of dogs who are picky eaters, have sensitive stomachs, or have questionable poops will especially benefit from trying Ollie out.

At 50% off your first box, it’s certainly at least worth trying and evaluating for yourself if the benefits are worth the price. While I didn’t see any miraculous changes in Remy, his poop improvement were great, he was crazy about the food, and it seems like the food may have helped with his allergies.

Beware – you might have a tough time going back to kibble when your dog gives you those big puppy dog eyes begging for more of the fresh stuff!

Ollie FAQ

Still have lingering questions about Ollie dog foods? We’ve tried to answer some of the most common questions owners have about Ollie below!

Have you ever tried feeding your dog Ollie? What was your experience like? Share your thoughts in the comments below!