My Ollie's Dog Food Is So Good Even You Would Eat It
There are a lot of cool things out there that make us wonder — do they really work? In our I Tried It series, we set out to use them in the real world and have determined that, in fact, they really do.
On Trial: My Ollie, human-grade subscription based dog food
The Tester: Megan Rose, NYC dog mom to three large, active pups
The Brief: Having a dog is the best thing in the world, but trying to find the best food for them is a completely different story. I have always been very skeptical of the dog food industry, especially when thinking about what "kibble" really is.
I did not want to settle on simply reading the back of a bag of dog food to inform me, so I spent hours researching different dog food brands to see which kibble is the most like real food. I would never eat something that had leftover by-products of chemicals and things, so I definitely didn't want to feed it to my perfect fur babies.
Within the last few years, all of these human-grade dog food companies started to pop up, doing their own research and starting a brand-new category in the pet industry. One of the very first companies that came to the market was Ollie — so here I am with my three dogs in our Brooklyn apartment putting it to the test.
A post shared by Ollie (@myollie) on Oct 9, 2019 at 12:26pm PDT
I had the chance to chat with Ollie’s CEO, Nick Stafford, and he made me super excited to try the human-grade dog food that has taken over Instagram.
“At Ollie, we’re on a mission to ensure our pets live longer, healthier lives,” he said. “We believe that the bar for pet food has been set too low — our pets are an extension of our family and they deserve better. We pride ourselves on the highest quality, fresh food — 100% human-grade, with no fillers, by-products or artificial ingredients. In addition, we tailor each meal plan specifically for your dog, giving you the flexibility to choose a plan that best fits your dog’s nutritional needs.”
According to the Ollie website, all of their food is cooked in small batches in their USDA-regulated kitchen and features carefully sourced ingredients from reputable farms that must go through an extensive certification process to become a supplier. Their vet-formulated recipes feature beef, chicken, turkey, and lamb — all of which are sourced from the U.S. and Australia. Sounds pretty good to me so far.
But I still wanted to get the facts from a food expert, so I chatted with Lynn Lye, a food engineer and product development scientist, about her thoughts on Ollie. Here is what she had to say about the human-grade dog food taking over the pet industry.
MR: Why do you recommend Ollie for your dog?
LL: I recommend Ollie because Ollie’s food has one of the cleanest product labels on the market and is made with only fresh meats and fresh meat organs, not meat meals or meat by-products. It is also chock-full of vegetables and fruits that you can see when you open the packaging.
MR: Why is fresh food good for your dog and what are the benefits from your perspective?
LL: Fresh food is much better for your dogs because of the high quality of the ingredients, and because the nutrients from the food are better absorbed by dogs. In Ollie’s case, their fresh food is gently cooked at low temperatures, which retains ingredient nutrition better and therefore makes nutrients more bioavailable for dogs. When the nutrients are more available, you will see a quicker change in your pup’s health – more energy, shinier coat, healthier skin, etc.
MR: Do you have any advice for pet owners changing their dog’s diet to Ollie?
LL: Always transition slowly whenever changing a pup’s diet. Never swap out a pup’s old diet immediately with a new diet. This will potentially cause an upset stomach or diarrhea to the pup. Be sure to do a slow transition over a week’s time whenever switching out a diet and follow Ollie’s specific transition guidelines which come with your first box of Ollie.
After chatting with Lye, I was super excited to get Ollie in my dogs' bellies and see how it worked for us.
Ordering Ollie is a very simple process. When you get to their website, they ask you a few questions about your dog like their breed, age, weight, as well as ideal weight, body type, activity level, what they are currently eating, and if they have any known allergies. After this short quiz, they cook up the perfect plan for your pup.
Then you'll get a choice of four recipes that you can mix and match into your order. You can also choose if you want to go full on Ollie or just partial Ollie to mix in with your current food as well.
For a 4-year-old border collie who is about 45 pounds, it comes to $50 a week for the full Ollie plan. At first glance, there is sticker shock, but with all of my research and the good that can come from a fresh food diet, I was excited to see how the pups liked it.
The food comes in small frozen packages and individually wrapped to go right into the freezer. You take them out 2-3 days before use to allow them to thaw out. Ollie also sends you a pack of probiotics to add to each meal for a better transition from their current food. I really loved this touch, and it helped so much with preventing any stomach aches.
Well, all three dogs cleaned their bowls in record time, and then begged for the packaging to lick clean. We've been eating Ollie for about a week now, and I have never seen them get so excited for anything when I say the words “breakfast” or “dinner.”
Closing Argument: I am happy to report — or should I say that my dogs are happy to report — that we are now Ollie dogs! I love how Ollie comes every 2 weeks just when we are running out and how each package is the perfect serving size for each dog. Most of all, I love knowing that I am feeding my dogs something that will better their health, lengthen their lives, and make them happy, because their happiness is priceless.
Read more:
The Healthiest Treats to Food Your Dog
The Food You Want to Feed Your Growing Puppy
The Best Containers for Storing Dog Food
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