Ollie Dog Food Review: The Cleanest, Freshest Dog Food on the Market?

With so many dog foods on the market today, it’s difficult to weed through them all to find the best fit for your pup. Luckily, Ollie makes that easier.

When it comes to feeding my own dogs, I’m a huge fan of finding a dependable, clean dog food without all of the added junk or common low-quality filler ingredients that can compromise their long-term health. Since my dog Padma is already used to an extremely diverse diet, adding in some raw dog food options just seemed like the next natural step in her dietary progression.

And that's where Ollie comes in. But does Ollie's dog food satisfy picky pups? Is Ollie really a healthy option for fur babies? Read on to find out, and get the inside scoop from our Ollie dog food review.

Who Is Ollie?

In a dog food market saturated with fillers, preservatives, and a number of artificial ingredients, Ollie is dedicated to delivering a fresh, clean, healthy, human-grade solution that all pups can enjoy.

Ollie is a brand built by dog people, for dog lovers everywhere. Ollie partners with canine nutritionists, vets, and a third-party USDA certified human grade kitchen to develop better, healthier dog food for pups and the people who love them. From its original, two-recipe offering, Ollie has expanded its recipe selection to four fresh flavors and healthy, pup-approved treats.

In addition to their high-quality dog food, Ollie also donates 1% of their revenue to different rescue organizations and shelters and is creating a Canine Council of scientists, behaviorists, and nutritionists to steer the brand's nutrition philosophies, inform product innovation, and help guide dogs to their healthiest lives.

This is one of the things that really set them apart from their competitors initially, besides just the higher quality of food they are producing. It also doesn’t hurt that they currently give 1% of their revenue to different rescue organizations and shelters.

Getting Started: How To Order Ollie Dog Food

The Ollie Dog Quiz
Ollie customizes its dog food subscription to each individual pet based on a few criteria. Their intake quiz is short and sweet, and takes less than 5 minutes to complete. This quiz covers the following areas, and uses your responses to personalize your pup's recommended plan:

- Age
- Breed
- Activity level
- Current weight
- Goal weight
- Allergies
- Whether your dog is spayed or neutered

Ollie first asked me for my name and email address. Then, they wanted to know my puppy’s name and gender. Next up was her birthday and breed. Which was a slight issue since they don’t have Cockalier (Cocker Spaniel/ Cavalier King Charles) listed. But, the quiz did allow me to enter both of her breeds individualy, so that was helpful.

After that information was entered, Ollie needed to know Padma's current weight, ideal weight, and whether or not she was spayed. The next set of questions had to do with her activity level. Padma is a mix of very active and active, so I chose active since that’s probably more accurate for regular everyday play.

The last question had to do with food sensitivities or allergies. Our dog doesn’t have any that we know of, but there are certain foods that we don’t feed her. So, my answers reflected those preferences. Once all of the information was input, Ollie worked on creating a customized plan for our pup! The whole process took about 2 minutes and was exceptionally easy.

Here is what they came up with:

Ollie Dog Food Recipes & Flavors

Ollie's customized clean, fresh food subscription boxes for dogs currently include a selection of 4 different flavor profiles. Turkey with Blueberries,  Beef with Sweet Potatoes, Lamb with Cranberries, and Chicken with Carrots are Ollie's four staple recipes.

Turkey with Blueberries

The first product I tried with Padma was the Turkey with Blueberries and she went bananas for it. I added ¼ of the serving size sent (as per the brand’s instructions) to half of her normal food. I normally give her either turkey or beef small batch clusters with a mix of dehydrated duck or fish, re-hydrated with water and a bit of coconut oil. I added the Ollie Turkey recipe to all combinations of the aforementioned and she loved it every time.

Besides the cod liver oil, Padma has had all of these ingredients in her diet before. So, I was confident that she would probably enjoy it. And she certainly did. This recipe was her favorite hands down!

Nutrition & Key Ingredients:

Ollie's Turkey with Blueberries recipe was one of our favorites. The Turkey recipe has an average protein content of 11%, 7% fat, and 2% fiber. This recipe contains no fillers or added ingredients. Just clean and fresh turkey, kale, lentils, carrots, pumpkin, blueberries, chia seeds, cod liver oil – and a lot of vitamins and minerals.

• Chia Seeds - Great source of copper, zinc, and manganese
• Blueberries - High in antioxidents that fight free radicals
• Carrots - Full of phytonutrients for eye health

Beef with Sweet Potatoes

The second product Padma tried was Ollie's Beef with Sweet Potatoes recipe. We got the same, enthusiastic results with this one as with the Turkey. Since Padma has been exposed to the majority of the ingredients in this recipe before, she seemed to take to the flavor quickly. She licked her bowl clean each and every time!

Nutrition & Key Ingredients:

This particular recipe is loaded with beef, peas, sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, blueberries, chia seeds, and rosemary. Out of all of those ingredients, the beef, sweet potato, and peas are the most prominent. The Beef recipe has an average protein content of 9%, 7% fat, and 2% fiber. This recipe contains no fillers or added ingredients.

• Sweet Potatoes - High in essential minerals and dietary fiber
• Peas - Good source of lutein, for skin, eye, and heart health
• Rosemary - Safe, natural anti-microbial

Lamb with Cranberries

The last product we was the Lamb with Cranberries recipe. For Padma, this one definitely took some getting used to.

My initial thought was that she didn’t really like it because of the cranberries, since we haven’t introduced those to her yet. We also hadn’t given her lamb that many times either, and since lamb can have a very distinctive taste she may not have liked it. We’ve also never given her rice, chickpeas, or chickpea flour. So, I think the bigger issue for her was the added grains and extra legumes. Since she hadn't been exposed to the majority of the ingredients used in this dish, this recipe was her least favorite – at least, it was at first.

Though it took her a while to acclimate to this flavor, after the 2nd pack, she finally started to enjoy the recipe more and began to lick her bowl clean more often.

Nutrition & Key Ingredients:

This recipe is made with lamb, butternut squash, kale, rice, chickpea, chickpea flour, cranberries, green beans, potatoes, chia seeds, and cod liver oil. The Lamb recipe has an average protein content of 10%, 7% fat, and 2% fiber. This recipe contains no fillers or added ingredients.

• Butternut Squash - Vitamins, minerals, and fiber for digestion
• Kale - High in beta carotene for healthy skin and fur

Chicken with Carrots

The last Ollie recipe we received, the Chicken with Carrots recipe, was one that I didn’t feed Padma. I personally don’t feed my dogs chicken, unless it’s pasture raised and organic, due to the high levels of corn and soy present in the chicken. And since I haven’t found a dog food yet that has that offering (likely due to higher sourcing and production costs), I let one of my dog owner clients try it with her Pomeranian, Paisley. She actually gave it to her without adding in any of her regular kibble because she was totally out of her regular dog food. This isn’t the recommended process to introduce the new food to your pup's diet, but it’s what was available at the time.

However, she said Paisley cleaned the bowl and kept looking for more. My client said that she may have to start adding this into her regular rotation to help with Paisley’s health issues, since Paisley enjoyed it so much!

Nutrition & Key Ingredients:

This recipe is made with chicken, carrots, peas, rice, potatoes, spinach, blueberries, chia seeds, and cod liver oil. The Chicken recipe has an average protein content of 10%, 3% fat, and 2% fiber. This recipe contains no fillers or added ingredients.

• Carrots - Full of phytonutrients for eye health
• Spinach - High in iron and antioxidants
• White Rice - Full of phytonutrients for eye health

As a dog owner, pet sitter, holistic health specialist, and behavioral trainer, I’ve used many different dog food products throughout the years. And I’ve had quite a few dog clients that have used different raw food products, so I’m familiar with the concept.

A fresh food diet is a good option for those dog parents who can afford it, because they are generally a bit pricier than other regular kibble options. However, the quality almost always far surpasses any regular kibble, so the benefits are well worth the added cost.

How to make the Ollie switch?

First and foremost, the Ollie dog food all comes in pre-portioned and frozen. Immediately put them in the freezer (sans the one you want to use first). Defrost the first package or two in the fridge and it can keep up to 4 days in there.

Once it’s defrosted, put the food into the Ollie pup container delivered with the food for easy refrigerator storage. Portion out what size you need for each meal with the serving spoon that comes with it.

Easy peasy! Ollie sends pre-portioned sizes for each individual dog, so you know exactly how much to feed your pup at each meal. But, they do tell you to make the switch gradually over 9 days. The best way to do this is to add just a small amount of the new Ollie food into your dog’s meals for the first 1-2 days. On days 3-4, increase the amount of Ollie's food to 25% for each meal.

On days 5-6,  increase the amount of Ollie food to 50% of the entire meal. On days 7-8 make Ollie food 75% of the meal. By day 9, you’ll be feeding your dog 100% Ollie dog food for every meal.

(Look how Padma’s ear is flopped over!)

Final Thoughts: Ollie Dog Food