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When we first started feeding our dog The Farmer's Dog years ago, I didn’t expect to still be writing about the same fresh dog food brand in 2026. But after years of on-and-off use — and given how long it’s been since I published our original Farmer's Dog review — it felt like the right time to share where we truly stand on this popular fresh dog food today.
Our longhaired dachshund, Django, turned 10 last August and has officially entered his senior years. And while he’s still adorable, energetic, and a very enthusiastic eater, he’s definitely a little slower than he was when we first wrote about The Farmer’s Dog back in 2019.
Whether it’s due to age or the Stage 4 IVDD surgery he underwent in 2022, Django’s back legs just aren’t as strong as they once were. He still goes on long walks, trail hikes, and family outings, but these days we find ourselves carrying him more often than we used to — or letting him enjoy the view from his dog carrier backpack.
One thing that hasn’t changed over the years is my commitment to feeding Django high-quality, nutritious dog food.
This is a completely new, updated review based on how we actually use The Farmer’s Dog today, what we genuinely love about it, and the real tradeoffs you should know about before buying.
Whether you’re on the fence about The Farmer’s Dog, a longtime customer, or simply curious about fresh dog food in general, this review is for you.
And if you’re considering The Farmer's Dog in 2026 and wondering whether it’s worth the price, how the subscription works, or whether it makes sense for your dog’s size and lifestyle, you’ll find everything you need to know below.
We truly hope this review helps, and please don't hesitate to leave a comment below!
Our 2026 Farmer's Dog Review After Years of Feeding Fresh
What Is The Farmer’s Dog?
The Farmer’s Dog is a fresh dog food delivery service that ships gently cooked, pre-portioned meals directly to your door. Unlike traditional kibble, the food is cooked at low temperatures to help preserve nutrients, then frozen and shipped to maintain freshness.
Unlike many lower-quality dog food kibbles on the market, The Farmer’s Dog contains no preservatives, no shelf-stable processing, and no mystery ingredients. A quick scan of any Farmer’s Dog recipe ingredient list shows single-source animal proteins, fresh vegetables, grains and legumes, and essential vitamins and minerals. That’s it — no fillers, artificial additives, or ingredients included solely to extend shelf life.
Once thawed in the refrigerator, The Farmer’s Dog meals should be used within about four days. Based on our personal experience, our meals often last closer to five or six days when stored properly. If kept frozen, the meals stay fresh for several months, making it easy to keep a supply on hand and use as needed.
Importantly, The Farmer’s Dog is a complete and balanced dog food. The recipes are formulated by veterinary nutritionists and meet AAFCO standards, meaning they are designed to fully replace other dog foods. While many people feed it exclusively, we personally use it as a meaningful part of Django’s daily meals — roughly a 50/50 mix with a high quality dry food. That approach works well for us, but The Farmer’s Dog is absolutely intended to be fed as a dog’s primary diet if that’s the route you choose.
How We Feed Django The Farmer’s Dog in 2026
As mentioned above, we currently feed our dachshund Django a mix of 50% The Farmer’s Dog and 50% premium dry dog food.
To be fully transparent, this is a choice we’ve made primarily for cost-saving reasons and not because The Farmer’s Dog isn’t good enough to be fed on its own (it absolutely is). With a busy household (three kids under the age of 6 + our sausage dog 🤪) and a lot of everyday expenses, being mindful of our budget matters. Mixing fresh food with a high quality dry option allows us to feed Django fresh, nutritious meals every day in a way that feels sustainable long-term.
Is The Farmer's Dog Expensive?
Fresh dog food costs more than traditional kibble, but this shouldn't be too surprising when you consider what you’re actually buying.
The Farmer’s Dog is made with real ingredients, gently cooked, portioned for your dog, frozen for freshness, and shipped directly to your door. That process is fundamentally different from shelf-stable kibble that’s designed to sit in a bag for months or even years.
A simple way to think about it is this: buying fresh dog food is more comparable to buying fresh meat, whole vegetables, and fresh fruit at the grocery store — not a bag of ultra-processed chips. Real food is naturally more expensive, but it’s also a completely different product and overall much more nutritious for dogs.
Research supports this distinction as well. A canine health study from the University of Helsinki found that dogs fed less processed diets show better gut health and lower markers of inflammation compared to dogs fed highly processed foods.
Recipes, Ingredients, and Food Quality
The Farmer’s Dog currently offers both grain-inclusive and grain-free recipes. As of early 2026, that includes three recipes made with grains (Chicken & Grain, Beef & Grain, and Turkey & Grain), along with four grain-free and higher-protein options for dogs who need or prefer them (Turkey, Chicken, Pork, and Beef). Because the grain-free recipes have a higher protein content, they are slightly more expensive than the recipes with grains (we include detailed pricing for the grain-free recipes below).
All Farmer's Dog recipes are made with real, recognizable ingredients sourced from restaurant suppliers, local farms, and other human-food purveyors that meet USDA standards. There are no preservatives, and the fresh dog food isn’t processed to sit on a shelf for months or years.
The cooking process is intentionally gentle. Meals are cooked at low temperatures, quickly frozen, and shipped within days of being made. That’s a big reason the food smells and looks like actual food — not burnt brown kibble pellets. As you can see in our photo of Django's Chicken & Grain recipe below, nearly every ingredient is whole and easily identifiable.
Below are the four grain-free recipes with higher protein counts. As mentioned above, The Farmer's Dog also offers three recipes with grain. You can view those recipe ingredient lists and guaranteed analyses directly on The Farmer's Dog website.
Does The Farmer’s Dog Actually Taste Good to Dogs?
Django can’t exactly write his own review, but his reaction says plenty.
The second we open a container of The Farmer’s Dog, Django is up and excited — even if he’s in another room. Are dogs' sense of smell that good!? Somehow, Django always knows when The Farmer's Dog is out of the fridge. He barks at us, spins in circles, and makes it very clear that dinner should happen immediately.
With three young kids in the house, there are moments when we genuinely forget to put his bowl down right away. And Django makes sure we don’t forget. He follows us from room to room and barks at shin level until his food hits the floor.
We’ve fed Django a lot of different foods over the years, both fresh and not, and The Farmer's Dog is one of the few that consistently gets that kind of reaction — even now, at 10 years old.
For picky eaters, senior dogs, or dogs who’ve started to lose interest in dry food, that enthusiasm alone is often reason enough for people to make the switch or at least order the 50% off 14-day trial box.
Pricing: How Much Does The Farmer’s Dog Cost in 2026?
Pricing for The Farmer's Dog depends on your dog’s size, age, and calorie needs. The Farmer’s Dog builds a personalized plan after you complete a short quiz on their website.
Here’s what to expect at a high level, and view more even specific pricing below as of January 2026:
- Small dogs (like Django, 13 lbs): Generally the most affordable. For small dogs, The Farmer’s Dog can be surprisingly reasonable compared to feeding large dog breeds.
- Medium dogs: Daily costs increase, especially if feeding 100% fresh.
- Large dogs: Fresh food can get expensive quickly, which is why many large dog owners choose to mix fresh food with dry food.
One important thing to know: fresh food is often more calorie-dense and more easily digested than kibble. When we’ve done a full switch to fresh in the past, Django gained a little weight until we adjusted portion size. You can’t always swap fresh food in 1:1 without recalculating calories, especially with smaller dogs.
And as we mentioned earlier, if high pricing is a concern, using The Farmer’s Dog as part of a mixed feeding routine can significantly reduce monthly cost while still giving your dog fresh and nutritious food every day.
How Does The Farmer’s Dog Subscription Work?
The Farmer’s Dog is an auto-renewing subscription, but there’s no long-term commitment.
After you place your initial order, you can adjust how much food you receive, pause upcoming shipments, or cancel unprocessed orders. This flexibility matters, especially if you’re mixing fresh and dry food or building a freezer buffer.
For us, the ability to pause The Farmer's Dog if needed is key. We don’t feel locked in, and we only receive food when it actually makes sense for our routine.
The Farmer’s Dog Subscription Explained
When you first sign up, you’ll enter your dog’s details (age, weight, breed, activity level, and goals), and The Farmer’s Dog creates a personalized meal plan based on that information.
Your first delivery will be a two-week trial (50% off with this promo). After that, future boxes are scheduled automatically based on your dog’s size and portion needs. You can log into your account at any time to adjust portion sizes, change recipes, or push back your next shipment if you have extra food in the freezer.
This setup works especially well if you’re not feeding fresh food 100% of the time. Occasionally the food we have on hand doesn’t line up perfectly with the default shipment schedule, so being able to pause or delay a delivery is essential.
How to Cancel or Pause The Farmer’s Dog
If you decide The Farmer’s Dog isn’t right for you, canceling is straightforward.
You can pause, skip, or cancel future deliveries directly from your account dashboard before the next order processes. There’s no penalty, no phone call required, and no long-term obligation.
We’ve paused our subscription multiple times over the years when we still had food in the freezer, and restarting later was easy. That flexibility is one of the main reasons we’ve continued using The Farmer’s Dog long-term.
Is The Farmer’s Dog Worth It?
For us, The Farmer’s Dog remains one of the best fresh dog food options available — with clear pros and real tradeoffs.
The quality is there, Django loves it, and we like knowing exactly what’s in his bowl.
The biggest downside to The Farmer's Dog is cost, particularly for larger dogs or families feeding 100% fresh long-term. This is where mixing fresh food with a high quality dry food can be a smart, realistic solution.
If you want to feed fresh food without cooking every meal yourself — and you value quality, transparency, and convenience — The Farmer’s Dog is absolutely worth considering. Our dog Django genuinely loves it, and it’s a fresh dog food brand we happily recommend without hesitation.
FAQ
Do you still feed Django The Farmer’s Dog in 2026?
Yes! We still feed Django The Farmer's Dog daily. Right now we do a 50/50 mix: half The Farmer’s Dog and half premium dry food. This mix keeps Django excited about meals, helps us feed him a consistent, high-nutrient diet long-term, and (honestly) makes the fresh dog food budget a lot more manageable.
Is The Farmer’s Dog a complete and balanced food, or just a topper?
The Farmer's Dog is a complete and balanced dog food and definitely not just a topper. The reason we mix is simply personal preference and cost. If you want to feed 100% fresh, it’s absolutely designed to work as your dog’s full-time diet (and probably even healthier overall!).
How does The Farmer’s Dog subscription work?
It’s an auto-renewing plan, but there’s no long-term commitment. After you place your first order, you can adjust recipe preferences, change quantities, pause a shipment, or cancel before an order processes. This flexibility is especially helpful if you’re mixing fresh and dry or trying to build a freezer buffer.
How do I pause or cancel The Farmer’s Dog?
In your Farmer's Dog account, look for upcoming shipments and pause/skip the next one before it processes. If you decide it’s not a fit, you can cancel in your account as well. Just don’t wait to cancel until the last minute; once a shipment processes, it’s already in motion and can no longer be cancelled or refunded.
How long does The Farmer’s Dog last in the fridge or freezer?
Once thawed, The Farmer's Dog packs are meant to be used within about 4 days in the refrigerator. Frozen packs can last for months in the freezer. Tip for smaller dogs that can't get through a full pack in 4 days? Cut a frozen pack in half and only thaw half at a time.
Is The Farmer’s Dog expensive?
Fresh dog food definitely costs more than traditional kibble, but it is also a totally different product with a higher justified price. Fresh dog food is whole ingredients, gently cooked, portioned for your dog, frozen for freshness, and shipped to your door in record time. Just like fresh meat and veggies at the grocery store are more expensive than processed shelf-stable foods, fresh dog food is more expensive than highly-processed, shelf-stable kibble.
What recipes does The Farmer’s Dog offer?
The Farmer's Dog offer multiple recipe options in 2026 including 4 grain-free recipes (Beef, Chicken, Pork, and Turkey) and 3 recipes with grain (Beef & Grain, Chicken & Grain, Pork & Grain). What’s available can change over time, and you’ll see the current recipe lineup when you set up your plan. We’ve tried all of the proteins over the years (Django has no allergies or sensitivities) and like rotating for variety.
Will my dog gain weight on fresh food?
It can happen if you don’t adjust portions. Fresh food doesn’t always swap in 1:1 with kibble by volume. When we’ve gone fully fresh in the past, Django gained a little weight until we reduced the total daily amount. If your dog starts getting a little thick, simply dial back portions and check with your vet if you’re unsure.
What type of dog is The Farmer’s Dog best for?
The Farmer’s Dog can be a great option for most dogs, assuming there are no allergies or medical sensitivities that should be discussed with a vet. From what we've researched, it’s also great for picky eaters, senior dogs, and dogs who have lost interest in dry food. It does cost more than kibble, but if it fits within your budget, we think it’s absolutely worth it.
