Pros
- Website displays a roster of veterinarians of different specializations and veterinary nutritionists under their employ.
- They also offer one-on-one consultation to learn how to optimize your pet’s health, either in-person or remotely.
- Open kitchens in store locations so you can see exactly how their dog food is made. They also conduct year-long feeding trials to ensure that their recipes are 100 percent safe and effective.
- Vegetables and grains are expertly incorporated into their recipes so your dog can take advantage of their health benefits without reducing enjoyment.
Cons
- Products are notably expensive across the board compared to other services. Portions also vary depending on the recipe, so trying out a new one might leave your dog dissatisfied at the amount.
- Quality of all product categories deteriorates significantly if not consumed immediately once opened.
As a pet parent, I want the best for the little furballs in my charge, but the pathways to that aren’t always so clear when searching for the best dog food delivery service. I’ve made mistakes in choosing food and other products in the past, leading to wasted money, or worse, developing health problems that could’ve been avoided.
JustFoodForDogs does away with all that uncertainty by making the pet food purchasing experience as painless as possible. They have an in-house team of veterinarians to assess the best custom diet for your pet—no more fiddling around with a limited website customization quiz. They also offer fresh food that’s shelf-stable for up to 2 years, whole ingredient supplements and treats, and pet parents don’t even need to subscribe for pups to be able to enjoy their gourmet-quality pet dishes. Sounds amazing, right? Well, let’s take a look at their good and bad qualities to arrive at whether or not this is the best fresh dog food brand for you.
Features of JustFoodforDogs
PantryFresh Meals
Aside from their main fresh frozen food options, JustFoodForDogs’ also sells meals that are certified PantryFresh, which make them keep exceptionally well without having to use any preservatives at all. The whole food ingredients are shelf-stable for two years, meaning they retain their freshness and wholesomeness for the entirety of that duration. You could open their meal packages over a year after purchase and it would still taste like it was freshly cooked a while ago. Ingredients include ground beef, sweet potatoes, fish oil,
Open Kitchen
One of the few fresh food brands to actually have physical locations, JustFoodForDogs is unique in that they have open kitchens where the public can freely observe exactly how their food is made. Taking your dogs to one of their locations to watch the chefs work their magic would certainly be a field trip they’d appreciate!
Live Consultations With Veterinarians
JustFoodForDogs branches employ teams of veterinarians to speak with pet owners and meet their pets. This lets them make a more intimate face-to-face health assessment of the canines (or felines) and thus help pet owners determine what meal recipes would be best for them, instead of having them use a less flexible recipe customization interface on their website. While some would prefer to settle all of their customization online, many would still appreciate talking to an actual person to arrive at the best nutritional mix for their pets. Plus, this opens up much better customization options based on what you can negotiate with their veterinarian team.
Just Cats
JustFoodForDogs has also introduced Just Cats, a line of fresh cat food and treats with the same quality as their fresh dog food. The selection is still limited, but if you have both cats and dogs, JustFoodForDogs could simplify your pet food shopping experience by acting as your one-stop shop for both.
One-Time Purchase Option
Unlike most fresh dog food delivery services, JustFoodForDogs lets you order a la carte fresh meals instead of subscribing to their service. This is great if you just want to have a small supply of fresh food to mix in with whatever other food you prepare for your dogs at home. You might want to make a subscription with a more spaced out frequency if your pups eat through the fresh food at a regular rate, however. If one of their kitchens are nearby, you can also drop by and pick up some fresh pet food yourself.
Growing Number of Partner Stores
JustFoodForDogs is one of the few fresh dog food services that are partnering with popular retail stores and animal clinics to bring their products to a much wider consumer base. To save on shipping costs, they offer their clients the chance to simply pick up their orders at the nearest partner location. Customers are also able to make a la carte purchases at these locations.
Supplements and Treats
On top of the regular food items, there are also health supplements that help stave off common health problems [1]. These could work well in lieu of highly specialized dietary additions if you can’t work something out with the in-house veterinary nutritionists. Their treats are also made out of the same whole ingredients as their fresh food selection, so you can be sure that they don’t contain any unwanted additives.
DIY Fresh Dog Food Kits
In addition to all of their other offerings, JustFoodForDogs also sells DIY kits so you can make amazing gourmet quality dog food from your own kitchen. These kits cost much less than their other items, but also offer little in the way of customization—something other fresh food brands do not offer.
Is This the Right Choice For You?
If there’s anything that JustFoodForDogs can be said to be good at, it’s convenience. Whatever your feeding preference, be it easy autoship subscriptions or a la carte orders, or whether you want a professional to craft a nutrient mix for your dog or DIY your own, JustFoodForDogs has got you covered.
This convenience comes at a price, however. Their products can be significantly higher above the usual price points you’d find for many fresh pet food companies. But that’s easily justified by the quality they pour into their food.
Some may be dissuaded by the fact that you have to schedule a session with an in-house nutritionist to customize your dog’s food. This is much more thorough than how most services do it, however. And you can do so remotely, but it’s better to meet face-to-face so that the vets can take a good look at your pet.
