Open Farm Dog Food Review

What is Open Farm?

Open Farm makes food you can feel good about giving your pet, because all the meat ingredients come from animals that have been grown without antibiotics or growth hormones, and raised in pastures, not cages—in the case of their fish products, the animals haven’t been raised at all, as they’re wild-caught from the ocean. All of the recipes are formulated by a team led by an animal nutritionist and a Ph.D. food scientist to meet the nutritional level and safety standards established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) for pet food.

You can also feel good about where the food comes from: With the exception of coconut oil and certain vitamins and minerals that can’t be sourced from North America and lamb that’s sustainably raised in New Zealand, all of the other ingredients in Open Farm foods—meat, milk, vegetables and bone—are sourced from farms in the United States and Canada. Plus, you can see on the company’s website where each ingredient comes from. In the case of meat and dairy, those ingredients are raised in conditions that are registered as humane by third party organizations. And the ocean fish caught for inclusion in their foods is caught according to sustainability standards set by Ocean Wise.

The dog and cat foods—and some meal “topper” additives and treats—made from these ingredients come in multiple types, each in a variety of flavors. There’s high-quality, high-protein dry food for both dogs and cats, with meat as the first ingredient. There’s Freeze Dried Raw dog food varieties, made of 85 percent raw animal ingredients that are mixed with fruits and vegetables. There are “Gently Cooked” meals for dogs that resemble hamburger mixed with fruits and veggies, composed of human-grade ingredients. Wet food for dogs is called “Rustic Stew,” and it’s called “Rustic Blend” for cats—made of chunks of meat and vegetables in a shelf-stable gravy. And there are mixers and toppers like a bone broth additive, goat milk kefir—a substance between milk and yogurt—and treats for dogs.

Based on information you provide about your dog or cat, including their weight, activity level, body shape, age and the type of food they eat now, Open Farm recommends one or more of their products that could fit your pet’s lifestyle and nutritional needs. That food can then either be ordered via the company’s website—with a shipping fee for orders under $50—or found in a local pet store. There’s a local store finder on the company website.

Open Farm’s commitment to sustainability even extends to their packaging: Since most pet food bags aren’t recyclable, Open Farm has partnered with a company, Terracycle, to collect used Open Farm bags and upcycle them into other products.

All this sustainability is great, but if your pet doesn’t like the food, it doesn’t make the difference you’re hoping for: Open Farm’s fans say their dogs and cats who were formerly picky eaters gobble the food up, and have more energy, reduced gas and other benefits. And if your pet doesn’t like Open Farm food, the company will accept returns within 15 days of your purchase, minus shipping charges.

With options for dry, fresh, wet and freeze dried food, Open Farm makes it easy to feel good about what you’re feeding your pet—both for the health of your dog or cat, and for the planet. And if your dog doesn’t like their food, Open Farm will refund the purchase price (minus shipping fees).

How It Works

Open Farm works directly with farms to source sustainable, humanely-treated meat ingredients. These meats are then mixed with vegetables, fruits, oils, and vitamins and minerals to make foods in multiple varieties—dry, wet, freeze-dried and fresh—from formulas created by a team led by an animal nutritionist and a Ph.D. food scientist. 

Turkey, chicken and pork used in Open Farm’s recipes is 100 percent Certified Humane, and raised on a vegetarian diet without antibiotics. Beef and Lamb in their foods are also grown without antibiotics or growth hormones, and are 100 percent Global Animal Partnership Step 4 Rated—a rating that certifies the animals were raised in a pasture, not in cages. And the seafood used in Open Farm food is different depending on the season—they use fish that are seasonally abundant—according to sustainability standards set up by Ocean Wise.

To help you choose which Open Farm product to try with your pet, the website has a short quiz: When you log on to their website, you can click on “Take the Quiz.” This will build a profile of your pet based on their age, size, activity level, eating habits, body shape, preferred protein, allergies and whether your dog or cat currently eats wet or dry food. The site will then recommend some varieties to try. 

These varieties of food come in multiple forms. For dogs, there’s dry food, freeze dried raw food—made by drying raw ingredients so they’re shelf stable—“Slightly Cooked” meals that need to be frozen or refrigerated, and “Rustic Stew” wet food made from human-grade ingredients. For cats, there’s only dry food and “Rustic Blend” wet food. 

For our active tabby who’s used to eating wet food, Open Farm suggested their “Rustic Blend” wet food in his favorite flavor, chicken. And for our kibble-eating, 40-pound dog, the company recommended their beef-flavored dry food.

Both options can be ordered for delivery through the company’s website, and if you provide your email address, you’ll be given a 10 percent discount. Orders over $50 ship for free, while orders under that amount incur a $5.99 shipping fee. Open Farm foods are also available at more than 5,000 local pet stores across the United States.

You can also subscribe to Open Farm food delivery, and save five percent on your order. A 24-pound bag of the beef-flavored dry food for our dog is normally $89.99, but with a subscription, the price drops to $85.49. When you subscribe, you can have the food delivered at a frequency of your choosing—once per week to once every eight weeks.

All of the different types of Open Farm foods start with USDA human-grade meat products. In the case of the Harvest Chicken Rustic Blend wet food for our cat, this was humanely raised chicken, supplemented with chicken bone broth, pumpkin, carrots, spinach, red lentils, agar agar, cranberries, chickpeas, chicory root, oils, and vitamins and minerals.

The beef-flavored dry food for our dog has humanely-raised beef, ocean whitefish meal, field peas, sweet potatoes, beef livers, pumpkin, chickpeas, herring meal, lentils, flaxseed, oils, and vitamins and minerals.

If your pet doesn’t like Open Farm’s meals, and you’ve purchased them through the company’s website, Open Farm will provide you a full refund of the purchase price (but not shipping fees) within 15 days. 

Where to Buy Open Farm

Open Farm’s food can be purchased online as a one-time purchase, in more than 5,000 pet stores across the country, or via a subscription service on the company’s website, for which you’ll get a discount. 

To get the subscription discount, go to the Open Farm website. Once there, you can use the company’s “Take the Quiz” link to be recommended food for your pets based on their age, size, activity level, eating habits, body shape, preferred protein, allergies and whether your dog or cat currently eats wet or dry food. You can also just select the foods you want, and add them to your cart.

Once the food is in your cart, you can choose to subscribe to Open Farm food delivery, and save five percent on your order. A 24-pound bag of the beef-flavored dry food for our dog is normally $89.99, but with a subscription, the price drops to $85.49. When you subscribe, you can have the food delivered at a frequency of your choosing—once per week to once every eight weeks.

Whether you’re subscribing or just buying food once from the Open Farm website, if you provide your email address, you’ll be given a 10 percent discount. Orders over $50 ship for free, while orders under that amount incur a $5.99 shipping fee. For food ordered from Open Farm’s website, the company provides a 15-day money-back guarantee (except for shipping fees).

Open Farm is also available in pet stores around the country. You can find a store near you by using the company’s store locator on their website. Enter your zip code, and Open Farm will list stores near you that stock their meals.

Recipes & Ingredients

For dogs, Open Farm offers dry food in 14 varieties, freeze-dried raw food in six flavors, “Gently Cooked” fresh food meals in four flavors, and “Rustic Stew” wet food in six flavors. For cats, there are four flavors of Open Farm’s dry food, and four flavors of the “Rustic Blend” wet food.

Dry food for dogs comes in: 

• Homestead Turkey & Chicken
• Homestead Turkey & Ancient Grains
• Harvest Chicken & Ancient Grains
• Grass-Fed Beef
• Grass-Fed Beef & Ancient Grains
• New Zealand Venison
• Wild-Caught Salmon
• Wild-Caught Salmon & Ancient Grains
• Pasture-Raised Lamb
• Pasture-Raised Lamb & Ancient Grains
• Catch-of-the-season Whitefish
• Catch-of-the-season Whitefish & Ancient Grains
• Farmer’s Table Pork
• Farmer’s Table Pork & Ancient Grains

There are also “Puppy” and “Senior” recipes available. All of the meals include humanely-raised protein, and have fruits, vegetables, oils, and vitamins and minerals mixed in. The Homestead Turkey & Chicken flavor, for example, has chicken and turkey meat, fish meal, russet potatoes, chickpeas, green lentils, field peas, coconut oil, apples, pumpkin, tomato, carrots, chicory root, as well as oils and vitamin and mineral supplements.

The freeze-dried raw food for dogs comes in six flavors: 

• Grass-fed Beef
• Surf & Turf
• Homestead Turkey
• Harvest Chicken
• Farmer’s Table Pork
• Pasture-Raised Lamb

Each starts with humanely-raised meat or sustainably caught fish that’s mixed with organic fruits and vegetables, oils, and vitamin and mineral supplements before being air-dried to become shelf-stable. The Farmer’s Table Pork flavor, for instance, has pork meat, pork heart, pork liver, ground pork bones, blueberries, squash, carrots, sunflower seeds, spinach, kale, pumpkin seeds, cranberry, fenugreek seeds, chicory root, dried kelp, oils, and vitamin and mineral supplements. The food resembles typical dry dog food.

“Rustic Stew” wet food for dogs is available in the following flavors: 

• Grass-fed Beef
• Homestead Turkey
• Harvest Chicken
• Chicken & Salmon
• Wild-caught Salmon
• Herring & Mackerel 

Like the other varieties, these wet foods start with humanely-raised meat or sustainably-caught fish, and then add fruits and vegetables, oils, and vitamin and mineral supplements. The resulting dish looks somewhat like a thick, opaque stew with chunks.

The Wild-caught Salmon “Rustic Stew,” for example, has wild-caught Pacific salmon mixed with pumpkin, carrots, green beans, spinach, red lentils, chickpeas and chicory root. There’s sunflower and coconut oils, as well as vitamin and mineral supplements.

Open Farm’s “Gently Cooked” meals for dogs are like the “fresh meals” offered by competitors: They resemble chopped-up hamburger (or chicken burger, etc.) mixed with chunks of vegetables in meals that need to be frozen—then defrosted before serving. These “Gently Cooked” meals are available in: 

• Grass-fed Beef
• Harvest Chicken
• Surf & Turf
• Homestead Turkey 

They’re made with human-grade ingredients, and like the other Open Farm varieties, start with humanely-raised meat or sustainably-caught fish that’s mixed with fresh vegetables, oils, and vitamin and mineral supplements. These ingredients are, as the name says, gently cooked to retain nutrition, before being frozen for shipping.

Open Farm’s dry food for cats is available in Wild-caught Salmon, Catch-of-the-season Whitefish, Homestead Turkey & Chicken, and Pasture-raised Lamb flavors. Like the dog food, these cat recipes combine sustainably-caught fish or humanely-raised meats with non-GMO fruits and vegetables, some oils, and vitamin and mineral supplements. The lamb flavor, for instance, has lamb sourced from New Zealand, fish meal, chickpeas, lentils, pumpkin, herring oil, cranberries, chicory root, and other oils, vitamins and minerals.

The wet food for cat, called “Rustic Blend,” is similar to the “Rustic Stew” for dogs, resembling a thick, opaque stew with chunks of meat. It’s available in Harvest Chicken, Grass-fed Beef, Homestead Turkey, Wild-caught Salmon, Chicken & Salmon, and Herring & Mackerel flavors.

All of these varieties were designed with veterinary nutritionists, and meet the nutritional level standards established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) for pet food.

Puppy and Senior Recipes

Open Farm has specific recipes of its dry dog foods for puppies and seniors. For puppies, there are two recipes: The grain-free “Puppy Recipe,” and “Puppy Recipe with Ancient Grains.”

The “Puppy Recipe” is made from humanely-raised chicken and pork, wild-caught salmon, fish meal, vegetables like pumpkin, peas, sweet potatoes, and chickpeas, oils like coconut oil and salmon oil, fruits including cranberries and raspberries, and vitamin and mineral supplements. Open Farm says its puppy recipe is a good source of DHA, which can help with brain development.

The “Puppy” recipe is available in 4.5- and 24-pound bags. The 24-pound bag is $82.99, or $78.84 per bag if you subscribe.

The Puppy Recipe with Ancient Grains recipe still starts with meat—chicken and ocean whitefish meal—but has oats as its next ingredient. The food also has salmon, millet, brown rice, quinoa, herring meal, pork, pumpkin, raspberries, cranberries, and chia seeds. It’s got three different kinds of oils—coconut, salmon, and sunflower—and a vitamin and mineral mix. Though it has grains, this food is gluten-free.

This variety of puppy food comes in 4- and 22-pound bags. The 22-pounder is $71.99 for a one-time purchase, or $68.39 per bag with a subscription.

For senior dogs, Open Farm has a “Senior” recipe made with Certified Humane chicken and turkey. This food also has vegetables like sweet potato, peas, chickpeas, pumpkin, and carrots, and other meat meals including ocean whitefish meal and herring meal. It has green lentils, apples, flaxseed, salmon oil, and, of course, vitamin and mineral supplements.

Open Farm’s “Senior” recipe comes in 4.5- and 24-pound bags. The 24-pound bag is $84.99 for a one-time buy, or $80.74 with a subscription.

How Much Does JustFoodForDogs Cost?

Open Farm’s food can be purchased online as a one-time purchase, in more than 5,000 pet stores across the country, or via a subscription service on the company’s website, for which you’ll get a discount.

Dry cat food starts at $25.49 for a four-pound bag of Homestead Turkey & Chicken flavor. The other flavors cost a bit more, and the food is also available in 8-pound bags. 

The wet, “Rustic Blend” cat foods come in cases of 12 packages for $31.99. Our 10-pound tabby needs about one and one-quarter of these packages per day—or one package with some supplemental dry food. This costs $2.66 per day for the wet food.

Dry dog food starts at $18.99 for a four-pound bag of food—certain flavors and formulas cost more. These dry options are also available in 11- and 22-pound bags.

The “Rustic Stew” wet foods for dogs cost $4 per package, and come in packages of 12. According to Open Farm’s feeding plan, our 40-pound dog would need between three and four of these packages per day—so a cost of $12 per day to feed him an all-stew diet. Some people use this food as a topper for dry food—if doing so, Open Farm recommends reducing dry food by 2/3 cup for each package used.

Freeze-dried raw food for dogs starts at $9.99 for a 3.5-ounce bag; the flavors are also available in 13.5- and 22-ounce bags. Our 40-pound dog would need about three-and-a-half cups of this food per day—a little more than 10 percent of a 13.5-ounce bag. So his feeding would cost about $3.29 per day. 

And the “Gently Cooked” meals that require a freezer come in one-pound packs. An 8-pound order costs $79.99, and an 18-pound order’s quite a bit cheaper per pound, at $149.99. Our dog would need a little more than one of these pouches per day, so feeding him this food would cost $7.99 to $14.99 per day—pretty expensive.

All of these rates can be reduced by providing Open Farm with your email address, which gets you 15 percent off your first order, and by ordering a subscription to have food auto-delivered from once per week to once every eight weeks. Subscribers get five percent off every order.

Shipping for orders under $50 is $5.99. For orders $50 and over, shipping is free. And for food ordered from Open Farm’s website, the company provides a 15-day money-back guarantee (except for shipping fees).

How Does It Compare?

Open Farm makes food from sustainably-raised and -caught meats and fishes, with organic fruits and vegetables. How does it compare to other high-end dog and cat fare?

Why We Love It: The Bottom Line

Open Farm makes it simple to feel good about what you’re feeding your pet—because it’s good for your pet, and good for the animals, plants and farmers that make the ingredients for your pet food. Their multitude of options—dry food, wet food, “fresh” meals, freeze-dried raw, and even bone broth and goat milk toppers—are made from sustainably-caught fish, humanely-raised meat and organic, GMO-free fruits and vegetables. And you can find out where each ingredient comes from—and learn about the certifications for all those humanely-raised standards—through a simple label on the bag or box of each variety.

Like other pet food subscription services, Open Farm ships meals to your door, and allows you to set different timelines for your next shipment, from one week to every eight weeks. But unlike many other subscription companies, you can get Open Farm in one-time shipments, or even buy it at a neighborhood pet store. 

Through a simple pet profile quiz on their website, Open Farm recommends varieties of their food based on your pet’s age, size, activity level, eating habits, body shape, preferred protein, allergies and whether your dog or cat currently eats wet or dry food. The foods then need to be measured—they’re not fully pre-portioned, like some other high-end brands—but this also gives the flexibility to try out their different varieties in different ways. You can have a mix of dry and wet food, use the freeze-dried raw as a topper, or mix some of the “Gently Cooked” recipe into your pet’s normal dry food.

This flexibility allows you to try different varieties to see what your pet will like, and it gives you a little more freedom than some of the other subscription services—instead of being dictatorial about the exact food your pet needs to eat, Open Farm recognizes that you love your animal, and will know best what and how to feed them.

Because all of the varieties are healthy—they were formulated by a team led by an animal nutritionist and a Ph.D. food scientist to meet the nutritional level and safety standards established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) for pet food.

And Open Farm’s dedication to sustainability continues right through to the bag the food comes in: While most pet food bags aren’t recyclable, Open Farm has partnered with a company called Terracycle, to collect used Open Farm bags and upcycle them into other products.

Best of all, it’s guaranteed that your dog or cat will like the food: Open Farm offers a 15-day money-back guarantee (minus shipping costs) on all their food varieties.

About Open Farm

Open Farm was founded by Jacqueline Prehogan, her husband, Isaac, and his brother, Derek, to create pet food that was nutritious for their pets and aligned with their values of sustainability. The company is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where the food is developed and formulated. The food is manufactured in Minnesota.