7 Best Dog Food Subscriptions in the UK – 2024 Reviews & Top Picks

With a dog food subscription, you can have food delivered to your door every week or month. Different subscription services offer different meals and meal types, from air-dried dry food to fresh, so even if you don’t have the time to prepare fresh meals for your pup every day, they can still enjoy high-quality nutrition.

Subscription services typically tailor the amount of food and delivery frequency to your requirements, and most have a varied menu. Some also provide extras like treats or even supplements. Below are some of the best dog food subscriptions in the UK for dogs of all ages and budgets.

A Quick Glance at Our Favourites of 2024

The 7 Best Dog Food Subscriptions in the UK

1. Butternut Box – Best Overall

Butternut Box offers freshly prepared meals, planned and formulated by veterinary nutritionists, for dogs of all ages, so it is suitable for puppies through to seniors. The company claims to use human-quality ingredients and they lightly cook the meals to ensure that nutrients and flavours are retained. The food does not contain artificial additives, flavours, or other ingredients. When you sign up for the subscription, you provide details of your dog including its age, breed, and any special requirements. Butternut Box will then work out a balanced meal plan and deliver the food, with meals packaged individually for convenience, to your door.

Butternut Box is also an eco-friendly option. All elements of the packaging can be recycled, which is especially beneficial because each meal comes in its own pouch, and they use wonky vegetables, which are those that often get thrown away but are perfectly safe for human or canine consumption. All meals consist of 60% meat and 40% vegetables.

There’s a selection of 10 different recipes, featuring a very good variety of meat proteins to satisfy even the pickiest eater, and while their food is more expensive than store-bought dry food, it is reasonably priced considering the quality of the food and the convenience of the deliveries. It is our choice as the best available dog food subscription in the UK. However, delivery options are limited, as you can only choose to have food delivered every 3 weeks or every month.

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2. 4 Paws Raw – Best Value

Dogs need a diet that provides the majority of their protein from animal-based sources. However, dogs also need vegetables, fruit, and other plant-based sources in their diet. These provide essential vitamins and minerals that dogs can’t get from meat alone. If you are preparing fresh meals for your dog, you will need a good supply of animal ingredients, which can also consist of organs and even bones.

4 Paws Raw doesn’t provide meals, but it does offer a great variety of frozen meat. The 80:10:10 package is particularly interesting. The package contains a selection of frozen duck, beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, and a beef and oily fish packet. Each packet contains a ratio of 80% meat, 10% organs, and 10% bone, which is consistent with the Bones and Raw Food (BARF) diet plan. The meat is considered human grade, but it is just frozen, packaged, and shipped, which means you will have to prepare it yourself and add the vegetables and other ingredients to meet your dog’s daily dietary requirements.

Because the packet only contains meat and there is no preparation or meal planning done by the company, costs are lower, and there is a very good range of subscription periods available, making it the best dog food subscription in the UK for the money.

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3. Naturaw – Premium Choice

A raw food diet gives dogs the type of food they would eat in the wild. It is said to encourage healthier skin and coat, and better digestion, and it can even help improve mood and reduce unwanted behaviour because it is free from artificial ingredients and additives. And because there is less filler and fewer unnecessary ingredients, a raw food diet will usually lead to smaller and less messy poops.

However, a raw food diet can take a lot of research, planning, and preparation, to ensure that you create a perfectly balanced meal that meets your dog’s nutritional requirements while also being tasty and enjoyable. It can also prove difficult to find reliable sources for all the different ingredients and food types. Naturaw is a subscription service dedicated to the raw food diet.

When you subscribe, you can opt for a mixed box of the company’s Forage foods. Forage contains high-quality meat as well as additional ingredients like blackberries and kale. The company promises organically farmed, freshly caught, and British meat and many of the fruit and vegetables are also organic. The packaging is eco-friendly, too, with tubs made of wood: even the film is made of plant material and can be composted with paper recycling. Approximately 90% of the meals are animal-based ingredients and the remaining 10% are vegetables.

You can also add boxes of treats and natural supplements to help meet your dog’s requirements, but the food is on the expensive side, even for a fresh food subscription service.

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4. Tails

Tails is a little different from most dog food subscription services because, as well as offering tailor-made fresh food meals, they also offer the same tailor-made promise but from dry kibble. They also offer a service tailored specifically to puppies, rather than a single service for dogs of all ages, and the recipe changes as your dog matures, so it meets the differing demands a dog has according to its age and activity level. If you’re looking for a convenient, affordable, food for your puppy, and you want it delivered to your door, Tails is a good option. However, it isn’t as fresh or as tailored as some of the other subscription services.

All puppies up to the age of 14 weeks receive the same recipe. At 14 weeks, the kibble does change according to the size of your dog with different kibble containing different ingredients. All the food contains salmon oil, which is a good source of omega-3, as well as other beneficial ingredients including zinc, prebiotics, and calcium and phosphorus. The food is a good price and dry food has a naturally longer shelf life while also proving less messy than wet food, but if you’re looking for raw food or fresh food, kibble isn’t that.

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5. Pure Pet Food

Pure Pet Food is another pet food subscription service that does things a little differently. While some services offer freshly prepared food and others provide raw food, Pure Pet Food claims to combine the benefits of fresh food with the convenience and shelf-life of processed foods. They use high-quality ingredients that are then dehydrated so owners need to add water to the food before feeding. This rehydration technique has pros and cons.

The food naturally takes up less space in storage and doesn’t need to be stored in a freezer or fridge: it can be stored in a cupboard. The food takes up less space, too, and it will store longer before it loses quality. However, it does require preparation, and while measuring food in the provided scoop, heating some water, and pouring it over the food, isn’t too taxing, it is still more effort than opening a pouch and tipping the food out.

Meals are still personalized for your dog’s requirements, and they don’t contain any artificial additives or nasties. The food does work out to be quite expensive but is a good option if you struggle for freezer space but still want high-quality meals delivered to your door.

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6. Different Dog

Different Dog is another dog food subscription service where you provide details of your dog when signing up and are given meals based on your dog’s age, size, and other factors. The food is prepared from British meat and contains vegetables and other ingredients. The food is gently cooked, in a pan rather than an industrial machine, and is then frozen before being shipped to you.

All you need to do is defrost the meal and serve it. The packaging is compostable, which is important when you have a different food pack every meal as it can lead to a lot of waste otherwise. They claim that by gently cooking the food at just over 90°C, all the nutritious goodness is retained but because it isn’t served raw, there is no danger of pathogens.

The food doesn’t contain any fillers or artificial additives, and there are over 10 recipes to choose from. Different Dog also has a good variety of treats and supplements that you can add to orders. The food is grain free, which is useful if your vet has specifically stated that your dog is allergic or intolerant, but not for other dogs who can benefit from the proteins and vitamins and minerals that are found in grains.

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7. Tuggs

Tuggs is another dog food subscription service that does things differently. In the case of Tuggs, as well as preparing a meal plan and recipes according to your dog’s specific age and size requirements, the company also combines sustainably sourced meat and fish with fruit and vegetables, and they supplement the protein content with insects. Insects are healthy, protein-rich, and far more sustainable for the planet than livestock, and with Tuggs food, you and your dog can do your bit to help the planet. The inclusion of meat ensures that the food is still palatable and enjoyable for your dog.

There is only a fairly limited selection of recipes at the moment, although this may expand in the future, and the food is quite expensive. But if you are looking to reduce your carbon footprint while still providing nutritionally beneficial food for your pup, Tuggs is a very good alternative to other foods.

Buyer’s Guide: Selecting the Best Dog Food Subscription in the UK

Getting the right food for your dog is important. It needs to meet your dog’s daily nutritional requirements, offering protein from beneficial sources, and providing all the essential vitamins and minerals a dog needs. While there are many foods on supermarket shelves and in pet stores, a dog food delivery service can provide you with a regular delivery of freshly prepared food to your door. This can include meals designed for the BARF diet, a raw diet, or lightly cooked meals that are highly nutritious and extremely palatable.

Having the food delivered to your door, typically via a regular subscription, means that you will never run out of food, either, and some services allow the addition of extra items like treats or supplements. When looking at the best dog food delivery services available, we considered the following factors.

Food Type

In most supermarkets and stores, you’re limited to a selection of dry kibble or wet canned food. Dry kibble is seen as a convenient and cheaper alternative. It has a long shelf life, makes less mess, and can be left in the bowl longer. Wet food is generally more palatable, and dogs enjoy it more than dry food. But, when looking at dog food delivery services, there are other options available.

Raw vs Cooked

If you opt for wet food, you have the choice of raw or cooked food.

Raw food diets aim to mimic what dogs would eat in the wild. They wouldn’t be able to cook their prey before eating, and raw diet feeders aim to replicate this. Leaving ingredients, especially meat, raw typically means that more of the nutrients are retained and your dog gets greater health benefits from the food. However, there is a danger of bacteria being found in raw meat. This can include salmonella, and as well as posing a threat to your dog if you have to prepare or even serve the food, the bacteria can get on surfaces and even into your food at home.

Cooked food can destroy some of the nutrients in food, but it should also eliminate bacteria and the threats they pose. If opting for cooked food, a good option is lightly cooked food. The food is cooked at lower temperatures than are typical in industrial food preparation, thus retaining more of the nutrients and providing your dog with a more nutritious diet.

Dehydrated

Dehydrated dog food is another alternative. The food is prepared, ideally from fresh and high-quality ingredients, before being dehydrated. It isn’t formed into kibble. When you are ready to serve the food, add water and let it sit for a little while before serving. It does take a little more work than with ready-prepared pouches that you can simply pop open and tip food out of. But the work is still considerably less than is required to prepare a high-quality meal from scratch.

Frozen

Many of the fresh food options that are part of subscriptions are delivered frozen. Frozen food can be stored for months without a loss of quality. Bear in mind that, depending on your subscription period, you may have to store enough food to last a month. If you have limited freezer space, look for an alternative or make sure that your delivery timeframe is 1 or 2 weeks.

Food Ingredients

It is always a good idea to know what is in dog food before eating it. Most fresh food services promise the use of high-quality ingredients and they do need to meet certain nutritional requirements to be considered a complete dog food meal. Dogs are carnivores but they can’t survive on a diet of meat alone: they require some fruit, vegetables, and other ingredients, typically including grain (unless your dog has been specifically diagnosed as having a grain allergy or intolerance).

Look for those foods that are free from artificial additives and that can contain minimal or no fillers. Fillers are foods that offer no or virtually no nutritional benefit but bulk the food out. The problem with filler ingredients is that they fill your dog up without providing the protein or other essential ingredients that your dog needs.

Recipes

Variety is as important to a dog’s diet as it is to our own. Feed the same food every meal, every day, and your dog will soon get tired of eating it. If that happens, you could be left with a freezer that is half full of frozen food that your dog won’t touch. Some fresh food delivery services offer a handful of different recipes while others offer 10 recipes or more and are constantly looking to add new recipes.

Dog Life Stage

Puppies have different nutritional requirements to adult dogs, and senior dogs can have even more different dietary needs. In particular, puppies need more protein. Protein builds and maintains muscle. Other ingredients, especially vitamins C and E, as well as selenium, are important for cognitive or brain development.

These nutrients will help your dog develop physically and mentally. While these same vitamins and minerals are important for dogs at all stages of their life, they are especially important for very young pups. Most fresh foods can be fed to dogs of all ages because they are higher in protein than kibble and even canned foods, but you can also find some delivery services that offer a diet targeted specifically at puppies.

Eco-Friendliness and Sustainability

If your dog eats two meals a day, and every fresh food meal is packaged separately, that means that you will get through 60 cartons and/or sleeves every month, as well as any other packaging material used to ship the food to you. That’s a lot of packaging and if it isn’t compostable or recyclable, it will place a major burden on the environment.

Fortunately, most delivery services do use recyclable and environmentally friendly packaging, but you should check. Sustainability is also important in the ingredients used. A recent innovation in fresh dog food is the addition of insects. These are used in addition to meat, but it means that the food uses less livestock meat, replacing it with more sustainable insect protein that has a smaller carbon footprint.

Subscription Options

Many of the delivery services tailor deliveries according to your dog’s requirements: specifically, their size and age, and therefore how much they need to eat. You can then choose a delivery timeframe so that as you get close to running out of your stock of dog food, the next supply is delivered to your door. This process means that you never run out of food and that you don’t have to have several months’ supply in your freezer. Some companies only offer monthly deliveries, but others allow you to choose delivery times ranging from 1–6 weeks.

Determine how much freezer space you have to work out whether you need frequent or less frequent deliveries. Other subscription options include the capability to pause your subscription, for example, if you’re going away, or add extra items like treats and supplements to your order.

Measured Meals

Some delivery services provide packs or bags of food, in much the same way as shops do. You have to measure the food and may have to prepare it before serving. Others provide every meal individually packaged so all you have to do is open the packet and tip it in the bowl. Individually wrapped meals are easier to store but they do have a lot more packaging, and they can work out more expensive.

Conclusion

Dog food delivery services are convenient, and they open up a whole world of fresh and raw food options that are rarely available in stores and without you having to pore over feeding plans and nutritional requirements before preparing meals. Above, we have found some of the best dog food delivery services in the UK and provided a guide to help you find a service that is best for you and your pups.

Butternut Box is reasonably priced and offers freshly prepared food in individual meal-based packets. If you’re willing to do the research and the preparation yourself, then 4 Paws Raw offers an inexpensive selection of frozen raw meats that also include organs and bones and are ideal for a BARF feeding plan.

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Featured Image Credit: AYO Production, Shutterstock