Three different products, three different feeding philosophies, three very different monthly bills. Air-dried shelf-stable pieces you scoop like kibble. Personalized frozen fresh meals shipped to your door. Refrigerated rolls and bags you grab at the grocery store. The right pick depends less on which brand has the flashiest commercial and more on your dog’s actual situation, your kitchen setup, and what you can realistically spend every month.
Before you read any further, here are the short, practical answers to the questions dog owners actually type into search boxes — without the brand talking points layered on top.
- 1 Which of these three is the most nutritious? All three meet AAFCO nutritional standards, which is the legal baseline for complete and balanced dog food. Where they differ is in ingredient quality and processing. The Farmer’s Dog uses USDA human-grade meats prepared in human food facilities — the most stringent sourcing standard in the category. Sundays uses low-heat air-drying that preserves nutrients better than kibble extrusion. Freshpet uses fresh meats pasteurized at lower temperatures than traditional canned food. None of the three is nutritionally deficient; the meaningful gap is in how those nutrients got there and where the meat originated.
- 2 Do I need a subscription for all three? Freshpet requires no subscription at all — you buy it at Walmart, Kroger, Target, PetSmart, or Chewy just like any other grocery item. Sundays and The Farmer’s Dog both operate as subscription services, though Sundays offers more flexibility around pausing and adjusting shipments. The Farmer’s Dog is a true auto-ship model with a detailed intake questionnaire that determines your plan. If you want to avoid recurring billing entirely, Freshpet is the only option.
- 3 What does each one actually cost per month? Freshpet is the cheapest: roughly $30–$60/month for a small-to-medium dog eating it as a full diet. Sundays runs $56–$130/month depending on dog size. The Farmer’s Dog is the most expensive: small dogs start around $70–$80/month, medium dogs run $120–$250/month, and large dogs can easily exceed $300–$400/month. These are full-feeding costs — many owners stretch all three by using them as toppers over kibble, which can cut the monthly spend in half without eliminating the benefits.
- 4 Has any of these three had a recall? Sundays for Dogs has had zero recalls through mid-2026. The Farmer’s Dog has also maintained a clean recall record. Freshpet had two Salmonella-related recalls in 2021 and 2022; both were limited geographic lot recalls and neither led to widely reported serious illness — but they exist and belong in any honest discussion of the brand. Refrigerated fresh food carries an inherently different contamination risk profile than air-dried or frozen food because temperature consistency matters throughout the entire cold chain from factory to your fridge.
- 5 Does my dog need refrigerator or freezer space? Sundays — no. It’s shelf-stable in its sealed bag and stores like a premium treat or cereal. The Farmer’s Dog — yes, freezer space. Shipments arrive frozen and need to thaw in the refrigerator over about 2 days before serving; you typically cycle through one pouch at a time while the rest stay frozen. Freshpet — yes, regular fridge space. The rolls and bags sit in the produce section of your refrigerator and must be used within 7 days of opening. For anyone in a small apartment, traveling frequently, or without reliable cold storage, Sundays is the only practical option.
- 6 My dog is a picky eater — which one will she actually eat? In independent taste testing across multiple breeds, Freshpet has the strongest palatability track record — its refrigerated texture, smell, and fat content hit instinctive food signals in a way that drives most dogs to finish the bowl. Sundays’ jerky-like air-dried pieces work well for dogs who love treat textures. The Farmer’s Dog offers the most recipe variety and lets you flag a picky eater during signup, which tailors the recommended recipes. No single brand converts every reluctant eater, but Freshpet and Sundays tend to win blind taste tests with dogs who’ve rejected other premium foods.
- 7 Which is best for a dog with food allergies or a sensitive stomach? Sundays has the edge for elimination diets and sensitive stomachs because its ingredient lists are short, free of gluten, wheat, soy, and corn, and the low-heat process avoids the chemical changes that high-heat extrusion creates. The Farmer’s Dog is competitive here — it allows you to flag specific sensitivities during signup — but it doesn’t offer novel proteins like venison or duck, which are the standard first-line for true protein-allergy dogs. Freshpet offers the widest recipe library and has some single-protein options, but its higher moisture content can initially cause loose stools in sensitive dogs during the transition period.
- 8 Can I just use these as a food topper instead of a full meal? Yes — and for large dogs especially, this is the most cost-effective way to get the benefits without the full monthly bill. A tablespoon or two of Freshpet stirred into kibble gives a fresh-food smell and palatability boost that can revive a picky eater’s interest. A small scoop of Sundays works the same way. The Farmer’s Dog can be portioned smaller than the full plan amount. Vets generally support partial fresh feeding as an upgrade over pure kibble, though the nutritional balance of the complete meal then depends more on the kibble — so the kibble matters more in that arrangement.
What actually separates these three brands isn’t marketing language — it’s how each one processes food and what that means for your dog’s bowl. Getting this right first makes everything else easier to evaluate.
Air-drying removes moisture slowly at low temperatures (around 142°F) without cooking the food the way a high-heat oven would. The result sits somewhere between raw food and dehydrated food — it retains more heat-sensitive nutrients than kibble, carries no preservatives, and stays shelf-stable without refrigeration. The texture ends up jerky-like: dry, slightly chewy pieces that many dogs treat as a premium snack even when it’s their actual meal. Founded in 2020 by Dr. Tory Waxman, a small-animal veterinarian whose own dog became sick on conventional food, Sundays is made in a USDA-monitored Ohio facility with human-grade ingredients. Three recipes — USDA beef, chicken, and turkey — cover most dogs, though the chicken recipe is adult-only. Sold exclusively on the brand’s own website, not through retail or Amazon.
The Farmer’s Dog is the most operationally complex of the three. After an intake questionnaire that covers your dog’s age, weight, breed, activity level, neuter status, and up to fifteen health conditions, the company’s veterinary nutritionists calculate precise daily caloric needs and ship pre-portioned pouches of fresh food — each labeled with your dog’s name and exactly how much to serve per meal. Ingredients are USDA human-grade, cooked in human food production facilities, and the whole supply chain operates under the same regulatory framework as food made for people. That distinction matters: feed-grade pet food legally allows ingredients that don’t meet human consumption standards; The Farmer’s Dog doesn’t use those. The food ships frozen, thaws in your fridge, and keeps for a few days per pouch. No measuring, no guessing. The trade-off is price — the highest of the three by a meaningful margin for any dog over about 25 pounds.
Freshpet’s core advantage is accessibility: it’s available in a dedicated refrigerated section at thousands of grocery stores, Walmart, Target, PetSmart, and Chewy — no subscription, no waiting for a delivery window, no freezer management. Ingredients include real meats (chicken, beef, salmon) and whole vegetables, with no meat meals, by-products, or artificial preservatives. The food is pasteurized rather than raw, which is a middle ground between heavily processed kibble and the fresh-frozen approaches above. Rolls are marked with portion lines for easy slicing; bags are pre-diced for smaller dogs. After opening, the food keeps about 7 days in your fridge. Freshpet is publicly traded (NASDAQ: FRPT), which brings both the transparency and the growth-at-scale pressures that come with that structure. It had two Salmonella-related recalls in 2021 and 2022 — both geographically limited, both resolved — worth mentioning even if the overall safety record is solid.
Real-world costs, honest caveats, and the practical details that tend to get buried in brand marketing.
Sundays sits in a category of its own: it looks like a premium dog treat — irregular jerky-shaped pieces — but it functions as a complete meal. The air-drying process at around 142°F eliminates pathogens without the extreme heat that damages heat-sensitive vitamins and enzymes, and because the method retains more nutrition in whole-food form, the recipes don’t rely on synthetic vitamin-mineral packs the way kibble does. The beef and turkey recipes cover all life stages including large breed puppies; the chicken recipe is adult dogs only. All three are grain-free in the traditional sense, though beef and turkey are genuinely low-carb at about 8% — chicken sits around 19% carbohydrates. No artificial preservatives, no soy, no gluten, no potatoes. Monthly cost is fixed once you set your plan, and the food stores in the pantry like a bag of granola.
The honest caveats: Sundays offers only three proteins — useful for most dogs, limiting for those working through a food elimination trial who need something truly novel. The pieces are firm and can be harder for senior dogs with dental problems to chew; soaking briefly in warm water or low-sodium broth softens them easily. And because it’s sold exclusively through the brand’s website, there’s no grabbing it on the way home from work or covering a missed delivery with a store backup.
The Farmer’s Dog built its reputation on two things that are harder to fake than most marketing claims: USDA human-grade sourcing and pre-portioned customization. Every ingredient in every recipe must meet the same standards as the food in your own refrigerator — not the looser feed-grade standards that govern most pet food, even premium pet food. Recipes include chicken, beef, turkey, and pork, each paired with simple vegetables like broccoli, carrots, lentils, and spinach. The intake questionnaire is genuinely thorough — it accommodates up to fifteen health conditions during signup, which helps veterinary nutritionists dial in appropriate recipes. Your pouches arrive labeled per meal for your specific dog, which eliminates the measuring errors that quietly undermine portion control for a lot of owners. The 50% off first order means the initial trial is relatively low-stakes for small dogs.
The honest caveats: For large dogs — particularly anything over 60 pounds — the monthly cost can become genuinely difficult to sustain. The brand doesn’t offer novel proteins, so a dog needing duck or venison for a true protein-allergy elimination trial has to look elsewhere. And because it ships frozen, you need both freezer space and enough planning to thaw pouches in the fridge a day or two ahead — forgetting means scrambling for a meal-day solution. The packaging is not resealable, so once a pouch is opened, you’re serving it all within a few days.
Freshpet is what happens when fresh food thinking meets mass retail distribution. Instead of a cold-chain delivery subscription, you pull it out of a dedicated fridge at the store. Ingredients are real — farm-raised meats sourced from North American suppliers, vegetables and fruits you’d recognize, no chicken meal or meat by-products. The pasteurization process makes it shelf-safe until opening, after which it keeps about 7 days. For picky eaters, Freshpet tends to win: the fresh-meat smell, refrigerated texture, and higher moisture content hit palatability triggers that air-dried and kibble formats often miss. The Slice & Serve rolls are the most economical format — buying the 5 lb or 6 lb roll and slicing it daily is significantly cheaper per ounce than the pre-portioned bags. Available for puppies, adults, and seniors, with both grain-inclusive and grain-free options across a wide recipe range.
The honest caveats: The 2021 and 2022 Salmonella recalls are real history, though both were limited and resolved without major reported harm. Refrigerated food that lives in a grocery store cold chain has more handling touchpoints than direct-to-door frozen delivery — temperature excursions during shipping or stocking do happen. The 7-day use-it-or-toss-it window can create waste if you have a small dog or are feeding Freshpet only as a topper. And because it’s not personalized, portion sizing is entirely up to you, which requires reading the feeding guidelines carefully rather than trusting a pre-labeled pouch.
Use this table to answer any specific comparison quickly. Green = strongest in that category, amber = middle ground, red = weakest or a meaningful limitation.
| Category | Sundays for Dogs ☀️ | The Farmer’s Dog 🌾 | Freshpet 🛒 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food Format | Air-dried pieces | Fresh-frozen pouches | Refrigerated rolls / bags |
| Subscription Required | Yes (flexible) | Yes (auto-ship) | None ✓ Buy as needed |
| Where to Buy | Website only | Website + Walmart.com | 30,000+ stores ✓ Most accessible |
| Ingredient Standard | USDA human-grade ✓ | USDA human-grade ✓ Highest | Fresh, no by-products |
| Refrigerator Needed | No ✓ Shelf-stable | Freezer + fridge required | Yes — 7 days after opening |
| Personalization | Size-based plan | Up to 15 health conditions ✓ | None — you choose a recipe |
| Pre-Portioned Meals | Scoop-based guide | Yes ✓ — labeled per meal | No — portion yourself |
| Recall History | Zero recalls ✓ | Zero recalls ✓ | 2 recalls (2021, 2022) |
| Picky Eater Palatability | High (jerky texture) | Good — varies by recipe | Best in class ✓ Taste test winner |
| Good for Sensitive Stomachs | Yes ✓ Short, clean list | Yes ✓ Customizable | Moderate — transition carefully |
| Novel Proteins Available | Beef, chicken, turkey only | No — 4 proteins only | Yes ✓ salmon + more options |
| Puppy / All Life Stages | Beef & turkey yes; chicken adults only | All life stages ✓ | Puppy formulas available ✓ |
| Good for Travel / No Fridge | Best option ✓ | Not practical | Not practical |
| Monthly Cost (20 lb dog) | ~$75–$100 | ~$120–$180 | ~$40–$60 Cheapest |
| Best For | Convenience, travel, no-fridge | Max ingredient quality + customization | Budget, picky eaters, no subscription |
Costs are approximate U.S. retail figures as of mid-2026 and vary by dog weight, recipe, and order size. Full-plan costs for large dogs may differ significantly — always get a personalized quote from each brand’s website.
The right fresh food choice depends on your real life — not an idealized version of it. Here are honest answers for the situations dog owners actually find themselves in.
Start with Freshpet as a topper, not a full meal. Buy a 5 lb Slice & Serve roll from Walmart or Chewy (typically $16–$23), slice off a tablespoon or two per meal, and mix it into whatever quality kibble you already feed. You get the palatability boost and some fresh-food nutrition at a fraction of the full-plan cost. A 5 lb roll used as a topper can stretch 3–4 weeks for a medium dog. That approach costs $15–$25/month extra on top of your kibble — meaningful for most budgets, not the $120–$400/month full-fresh price. Once you see whether your dog thrives on it, you can decide whether to go further.
Sundays is the only brand here that belongs in a suitcase or a camper. The sealed bag goes wherever you go — no ice packs, no searching for a freezer on arrival, no calculating whether the hotel mini-fridge is cold enough. For dog owners who are military, RV travelers, or just frequently away from home, this solves a real problem the other two can’t. Keep the bag in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight once opened, and it stays fresh for weeks. The Farmer’s Dog and Freshpet both require a functioning cold chain; a few hours at room temperature degrades freshness and, with Freshpet, creates bacterial risk. Sundays is also a good emergency food supply for natural disasters — sealed bags keep months.
The Farmer’s Dog is built for this situation better than any other option here. The intake questionnaire captures up to fifteen health flags — things like joint disease, kidney concerns, skin conditions, weight management needs — and veterinary nutritionists use that information to guide recipe recommendations. The pre-portioned, labeled meals also help with dogs that need weight control, because portion creep (one of the most common drivers of canine obesity) is hard to do when every meal is already measured. That said, The Farmer’s Dog is not a prescription diet and can’t replace therapeutic foods recommended by your vet for serious conditions like kidney disease, pancreatitis, or liver disease. It’s a high-quality complement, not a medical treatment.
Freshpet first. The refrigerated smell and texture activate palatability signals that most dry or air-dried food can’t match — it smells like meat, looks like meat, and has a moisture level dogs instinctively find more appealing. Grab the smallest available roll or bag (1 lb or 1.75 lb depending on the store), offer a small amount alongside whatever she currently eats, and see whether she shows interest before committing to any full switch. If Freshpet still doesn’t land, Sundays is the next logical move — the jerky texture reads as a high-value treat to most dogs even when it’s food. The Farmer’s Dog is a reasonable third try with the advantage of recipe customization for picky eaters flagged during signup.
For dogs over 60 pounds, The Farmer’s Dog becomes genuinely difficult to afford as a full diet — $300–$400/month for a 70 lb dog is not a typo. The practical middle path: use a quality fresh food as a significant topper — about 25–40% of daily calories from Freshpet or Sundays, the rest from a premium dry food — and you get meaningful fresh-food benefits at roughly $60–$100/month extra rather than $300+. Alternatively, Freshpet’s large rolls are the most cost-effective full-fresh option for big dogs: a 6 lb roll feeding a 70 lb dog costs far less per day than The Farmer’s Dog’s subscription model. It’s not as personalized, but it’s real fresh food at a manageable price.
For an active food allergy investigation — an elimination diet where you’re trying to identify the protein causing reactions — Freshpet is the most practical tool because it offers the widest range of single-protein options including salmon, which is a common novel protein choice. Neither Sundays (beef, chicken, turkey only) nor The Farmer’s Dog (chicken, beef, turkey, pork only) offers a truly novel protein like duck, venison, or rabbit. An elimination diet requires 8–12 weeks of strict single-protein feeding under veterinary guidance, so stock up in the format that’s easiest for you to obtain consistently. And don’t skip the vet visit — a food allergy confirmed through a proper elimination diet changes the feeding picture permanently, and getting there faster saves a lot of itching and money.
Slow is the rule. Most digestive upset during food transitions happens because owners switch over 3–4 days when 10–14 days is what most dogs actually need. Start with about 20% new food mixed into the old, keep it there for 3–4 days, then move to 40%, then 60%, then 80%, then full. Some dogs — especially those on kibble their whole lives — will have softer stools for a week or two even on a gradual switch, because fresh food has a different fiber profile and moisture content. That typically resolves. If vomiting happens or stools remain liquid past two weeks, call your vet rather than pushing through. Adding a plain probiotic (one formulated for dogs) during the transition period can smooth the shift for sensitive stomachs.
The changes most owners notice first are coat quality and stool volume — not marketing claims, but things you can see. Smaller, firmer stools are a sign that more of the food is being absorbed rather than excreted. Dogs fed minimally processed diets rich in whole proteins produce noticeably less waste. Coat improvements — less itching, more sheen — tend to show up within 6–8 weeks for dogs who were deficient in bioavailable omega fatty acids on their previous food. Energy and digestive comfort are harder to measure but consistently appear in owner reports. None of this is guaranteed for every dog, and a dog in excellent health on a quality kibble may show less dramatic change than one who was struggling. The scientific literature on minimally processed diets is growing, with peer-reviewed metabolomics research supporting measurable biological improvements over highly processed options.
Yes — Freshpet can be frozen before opening and thawed in the refrigerator. This is actually a practical way to buy in bulk when it’s on sale and extend the shelf life beyond the 7-day in-fridge window. Slice the roll into single-serving portions before freezing so you’re thawing only what you need each day. Once thawed, treat it like fresh — use within 4–5 days, don’t refreeze. Some dogs are pickier about texture after freezing and thawing; offer a small test portion before committing your entire bulk purchase to the freezer.
Your vet is right that quality kibble can fully meet nutritional requirements — and not every dog needs or benefits from a premium fresh diet. What your vet may not be weighing is the evidence gap: kibble studies have decades of feeding trial data behind them; fresh food subscription brands have less formal research, though that picture is changing as independent studies catch up. If your dog is thriving on kibble, there’s no clinical emergency to switch. If your dog has a coat issue, persistent digestive problems, reduced appetite, or chronic inflammation that hasn’t resolved on kibble, a fresh food trial is a reasonable next step to discuss with your vet. And if cost is a constraint, feeding a quality kibble well is better than feeding mediocre fresh food on a budget that makes you cut corners elsewhere in your dog’s care.
This is where Freshpet’s retail availability becomes a genuine backup advantage. If a Sundays shipment is delayed or a Farmer’s Dog delivery misses the window, you can walk into Walmart or Kroger the same day and pick up Freshpet — same ingredient quality tier, roughly compatible nutrition profile. It’s worth having one roll in the fridge as a bridge supply if you’re committed to fresh feeding, especially before long weekends or holiday shipping gaps. For Sundays, unopened bags have a long shelf life, so ordering a backup bag and keeping it in the pantry is a simple and low-cost solution.
All three — Sundays, The Farmer’s Dog, and Freshpet — are formulated to meet AAFCO nutritional standards for complete and balanced meals when fed at the recommended amounts. You do not need to add supplements to a properly portioned complete diet from any of these brands. Where people run into trouble is when they feed these as partial toppers without adjusting total caloric intake — doing that consistently without balancing the rest of the meal mathematically can create micronutrient gaps over time. As a topper, they’re safe and beneficial; as a half-diet replacing half of your dog’s caloric needs, the nutritional math depends on the kibble side of the equation. If you’re combining fresh food and kibble in significant amounts, it’s worth running the numbers with your vet or a board-certified veterinary nutritionist.
This page is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute veterinary or nutritional advice. Pricing shown reflects approximate U.S. retail and subscription figures as of mid-2026 and will vary by dog size, recipe, and retailer. Recall history referenced is based on publicly available information from the FDA and DogFoodAdvisor; verify current status directly with those sources. Every dog’s nutritional needs differ based on age, weight, breed, activity level, and health status. Consult your veterinarian before changing your dog’s diet, particularly if your dog has an existing health condition. BestiePaws.com does not receive compensation from any brand mentioned in this comparison.