PetPlate Dog Food Review

What is PetPlate?

PetPlate was founded by a man who worked in the mainstream pet food industry and didn’t like what he saw. So Renaldo Webb partnered with a veterinary nutritionist, Dr. Renee Streeter, to create pre-cooked, flash-frozen meals made of human-grade meat, fruits and vegetables that are delivered to your door. The company makes it simple to sign up, easy to feed your dog better food, and—unlike other fresh food subscriptions—has options to make the service less expensive.

PetPlate offers four recipes—beef, chicken, turkey and lamb—that all meet the nutritional level standards established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) for pet food. They’re all made with animal meat and liver, fruits and vegetables like apples, pumpkins, green beans and sweet potatoes, and then fortified with oils, vitamins and minerals.

PetPlate tells you just how much to feed your specific dog, thanks to a proprietary algorithm that takes into account your pup’s age, weight, ideal weight, breed, activity level, gender and body shape—info you provide in a short, quick quiz on their website. The meals are then shipped to you in BPA-free plastic containers, which can contain between one and four meals per container, depending on your dog’s nutritional needs.

Those containers ship to your home for free in recyclable, dry ice-packed boxes. Defrost a week’s worth of the food at a time, and you’ve got a simple way to give your dog food with better ingredients.

Like other subscription pet foods, PetPlate can be expensive—for small dogs, it can cost as little as $2.85 per day, but can be triple that for larger dogs. If you’re looking for a more affordable way to incorporate fresh meals into your pet’s diet, you can choose a “topper” plan. With these plans, PetPlate provides 25 percent of your dog’s diet, which you mix with their normal food.

If your dog—or you—don’t like PetPlate, the company offers a full refund of your first shipment. But if you decide to stick with the subscription, a new box will be shipped every two to four weeks, depending on your dog’s needs. You can pause or cancel your subscription any time.

PetPlate customers say the food has solved picky eating for their dogs, and has improved coat quality, increased energy and generally made their pets happier and healthier.

PetPlate gives you two options for feeding your pet human-grade food—full meal plans, or “topper” plans that are more affordable, and can be mixed with your pet’s normal food. With either option, PetPlate ships to your home for free in recyclable packaging, and makes it easy to measure the right portion for your dog based on your furry friend’s weight, breed, activity levels, body shape and age.

How It Works

PetPlate delivers pre-cooked meals made of human-grade meat cooked in a USDA kitchen to your door—with feeding guides based on your dog’s weight, age, breed, body shape and activity level. Here’s how it works.

When you sign up at www.petplate.com, you’ll start by filling out a quiz about your pet. This includes their name, age, sex, breed, weight and ideal weight. You’ll also be asked to choose their body shape—“underweight,” “ideal” or “overweight,” with helpful cartoons and descriptions for each. And you’ll be asked about your dog’s activity level—whether he or she goes on daily walks, is “very active” or is an “Olympian.”

When you’ve finished building your pet’s profile, PetPlate asks you to choose up to four of their fresh recipe flavors—there are beef, turkey, chicken and lamb options. PetPlate suggests trying all four with your first order. When we filled in the info for our 40-pound, mixed breed dog, we took their advice, opting for all four flavors.

You’ll then be asked if you want a full meal plan—where all of your dog’s meals are PetPlate—or a “topper” plan. On this cheaper plan, only 25 percent of your dog’s food is PetPlate, and you combine it with other pet food of your choice.

The site will then ask if you want to add their Chicken Apple Sausage Bites treats to your order. These treats are $8.95 per bag.

Once you’ve filled in all this info—it only takes a few minutes—you’ll provide your email address, and PetPlate will create your first box. Your pet’s specific nutritional needs determines how many containers of PetPlate you’ll receive in each box, and how much of each container your dog should eat at each meal.

For our dog, a full meal plan box would include two weeks of food, and would cost $6.48 per day.

A “topper” plan for our dog would ship every four weeks, and would cost $2.58 per day at full price.

Whether you choose a full plan or a topper plan, shipping is free to the contiguous 48 states. The meals are shipped in round BPA-free plastic containers—each container contains a certain number of meals, depending on your dog’s nutritional needs, with instructions from PetPlate on how to feed your dog.
The meals look like a chunky mix of ground meat and vegetables—because that’s exactly what’s in the meals. Each recipe is made from human-grade ground meat, fruits and vegetables that are fortified with oils, vitamins and minerals.
These containers come to your door packed with dry ice in recyclable boxes with recyclable liners to keep the food frozen for up to five days in transit.

When your box arrives, PetPlate recommends keeping one week’s worth of food in the refrigerator, and putting the rest In the freezer. Each week, you’ll then transfer another week’s food to the fridge.

If you don’t like PetPlate—or your dog doesn’t—the company offers a 100 percent money-back guarantee on the first order.

Should you decide to continue with your subscription, though, and you’re getting close to empty, PetPlate charges for your next shipment on the Friday before sending the food out. The food is then shipped on Monday or Tuesday arriving in on to two days. You can pause, change or cancel your subscription any time.

Recipes and Ingredients

PetPlate offers four varieties of its fresh recipes for dogs:
●  Barkin’ Beef
●  Chompin’ Chicken
●  Tail Waggin’ Turkey
●  Lip Lickin’ Lamb

Each was designed by the company’s veterinary nutritionist, Dr. Renee Streeter, and is made with human-grade ingredients in a USDA kitchen. These meals all meet the nutritional levels established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) Dog Nutrient profile for all life stages. All four flavors start with human-grade meat, which is mixed with fruits and vegetables, oils, and supplemented with vitamins and minerals.

Barkin’ Beef is made of ground beef, sweet potatoes, potatoes, beef liver, carrots, apples, peas, safflower oil, salmon oil, and vitamins and minerals.

The Chompin’ Chicken entrée has ground chicken, sweet potatoes, chicken liver, green beans, lentils, apples, safflower oil, ground flax seed, salmon oil, and vitamins and minerals. The chicken PetPlate uses in their meals meets the ASPCA’s “Better Chicken Commitment” standards for animal welfare practices.

Tail Waggin’ Turkey is made of ground turkey, brown rice, turkey liver, carrots, green beans, apples, pumpkin, red bell peppers, wild rice, salmon oil, and vitamins and minerals.

PetPlate’s Lip Lickin’ Lamb flavor is comprised of ground lamb, sweet potatoes, apples, lamb liver, quinoa, broccoli, salmon oil, and vitamins and minerals.

All four entrees look like a ground meat mixture with flecks of vegetables and fruits—kind of like a thick taco mixture. The meals are cooked in a USDA-certified kitchen, then flash frozen for shipping.

They’re shipped in round plastic containers—each container contains a certain number of meals, depending on your dog’s weight, age, breed and activity level. PetPlate sends instructions on how much to feed your dog each day from each container—dogs under nine pounds will get up to four meals from a single container, while larger dogs will eat a whole container at each meal.

In addition to meals, PetPlate offers treats that can be added to your subscription order. At this time, the treats are available in one flavor—Chicken Apple Sausage Bites. These are all organic, and are made of chicken, apples, vegetables, glycerin, pumpkin, vinegar powder and rosemary extract. Like the Chompin’ Chicken, the organic chicken in the treats is certified by the ASPCA’s “Better Chicken Commitment” standards.

How Much Does Pet Plate Cost?

PetPlate’s meals are only available by subscription, and the daily and weekly price of your subscription is determined by your pet’s specific weight, age, breed, activity level and body shape. So the price is different for every dog: Dogs under nine pounds can get up to four meals from a container of PetPlate, while bigger barkers will eat a whole container at every meal.

PetPlate’s subscriptions also come in two types—a full meal plan, where your dog eats all its meals from PetPlate, and a “topper” plan. On these cheaper plans, only 25 percent of your dog’s meals are PetPlate, and they’re used to supplement the food your pet is used to eating. Full meal plans start at $2.85 per day, and topper plans start at $1.11 per day.

For our 40-pound, mixed-breed dog, a full meal plan would cost $6.48 per day. This food would be shipped every two weeks.

A topper plan for our dog would be $2.58 per day, and be shipped every four weeks.

Shipping of all orders is free to the contiguous 48 states. Boxes are shipped in recyclable boxes with recyclable liners and dry ice to keep the food frozen for up to five days in transit. When your box arrives, PetPlate recommends keeping one week’s worth of food in the refrigerator, and putting the rest In the freezer.

If your dog doesn’t like your first order of PetPlate—or if you just don’t want to keep buying it—the company offers a 100 percent money-back guarantee on the first order.

If your dog does like the food, though, and it’s time for another box, PetPlate charges for your next shipment on the Friday before sending the food out. The food is then shipped on Monday or Tuesday arriving in on to two days. You can pause, change or cancel your subscription at any time.

How Does It Compare?

There are more options for human-grade pet foods every week! Here’s how PetPlate compares to the growing field:

Why We Love It: The Bottom Line

PetPlate delivers human-grade, pre-cooked dog meals to your door with two simple subscription options to fit your budget—a full meal plan, where your dog eats all PetPlate food, and a “topper” option that meets 25 percent of your dog’s nutritional needs.

Feeding is simple thanks to PetPlate’s simple profile-building quiz: You tell the company your pet’s weight, ideal weight, age, breed, body shape and activity level, and PetPlate determines how much from each of their simple, BPA-free plastic containers you need to feed your dog each day.

Each meal in those containers was formulated by a veterinary nutritionist, and is made from human-grade meat, fruits and vegetables. The food is cooked in a USDA kitchen—meaning that the meals would be safe for people to eat. They’re then flash-frozen for shipping. The meals come in four flavors—beef, chicken, turkey and lamb—and there’s no price difference between the flavors. The frozen meals ship free to the contiguous 48 states in recyclable packaging.

PetPlate fans say their dogs who were once picky eaters now gobble up their meals. Other dogs have more energy and are healthier and happier. If your dog doesn’t have the same results—and doesn’t like PetPlate—they’ll refund your first order.

There are lots of fresh-food and high-end pet food subscriptions available in today’s market, but the best part of PetPlate may be that it’s so simple: There aren’t a thousand options to choose from, and you don’t have to be a vet to understand their program. You just fill out your pet’s profile, and you’re ready to order. If it’s too expensive, you can choose a topper plan.

And when your box arrives, PetPlate’s simple feeding instructions make it easy to give your dog the right amount—just defrost the containers one week at a time, then use their guide to scoop out the right portion each day. It’s simple to order, and simple to feed your dog fresh, healthy meals.

About PetPlate

PetPlate owner Renaldo Webb was working as a consultant in the pet food industry—and he didn’t like what he saw. So in 2016, Webb began working with a veterinary nutritionist to create PetPlate, a company that delivers fresh-cooked, flash-frozen meals to dog lovers across America. The company has now shipped more than 15 million meals.

PetPlate Shark Tank

Ronaldo Webb (and his dog Winston), appeared on the show Shark Tank in December 2016. The “sharks” on the show even sampled the dog food for themselves and the response was positive.