Our Final Verdict
We give Farm Hounds an overall rating of 5 out of 5 stars.
Quality: 5/5
Variety: 5/5
Ingredients: 5/5
Value: 5/5
Nowadays, there are so many dog products out there for owners to try, especially when it comes to treats. Just walking down the pet aisle, the shelves are stocked with a bunch of different options to pick from, but are any of them actually good?
In the past couple of years, I’ve started to think more about what ingredients are in the treats I feed my dog and realized how a lot of store-bought treats are filled with junk (while packaged to look fresh and meaty instead). I’m always looking for treats that contain fewer, better-quality ingredients, so when I heard about Farm Hounds, I felt like I hit the treat jackpot!
Farm Hounds is a natural treat and chew company that puts their focus on quality, one-ingredient snacks for our best friends. They create their products out of 100% meat, making dehydrated jerky, strips, organs, hides, and more! Their products don’t contain any grains, fillers, or extra ingredients that other treats on the market include. Their focus on quality, nutrition, and simplicity sets them apart, and I’m convinced my dog could tell the difference too!
At a Glance: What We Received
About Farm Hounds
What is the Farm Hounds Backstory?
Farm Hounds wasn’t always called Farm Hounds! It began in 2004 as a different company but was still focused on dogs. Initially, it was a dog daycare, boarding, grooming, and training facility in Atlanta. The company began to offer clients an assortment of different foods and treats based on their own personal research of what they would want to feed to their own dogs. The quality treats and foods were a hit!
From there, the business evolved into more of a retail space, selling high-quality food, toys, and treats. In 2015, a farmer brought up the idea of creating all-natural treats and chews, and they were inspired to begin sourcing from farms to dehydrate products from gizzards to chicken feet, to beef ears! Since they were all-natural, high quality, and the only product like it on the market, the treats and chews were a major success. Farm Hounds was officially born and they began their journey by providing “transparently sourced products with ingredients and quality that are beyond reproach”.
What does Farm Hounds do?
Farm Hounds creates dehydrated natural treats and chews for your pups. They create their products out of 100% meat. Their products don’t include any grains, fillers, salt, sugar, glycerin, or other ingredients that different dog treats on the market would include. Farm Hounds takes great pride in sourcing all of their products raw, right from their small farm partners. They’re on a mission to create safe, nutritious, and delicious products by maximizing nutrition during dehydration, while also honoring the work of the farmers who humanely raise the livestock. They’re a transparent company, even letting their customers know what farm each product they receive comes from! As they say, “Know the farm. Trust the product”. With quality dehydrated treats and humane, small farm sourcing at the forefront of the company, Farm Hounds produces excellent products that any dog owner can be confident feeding their furry friend.
What Dogs Are Farm Hounds Product Best Suited For?
Farm Hounds products are suited for any and all dogs! If you have a dog that likes to chew, they’ll definitely enjoy some of the natural beef tendons, chicken feet, or other dehydrated options the company has to offer. If they just want some little snacks throughout the day, Farm Hounds has plenty of jerkys, strips, and training bites to be enjoyed! And if your dog is a picky eater, Farm Hounds has a few options for sprinkle toppings which can be used over your dog’s normal meal, or in enrichment toys.
Overview
Farm Hounds makes its ingredient list pretty simple. What’s in the name is in the product! Interested in the duck jerky? The jerky is made with duck, that’s it. Buying some beef heart? That’s 100% beef heart in the product. How about a hog snout? Yup, you guessed it, it’s a hog snout.
The thing that sets Farm Hounds apart the most is that they create single-ingredient treats with absolutely no fillers, leaving only the best, simply dehydrated products for pups to enjoy. They value using 100% farm-fresh ingredients, and pets are happier and healthier for it. Not sure what to buy? Farm Hounds has a few unique options for different types of treats that they offer.
Chews and Hides: For the Power Chewers
Farm Hounds offers natural chews in a variety of forms, from hairy beef ears to chicken feet, to hog tongue, and that’s just to name a few! The hide options they have available include beef hide rolls, beef hide chips, hog hide rolls, and hog hide chips. (They come in both hairy and non-hairy options!) These dehydrated chews are not only unique and tasty, but offer extra nutrition, while helping to clean your dog’s teeth and gums at the same time. The chews are long-lasting and provide great mental stimulation and enrichment for your pup.
Strips, Jerkys, and Bags: For All Pups
The more traditional treats Farm Hounds offer come in bags and look a little less like the animal they came from but are still made from one animal with no fillers. The strips come in a variety of meat options and are all single-species treats. These strips are made of a mix of the muscle meat from the animal, along with its organs, blood, fat, and bone. The jerky they offer is just dehydrated from farm-fresh muscle meat and is a high-protein snack your pup will love. The final bagged products offered are gizzards (chicken, duck, and turkey) and a variety of organs (beef kidney, pork heart, pork liver, etc.). These bags pack “a nutritional punch”, providing vitamins and minerals that will help to support your pup’s health and well-being.
Toppers: For Picky Pups
Farm Hounds has several topper options that include elk antler sprinkles, leftover sprinkles, and blood sprinkles. The elk antler sprinkles are made from naturally shed antlers and are turned into sprinkles as a way to get the “benefits of the antlers without the risk of hard chewing”. These sprinkles are packed full of zinc, calcium, phosphorus, and copper and are an easy way to add those vitamins and minerals into your dog’s diet. The leftover sprinkles are made with the remnants of the protein of your choice and the type (jerky, strips, or organs) that Farm Hounds has leftover bits of. The nutrition of these sprinkles will depend on which protein and type you choose, as it will mirror that of the bagged product. Finally, dehydrated blood sprinkles are offered for picky pups as a great food topper and are “single-ingredient, single-farm, just blood”. The blood sprinkles are full of protein, iron, riboflavin, and vitamin D, and all sprinkle options help to support zero-waste farming, using every last crumb of the farm animals.
Quality: Good Enough for Your Pup
When you buy a product from Farm Hounds, you always know what farm they worked with to make the product that ends up in your hands! They are transparent in a whole new way, letting the consumer know exactly where that specific product came from by placing the farm name on each product. Not only that, but everything they make is “100% raw animal ingredients, simply dehydrated”. Not one of the Farm Hounds products will contain any sort of grain, filler, sugar, salt, artificial ingredient, chemicals, antibiotics, etc, etc. Their mission is to provide anyone who purchases their products with top quality that their pups will fall in love with. They guarantee you and your dog will love everything they make, regardless of which product it is. The quality and mission of the company will fill anyone with confidence about what they are feeding their dogs, and you will feel “The Farm Hounds difference”.
Reviews of the Farm Hounds Products We Tried
1. Beef Tendons
Beef tendons are great chews for all dogs! The act of chewing these tendons provides great physical and mental enrichment for them, while also helping to naturally clean your dog’s teeth and gums. Giving your dog a chew like this one for ten minutes a day could have a good impact on your dog’s dental health! (Chewing is best when it is limited to fifteen to twenty-minute sessions.) The tendons are also full of collagen which helps support your dog’s skin and joints. You have the option to purchase small or large beef tendons to suit the size of your dog. The tendons also come in different style options such as the backstrap, flexor, hock, or “tail” tendon. These chews are a great price, ranging from about $2 to $5 depending on the size and the style you select!
2. Duck Jerky
Duck jerky is made from dehydrated, farm-fresh, pasture-raised muscle meat, which makes a wonderfully crunchy snack for your dog. Nothing additional is added to this product, and it’s a great low-fat, high-protein treat option! It’s also naturally packed with vitamins and minerals like B12 and niacin. Since the jerky is dehydrated meat with no fillers or grains, the duck jerky can work well as a high-value treat. This high value it holds makes it an awesome treat to use when training your pup. The jerky comes in two bag size options, 3.5 ounces for $16.99 and 6 ounces for $26.99 (with another option for a 3.5-ounce bag of “little pieces”).
Every bag comes with a sticker on the front showing you exactly what farm that animal came from and what partner Farm Hounds worked with. As they say, “Know the farm. Trust the product”. Duck jerky is just one of the many meat options you have to choose from when selecting a dehydrated jerky for your dog to enjoy. There are also other flavor options such as chicken, boar, beef, pork, and turkey.
3. Leftover Sprinkles
Leftover sprinkles are a unique, zero-waste product that uses up all of the leftovers that don’t make it into the Farm Hounds bagged products. By grinding up the leftover bits that aren’t quite the right size or shape for the bags, Farm Hounds is able to utilize every single crumb and make sure everything is used. The sprinkles come in all the protein options: beef, chicken, duck, turkey, and pork. From there, the type can even be chosen! The types of sprinkles are just crumb versions of their other products, so they range from jerky, to strips, to heart, spleen, kidney, liver, gizzards, to lung. They are easy to add on top of any meal or enrichment toys to add more nutrition and fun! The sprinkles are also a great source of vitamins and minerals, just like the bagged products. The sprinkles come in bottles that average about 4 to 5 ounces and cost $13.99. This dehydrated pet food topper may sound expensive, but considering the nutrients and the quality, single ingredient list, these sprinkles are worth the money, plus they’ll last a while!
FAQ
Are chews safe for dogs?
Farm Hounds creates safe, long-lasting chews you can give to your pup. They are great for teeth and gum cleaning as pups chomp away. The act of chewing is already enriching and great mental exercise. However, there is always a small risk when giving your dog something to chew on. The chews should always be monitored to see how your pup will behave. Make sure your dog is chewing at a good pace to prevent any potential injuries.
How do I store the products?
Even though these products are all real meat, they do not need to be stored in the fridge! Since the products are all dehydrated, they are naturally preserved and extremely shelf-stable. It is recommended that the products be stored in a cool, dry place. Bagged products are recommended to be used within 4 weeks after opening, simply to maintain the freshness for your pup!
Can I get a refund if my dog doesn’t like the products?
Yes! Farms Hounds guarantees your satisfaction and will fully refund your purchase and shipping cost if you and your dog are not happy with the product.
My Experience with Farm Hounds Products
When my Farm Hounds products came in, I was over the moon just looking at the goodies. My pup, Elo, perked right up, and he came over to see what I had in my box. He tried the duck jerky first. I had to break off a little piece since it comes in long strips and I wouldn’t want to give him a chunk that large to gobble down. He did the most satisfying “crunch crunch” and then followed me all around the house for the next ten minutes! He was obsessed with the jerky after just getting one little taste and was so pumped to get more.
Next, we tried the beef tendon. Chews can be scary to give out since if they’re too hard, they could break his teeth, and if I’m not paying attention, he could get a big piece stuck in his throat or stomach. After reading about the beef tendons and how helpful they are to clean teeth and knowing that it’s just dehydrated meat, I felt good knowing that it wouldn’t be too hard on Elo’s teeth and that the possibility of him ingesting a chunk was probably much lower. Of course, I still sat near him and monitored him while he chewed, but he loved the tendon! Whenever Elo has his paws on something good that he wants to keep, he’ll turn around so his back is to me so that I can’t see. When he got this beef tendon, he turned right around! He wanted to have it all to himself and didn’t want anyone to take it from him. I let him chew the whole thing as his snack that day and it took him about 25 minutes or so! He’s a power chewer and snack master, so he can get through some enrichment toys in 15 minutes and some chews faster too. I was pleased that this one did seem to slow him down and provide extra stimulation.
The next product I wanted to try were the leftover sprinkles because they seemed so fun and unique. Elo isn’t a very picky eater since he loves food, so adding sprinkles to his kibble seemed a bit silly. However, I prep lots of enrichment toys and snacks throughout the week and thought the sprinkles could add great flavor and intrigue to some of those items! I did my usual prep with ingredients like bone broth, some nonfat Greek yogurt, and a little peanut butter here and there. I sprinkled the leftover crumbs over top of all the snacks, and set them to freeze. Elo absolutely loved them when they came out of the freezer and I loved making his snack time even more fun with the sprinkles.
Conclusion
Farm Hounds creates single-ingredient, quality chews and treats with no fillers, grains, sugars, or any other junk that gets added to our dog’s store-bought treats. It can be hard to know what is good for our dogs with the overwhelming amount of options in stores and online, but Farm Hounds makes it so easy! They source from small, family-run farms to support regenerative agriculture and humane farming practices. They dehydrate high-quality treats and chews packed with nutrition to support health and well-being. And they are transparent with the consumers about what farm the product came from! Both me and my dog are now obsessed with Farm Hounds products as they create treats and chews that any dog would be happy to get their paws on.