Pets Love Fresh Review: Fresh, Freeze Dried, Air Dried, Tried and Tested

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Pets Love Fresh has quietly become one of the most flexible fresh feeders in the country. What began as a fresh frozen specialist now stretches across gently cooked fresh meals, shelf-stable freeze dried food, handy toppers and a tempting line of natural treats, all single-protein and human-grade.

We have fed it, weighed it and watched our own fussy pups tuck in, so here is the full lowdown.

photograph : pets love fresh

Quick answer

With a strong nutritional rating, clever storage, a great-value Taster Pack and now a full spread of formats from fresh frozen to freeze dried, Pets Love Fresh is well worth a closer look, whether you want a full fresh diet or simply a tasty topper to win over a fussy pup.

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The Range At-A-Glance

Format	What it is / best for	Storage	Price from
Fresh Frozen	Gently cooked complete meal	Freezer; 5 days in fridge once defrosted	Taster Pack £12.95
Freeze Dried Complete	Shelf-stable full meal, rehydrate and serve	Cupboard	£9.99
Freeze Dried Toppers	Scatter over the bowl to tempt fussy eaters	Cupboard	£4.49
Freeze Dried Treats	Light, single-protein training rewards	Cupboard	£3.99
Air Dried Treats	Denser, chewier natural treat	Cupboard	£3.99

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Pets Love Fresh has been evaluated using our dog food testing process so you can trust our recommendations.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• The Pets Love Fresh Review
  • 1. Who are Pets Love Fresh?
  • 2. Pets Love Fresh Review - Ordering
  • 3. Pets Love Fresh Review - The Food
  • 4. Pets Love Fresh Review - Price
• Our Verdict
• The Rivals
• FAQs

The Pets Love Fresh Review

1. Who are Pets Love Fresh?

Founded in 2020, Pets Love Fresh is a British fresh dog food brand built on a simple promise: real, human-grade ingredients, gently prepared and delivered to your door.

Recipes are single-protein and free from grains, fillers and buckwheat, with the numbers to back it up. A very high 75% for their fresh range and 82% for their Freeze dried recipes on the independent nutritional ratings website, All About Dog Food (AADF), plus a glowing 95% five-star score on Trustpilot.

There are lots of positive comments from dog lovers with fussy dogs.

📷 photograph : smart bark

It's definitely worth considering Pets Love Fresh if you're looking for a high quality dog food. Alternatively you could use it as a highly nutritious topper when added to a good grade kibble.

 Plus, the convenience of home delivery means no more hauling heavy bags to and from the car.

📷 photograph : smart bark

So what did we think in testing ?

2. Pets Love Fresh Review - Ordering

Ordering is refreshingly simple. Pick your food type and proteins, choose a delivery schedule to suit your freezer or your cupboard, and it arrives by free next-day delivery (orders over £40).

If it's the fresh food you're interested in trying then new customers can dip a toe in with the £12.95 Taster Pack, everything you need to try fresh feeding without committing to a full order.

The great value Taster Pack includes 3x 600g chubs of the Simply Chicken recipe (gentle on tummies so perfect for trials), a bamboo chopping board and a fridge container.

We think that offering a specific bamboo board to prepare your dog's food is going to go down well with a lot of dog lovers.

📷📷 photograph : smart bark

Let’s talk about their storage solution. Their clever container fits in your fridge door and is designed to be flexible holding both sizes of chub (1kg & 600g). In testing, we loved this smart solution as it helps keep your fridge clean and organised whilst maximising the freshness of your dog food.

If it's their freeze-dried range you're interested in, at £9.99 for a single pack, it is an easy, low-risk way to test the waters. Handy for trialling on a fussy pup before you commit, and a proper travel hero for holidays and homes tight on freezer space.

We love these options because changing dog foods is a big decision so trialling without spending a fortune is a very sensible approach.

3. Pets Love Fresh Review - The Food

Food is where Pets Love Fresh shines, and you now have three ways to serve it: fresh frozen, freeze dried, or a happy mix of both. So let's delve into what they offer.

Fresh Frozen

Their original range is gently cooked then flash frozen to lock in the goodness, arriving as neat cylindrical chubs in 600g or 1kg.

📷 photograph : pets love fresh

The range consists of 4 proteins - chicken, beef, pork & duck, with a dedicated puppy recipe for growing pups.

Pets Love Fresh dog food arrives frozen, and you simply defrost one chub at a time, as you need it. Once defrosted, we loved that you simply cut the roll at any point, dice the food and dish up!

Importantly, the remaining food lasts up to 5 days in the fridge.

In testing, we'd describe the texture of their fresh dog food as smooth and thick pâté-like, very similar to Forthglade wet food, easy to portion and kind on sensitive tums.

The individual ingredients aren't distinct, but is this an issue? It really comes down to personal preference - yours and more importantly your dog's!

📷 photograph : smart bark

Comparing it with other high-quality fresh foods, Pets Love Fresh works out to be more expensive than Marleybones and Wilsons. Maybe where it wins is on the breadth of their overall range.

Freeze Dried Complete

Let's take a closer look at the newest addition to their food line-up, and it's a cracking one. Freeze Dried Complete (chicken or beef, with sweet potato, peas and apple) brings the same real-ingredient ethos in a shelf-stable, feed-anywhere format.

📷 photograph : smart bark

Clever stuff, this. Rather than blasting the food with heat like kibble, freeze drying gently coaxes the moisture out at low temperatures, hanging on to up to 97% of the natural nutrients.

The upshot? Close to raw goodness, minus the freezer faff.

A quick word on handling. Because Pets Love Fresh freeze dried is made without heat, it keeps all its raw, natural goodness, but that also means it should be handled just like any raw food.

Wash your hands and your dog's bowl after serving, and store it sensibly. Nothing to fret over, just good kitchen sense.

With the water whisked away, it is featherlight too, so it slips into your overnight bag a treat when you want something small, light and fuss-free to pack.

Serving is a doddle. Splash on warm water for a soft, fresh-style meal, or dish it out dry as a topper. Your dog, your call.

📷 photograph : smart bark

Just one thing to keep in mind. With nearly all the moisture stripped out, dry freeze dried is a lot like kibble, your dog gets very little water from the bowl itself.

Fresh and raw food, by contrast, is around 70 to 80% water and quietly does a big chunk of your dog's hydrating for them. So a pup switched onto dry freeze dried will want to drink a fair bit more to make up the shortfall.

Easily sorted. Either keep a bowl of fresh water down at all times and let them top up as they go, or rehydrate the food before serving, the smarter move for dogs that are not keen drinkers, older dogs, or any pup prone to urinary or kidney niggles.

A good splash of warm water pops the moisture straight back in and turns it into a soft, fresh-style meal.

In testing, we added warm water and the pieces drank it in fully after about 4 minutes. Handily, any water left pooling in the bowl got happily slurped up along with the food, hydration sorted without a second thought.

One word of warning: it does not come cheap. A full freeze dried diet for a 15kg dog tops £10 a day, a stretch for most budgets. So we would suggest that you consider using it as a high quality, nutrient-packed topper instead.

Is it any good? Undoubtedly. It bags a hearty 82% on AADF, and Freddie woofed it down in seconds. At 80% single protein, it is a smart shout for allergy-prone pups too.

Freeze Dried Toppers

Talking of toppers, Pets Love Fresh also offer two Freeze Dried Toppers (turkey or fish, £4.49). These are made to scatter over your dog’s existing food. They aim to add a burst of protein, aroma and flavour that can turn a turned-up nose into a clean bowl.

📷 photograph : smart bark

Think of it as parmesan for pups, a good shake of savoury goodness over the everyday bowl.

It is a fairly low-cost, low-commitment way to sprinkle a little fresh magic over mealtimes.

Got a picky pup? This is where these little shakers earn their keep. Made from 80% turkey or salmon and white fish, they pack a proper aromatic punch, and that irresistible whiff is catnip to fussy noses.

Freeze Dried Treats

Beyond the bowl, Pets Love Fresh rounds things off with two kinds of natural treat, both single-protein.

📷 photograph : smart bark

Small but mighty. Light and single-protein, these come in venison, chicken, beef and pork with sweet potato at £3.99 a bag.

Their dinky size makes them ideal for repetitive, reward-based training, you can pack a fair few into your hand or treat bag without a scramble, and single protein keeps them kind to sensitive tums.

That said, they really are little, so we would file them under small-breed territory. For a Labrador they would barely touch the sides, gone in one gulp with hardly a crumb to show for it, so bigger dogs may be better served by the chunkier air dried treats below.

Air Dried Treats

For dogs that like to work a little harder for their reward, the Air Dried Treats are slowly dried in gently warmed air for a chewier, more robust bite.

📷 photograph : smart bark

These smell like the real deal, proper meaty, and though they are feather-light, they punch well above their weight.

Noticeably bigger and chewier than the dinky freeze dried treats, they are easily torn into smaller pieces when you need them to go further (don't tell your dog).

Take your pick from Chicken, Beef and Turkey, and a special mention to the Turkey, Cranberries and Sage, which honestly smelt like Sunday roast gravy.

One word to the wise: they are on the crumbly side, so we would not go stuffing a pocketful in before a dog walk unless you fancy a surprise later.

4. Pets Love Fresh Review - Price

We have crunched the numbers using Pets Love Fresh's own feeding guidelines. Bear in mind these are a guide, real costs will shift a little depending on your dog's age, activity levels and appetite.

100% Fresh

🐾 Small dog (6kg): £3.22 a day

🐾 Medium (12kg): £5.26 a day

🐾 Large (26kg): £9.20 a day

100% Freeze-dried

🐾 Small dog (6kg): £5.73 a day

🐾 Medium (12kg): £9.46 a day

🐾 Large (26kg): £16.72 a day

25% Freeze-dried

🐾 Small dog (6kg): £1.43 a day

🐾 Medium (12kg): £2.36 a day

🐾 Large (26kg): £4.18 a day

That topper approach is the sweet spot for most of us, a hit of premium nutrition sprinkled over the everyday bowl, without the full freeze dried price tag.

And there are a few easy ways to trim the daily cost even further:

⭐️ Use the Smart Bark discount code for 20% off

⭐️ Buy the larger 1kg Chubs, they work out cheaper per gram than the 600g Chubs

⭐️ Sign up for Subscribe and Save for 5% off your total order

⭐️ Join the Loyalty Scheme

Our Verdict

Pets Love Fresh has grown from a fresh dog food brand into one of the most versatile fresh food brands around.

Whether you want a full fresh diet, a shelf-stable freeze dried meal for travel, a topper to tempt a fussy pup, or a pocketful of natural treats, there is a food or treat to fit, all built on the same real-ingredient, single-protein, human-grade promise. 

One highlight for us has to be the design of the clever storage solution for the fresh/frozen range.

The freeze dried dog food is cutting edge and whilst expensive as a complete diet makes an excellent nutritional topper as do the freeze dried fish and turkey toppers.

It is expensive, so maybe chose wisely from their range.

The bottom line is that Pets Love Fresh ticks a lot of boxes for us and we recommend you take a closer look at what they have to offer.

Get 20% OFF Pets Love Fresh

with discount code 20BYSMARTBARK or click here

View Pets Love Fresh

The Rivals

📷 photograph : shutterstock

Over the years Smart Bark had fully tested and reviewed several fresh dog foods. If you're interested, we take a look at some of the best in - Best Fresh Dog Foods : Tested & Reviewed

For a premium, freeze dried alternative, see our RAWR review: RAWR leads on meat content and nutrition score, while Pets Love Fresh undercuts it on price and offers more formats to choose from.

FAQs

Do you need to add water to freeze dried dog food?

Fed dry, freeze dried food holds very little moisture, so your dog gets almost none of their water from the bowl. Keep fresh water down at all times, or rehydrate the food with warm water before serving. Rehydrating is the smarter option for older dogs, fussy drinkers, or any pup prone to urinary or kidney issues.

Is Pets Love Fresh freeze dried food raw?

Yes. It is made without heat, the moisture is drawn out under vacuum, so it keeps its raw, natural nutrition. As with any raw food, freeze drying preserves goodness rather than cooking out bacteria, so wash your hands and your dog's bowl as normal, just as you would with fresh raw.

How long does Pets Love Fresh freeze dried last once opened?

Reseal the bag and use it within 7 days, stored somewhere cool and dry. Unopened, it is shelf-stable and cupboard-friendly, which is exactly what makes it such a handy travel and holiday option.

How do I switch my dog to Pets Love Fresh?

Take it slowly. Transition over 5 to 7 days, mixing a little Pets Love Fresh in with your dog's current food and increasing the amount each day. A gradual swap keeps sensitive tummies settled.

How much does Pets Love Fresh cost?F

ed as a full fresh diet it works out from around £3.22 a day for a small dog, £5.26 for a medium and £9.20 for a large. Freeze dried as a complete meal costs more, but used as a 25% topper it drops to roughly £1.43 to £4.18 a day depending on your dog's size. Smart Bark readers also get 20% off with code 20BYSMARTBARK.

Is Pets Love Fresh good for fussy dogs?

It is one of its strengths. The fresh and freeze dried recipes are highly palatable, and the toppers are made to tempt even the pickiest eater.

What is the difference between freeze dried and air dried?

Freeze drying removes moisture at very low temperatures for a light, rehydratable food. Air drying uses gentle warm air for a denser, chewier bite.

Are freeze dried treats good for training?

Yes. They are light, single-protein and easy to break into small pieces, which makes them ideal for reward-based training.