Get Real by Chewy Dog Food Review: Freya Puts Chewy’s Fresh Food to the Test

I’ve been ordering from Chewy for years, so when I heard they had their own line of fresh dog food, I was curious to see how it compared to the other brands Freya has tried. Get Real by Chewy features gently cooked, human-grade recipes made with a relatively short list of recognizable ingredients. You can order complete meals or smaller portions to mix into your dog’s existing food, which makes it a little more flexible than some fresh-food subscriptions.

We started with the sampler box, and Freya has already made her opinion pretty clear.

Get Real from Chewy

Get Real by Chewy makes fresh feeding easy with gently cooked, human-grade dog food made from simple, recognizable ingredients. Choose from three single-protein recipes and flexible plans for complete meals, mixers or toppers. Everything arrives frozen and pre-portioned, ready to thaw and serve.

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Get Real Dog Food at a Glance

The Most Important Question: Did Freya Actually Like Get Real?

Yes! And considering how unpredictable her appetite has become lately, that’s a bigger endorsement than it might sound.

We started with the Beef & Sweet Potato recipe. Freya was curled up on her Scooby-Doo blanket on the couch (her preferred spot when she’s settling in for a nap), but the smell of something new was apparently interesting enough to get her up and investigating.

She ate half the portion immediately and finished the rest within about 15 minutes. The important part is that she liked it enough to leave her comfortable spot and eat without any coaxing. These days, that’s exactly what I want to see.

Get Real Dog Food Pros and Cons

Our Real-World Experience With Get Real by Chewy

The Sampler Box Is a Nice Way to Start

Chewy offers a Try It & Love It Sampler Box with six 5-ounce packages of each of the three recipes, for 18 packages total, which is what they sent for Freya.

It gives us a chance to try the Chicken & Brussels Sprouts, Beef & Sweet Potato and Turkey & Cranberry recipes without filling the freezer with a month’s worth of food she might decide she doesn’t like.

For dogs with unpredictable appetites, I think this is particularly useful. I’ve learned not to assume that Freya will love something just because it has ingredients she usually enjoys.

Ordering Is Super Flexible

If you decide to order a regular Get Real meal plan, Chewy gives you three main options based on how much fresh food you want to feed:

• 100% Full Meals: Get Real replaces your dog’s regular food.
• 40–50% Mixer: Fresh food makes up roughly half of your dog’s meals.
• 20–30% Topper: A smaller portion of fresh food supplements their regular diet.

I like that you can choose how much fresh food fits your dog’s routine and your budget. You don’t have to go all-in to try it.

You can also choose which recipes to include. If your dog can’t eat chicken, for example, you can select just beef and turkey. If they love all three, you can rotate between them.

Delivery schedules are flexible, too. You can choose shipments every two or four weeks.

The two-week option is especially helpful if you’re short on freezer space, although it does cost slightly more per day. When I checked, the difference ranged from about $0.15 to $0.46 daily, depending on the plan. That isn’t an enormous difference, but it’s worth considering if you’re trying to keep your feeding costs down.

Thawing and Serving Are Pretty Straightforward

The food arrives frozen, so you’ll need to plan ahead a little. The 5-oz packages took less than 16 hours to defrost. I didn’t actually time it. I just put it in the fridge at 4PM and it was ready at 8AM.

For larger packages, I would say take them out 24 hours ahead of time, though, just to be safe. Once thawed, the food is easy to portion and serve. There’s no cooking involved, and the smaller packages are particularly convenient when you’re using Get Real as a topper or mixer rather than a full meal.

Why Freya’s Reaction Matters More Than It Used To

A few years ago, Freya would enthusiastically investigate almost any new food I put in front of her. She was an easy dog to test food with because she was generally excited by anything new.

Things have changed. Freya has heart disease now, and between her condition and the medications she takes, her appetite can be all over the place.

Some days she’s interested in food right away. Other days she waits to see whether we’ll offer something better because we’re getting desperate for her to eat. So I’ve had to adjust how I judge her reactions.

I’m no longer looking for the dog who dives into a bowl like she hasn’t eaten in three days. I’m looking for the dog who voluntarily gets off her comfortable couch, investigates a new food and actually eats it without negotiating for something else. That’s what happened with Get Real.

Who Should Try Get Real by Chewy?

I think Get Real makes the most sense for dog parents who want to add fresh, gently cooked food to their dog’s diet without preparing it themselves.

It’s especially worth considering if:

• Your dog prefers fresh food over traditional kibble.
• You want human-grade ingredients and relatively simple recipes.
• You like the idea of fresh feeding but don’t want to cook homemade meals.
• You want the flexibility to serve fresh food as a complete meal, mixer or topper.
• Your dog does better with consistent ingredients between recipes.
• You want to try several proteins without committing to a large order.
• You already shop with Chewy and appreciate having your dog’s food delivered through a familiar retailer.

What Makes Get Real Different?

Human-Grade Ingredients and Gentle Cooking

Get Real uses human-grade ingredients, including real meat, vegetables and fruits. The food is gently cooked rather than served raw, then frozen to preserve freshness.

Chewy also keeps the ingredient lists relatively short, with 10 main ingredients or fewer, plus the vitamins and minerals needed to make the recipes nutritionally complete.

Single-Protein Recipes Without Hidden Chicken

This is one of my favorite things about Get Real. All three recipes use a single animal protein. The beef recipe doesn’t contain chicken tucked somewhere farther down the ingredient list, and neither does the turkey recipe.

That makes it easier to choose a recipe for dogs who need to avoid a particular protein.

Consistent Ingredients Make Rotating Recipes Easier

All three recipes share several core ingredients, including sweet potatoes, carrots, cranberries and Brussels sprouts. The main differences are the animal protein and one of the green vegetables, such as kale, spinach or broccoli.

Some dogs don’t handle frequent diet changes particularly well. By keeping most of the ingredients consistent, Chewy makes it easier to offer different proteins without introducing an entirely different collection of foods each time.

I’d Still Like to See More Recipe Variety

While I appreciate the consistency, I would love to see Chewy expand the lineup. Right now, if your dog doesn’t tolerate or enjoy one of the main vegetables shared by all three recipes, there isn’t much room to work around it.

Freya, for example, doesn’t really love cranberries. I’ve watched her pick visible cranberries out of other foods and spit them across the room. Such great manners, right? That said, she didn’t seem bothered by the cranberries in Get Real. My guess is that they’re incorporated well enough that the flavor doesn’t stand out.

And no, I’m not tasting the food myself to find out how noticeable they are. There are limits to my dedication to product testing.

What’s in Get Real Dog Food?

We started with the Beef & Sweet Potato recipe, so that’s the one I’m focusing on here. Get Real combines a single animal protein with vegetables, fruit and added vitamins and minerals. Here’s a closer look at the main ingredients and what they contribute.

The biggest thing I look for in a fresh dog food isn’t simply whether I recognize the ingredients. It’s whether those ingredients are combined into a nutritionally complete recipe.

Get Real is formulated to meet AAFCO nutritional standards for all life stages, so it’s intended to provide complete nutrition rather than functioning only as an occasional treat or topper.

What to Know Before Ordering Get Real

You’ll Need Freezer Space

Get Real arrives frozen, so you’ll need room to store it.

The sampler box is manageable because the portions are small, but a full meal plan for a large dog will obviously require more space.

If freezer space is limited, consider the two-week delivery schedule rather than receiving a full month’s worth of food at once.

You’ll pay a little more per day, but that may be preferable to reorganizing your entire freezer around your dog’s dinner.

Chewy actually has a handy little “will it fit” size chart that shows you what to expect space-wise. I really love that extra little touch.

You Don’t Have to Feed It Exclusively

I think this is worth emphasizing because fresh dog food can be expensive, particularly for larger breeds.

Get Real offers full meal, mixer and topper plans, so you can choose how much fresh food to include.

If you’re interested in trying fresh feeding but aren’t ready to replace your dog’s entire diet, the topper option is a reasonable place to start.

Just make sure you’re adjusting portions appropriately so you’re not simply adding extra calories on top of an already complete daily diet.

Transition Gradually

Even if your dog is enthusiastic about Get Real, it’s best to introduce it gradually rather than abruptly replacing their regular food.

That gives their digestive system time to adjust and makes it easier to identify any problems.

This is particularly important for dogs with sensitive stomachs or existing health conditions.

You’re Ordering From Chewy

This is a pretty significant selling point for me. I’ve been a Chewy customer for years, and their customer service is among the best I’ve experienced in any industry, not just the pet industry.

In all the years I’ve ordered from them, I can’t remember a single time they didn’t make an issue right within about an hour of my contacting them.

That includes situations that weren’t even Chewy’s fault, like FedEx failing to deliver something on time.

I realize that doesn’t tell you anything about the nutritional quality of Get Real. But it does matter when you’re trusting a company to deliver frozen food your dog depends on.

Knowing how Chewy has handled problems for me in the past gives me a lot of confidence in ordering from them.

Final Verdict: Is Get Real by Chewy Worth Trying?

Based on our initial experience, yes. I think Get Real is a welcome addition to Chewy’s lineup, and Freya certainly seems to agree.

I like the simple recipes, the flexibility to choose between complete meals and smaller portions, and the fact that you can rotate proteins without changing every other ingredient in your dog’s bowl.

I’d still like to see more recipe variety, especially for dogs who don’t tolerate some of the vegetables shared across all three options.

And while the food is convenient once it’s thawed, you do have to plan ahead and make room in your freezer.

But those are relatively minor considerations compared to what matters most to me right now: Freya actually wanted to eat it.

She got off her beloved Scooby-Doo blanket, investigated her bowl and ate without waiting to see whether I’d come back with something better.

For a dog whose appetite has become increasingly unpredictable, that means quite a bit.

Get Real from Chewy

Get Real by Chewy makes fresh feeding easy with gently cooked, human-grade dog food made from simple, recognizable ingredients. Choose from three single-protein recipes and flexible plans for complete meals, mixers or toppers. Everything arrives frozen and pre-portioned, ready to thaw and serve.

BEST DEAL ON THE WEB

SAVE 50% OFF YOUR FIRST FULL ORDER

Check Price

We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.