Grandma Lucy’s Dog Food Review 2024

Grandma Lucy’s is a pet food brand that’s been around for more than 20 years. It’s known for its freeze-dried dog foods and oven-baked treats which are made with whole ingredients you can find at a farmers’ market. Grandma Lucy’s strives to help companion animals live healthier lives through solution-based feeding; the company believes that many common ailments can be fixed simply by changing the diet. With Grandma Lucy’s, pet parents can serve their furchildren fresh food in minutes without slaving over a hot stove. 

Is Grandma Lucy’s the right food for your pup? Read on to learn about its recipes, pros and cons, history, and more!

Grandma Lucy’s offers several grain-free and grain-inclusive freeze-dried dog food recipes under five product lines. Let’s take a closer look at each one!

Artisan

The original Grandma Lucy’s line, Artisan combines digestibility and palatability, making it ideal for introducing dogs to freeze-dried pet food and home-prepared diets. It’s also good for puppies thanks to the carbs that help maintain a healthy weight through growth stages. 

Artisan is made with high-quality, whole food ingredients that include a range of proteins. Each recipe starts with chicken, pork, lamb, or venison, followed by fruits and vegetables such as potatoes, flaxseed, sweet potatoes, bananas, blueberries, and pumpkin. There’s also a pre-mix option where you can add your own protein.  

Artisan freeze-dried dog food is available in the following flavors:

• Chicken
• Pork
• Lamb
• Venison
• Pre-Mix

Pureformance

Do you have an active pup? Pureformance features chickpeas that serve as a long-lasting and steady source of energy throughout the day. This line is also recommended for dogs who need to manage their weight as it keeps them feeling full, and for dogs with itchy skin or paws due to its low starch content. 

All Pureformance recipes begin with an animal-based protein such as pollock, chicken, lamb, and rabbit. Next are the chickpeas, then other fruits and veggies like carrots, celery, apples, cranberries, papaya, and spinach. This line also includes a pre-mix option that doesn’t contain animal protein.

Pureformance freeze-dried dog food is available in the following flavors:

• Fish
• Chicken
• Lamb
• Rabbit
• Pre-Mix

Macanna

Macanna is Grandma Lucy’s award-winning superfood line made with hemp hearts, coconut, and kale. Other ingredients include pinto beans, carrots, pumpkin, blueberries, and turmeric. And like all Grandma Lucy’s dog foods, these recipes start with an animal protein such as beef, salmon, and turkey. If you’d like to add your own protein, there’s a pre-mix option as well. 

Macanna’s superfood ingredients boast anti-inflammatory benefits and digestive support, making it a great choice for senior pups and dogs with food sensitivities. 

Macanna freeze-dried dog food is available in the following flavors:

• Beef
• Salmon
• Turkey
• Pre-Mix

Moxie

Moxie is Grandma Lucy’s high-protein line that was created with feedback from customers. Packed with 93% protein, these recipes are an excellent alternative for pet parents who would like the benefits of raw feeding without having to worry about raw meat coming into contact with very young or immunocompromised family members. 

Served as a full meal or topper, Moxie is primarily made with muscle meats and organ meats including beef, chicken, beef liver, beef kidneys, chicken liver, and chicken gizzards. It also contains fruits and vegetables such as sunflower seeds, squash, coconut, beets, apples, and kale.

Moxie freeze-dried dog food is available in the following flavors:

• Beef
• Chicken

3 Bears

3 Bears is Grandma Lucy’s first grain-inclusive line. Each recipe lists chicken, beef, or pollock as the first ingredient followed by organ meats and/or rolled oats. It also contains a variety of fruits and vegetables including coconut, kale, cranberries, turmeric, and ginger.

In addition to being healthy, 3 Bears is “dog food with a purpose.” Every bag sold provides meals to active service and therapy dogs, so you’re not only helping your furbaby live a healthy life, but also supporting other canines. 

3 Bears freeze-dried dog food is available in the following flavors:

• Chicken
• Beef 
• Fish

Here are some of the things that make Grandma Lucy's a highly rated dog food. 

Made with high-quality ingredients

Grandma Lucy’s is committed to using ingredients of the highest quality from trusted suppliers. Its recipes never contain any meat meals, by-products, preservatives, antibiotics, added hormones, GMOs, or feed-grade ingredients. Furthermore, Grandma Lucy’s requires all of its suppliers to sign a vendor promise stating the ingredient’s country of origin and that ingredients are tested for E. coli, Salmonella, lead, arsenic, and more.

Convenient

Grandma Lucy’s makes it easy for pet parents to feed their pups home-cooked meals. No need to grocery shop or cook; just add warm water! Grandma Lucy’s freeze-dried dog foods are shelf-stable so they don’t require refrigeration and can be brought on the go. 

Manufactured in-house

Grandma Lucy’s manufactures all of its products in small batches in its own facility to ensure quality and safety. The company follows a strict HACCP plan and has SOPs for every product it makes. These SOPs ensure that ingredients are stored and prepared properly to reduce the risk of cross contaminations. Test results from suppliers are received prior to raw ingredients entering the facility, and finished products are tested prior to shipping. 

Gives back

Grandma Lucy’s believes in giving back and has done so from the beginning. Through its nonprofit charitable initiative, Project Pet RAK (Random Acts of Kindness), the company supports therapy and service dogs and dogs in need. 

Family owned

Family owned and operated since 1999, Grandma Lucy’s is committed to thinking big while staying small. The company takes pride in listening to what customers want and need when designing new products and in owning its own facility which allows for complete control of its processes from start to finish.

Pet parents may want to consider the following before buying Grandma Lucy’s. 

Texture

Some pet parents mentioned that the reconstituted food had a mushy consistency like cereal or oatmeal.

Some dogs won’t eat it

Some pet parents said their dogs turned up their noses at certain flavors, so you may have to try different recipes to see what your pup likes. 

Lack of puppy and senior recipes

While all recipes are suitable for all life stages, there are no options specifically for puppies or senior dogs. 

“My dogs love this food. Easy to rehydrate. You can see the real pieces of chicken in it.”

“Our beautiful Husky mix shows very little interest in her dry kibble... until we sprinkle a little of this on top, add in a bit of warm water, and make her a ‘stew’. Then she gobbles it down with no complaint. Awesome stuff!”

“I could not find a commercially produced food without an ingredient my Pit was allergic [to], until I found this. She LOVES this food and it was truly a [godsend]. For those worried about the garlic, like I was at first, her blood work at the vet after 6 months on this food was perfect. 10/10, would definitely recommend.”

Read more reviews on Chewy.

Based in sunny Southern California, Grandma Lucy’s was founded by husband-and-wife team Eric and Breann Shook in 1999. At the time, their 11-year-old English Cocker Spaniel Lucy had become a very picky eater. After unsuccessfully finding something that Lucy would like, the Shooks began looking into what pet food and treats were made of and were surprised to learn about the low-quality ingredients that often went into these products. So they started home cooking Lucy’s meals and treats, which she loved.

Seeing how much Lucy enjoyed her healthy homemade food, the Shooks wanted to offer these to other dogs and pet parents too. They purchased their first freeze dryer and began selling their freeze-dried meatball treats at community events in Orange County, California, working on their business while going to college. To keep up with the demand, they would bribe their friends with pizza and beer to help hand-roll the meatballs!

In 2007, following the huge melamine pet food recall, Eric and Breann created Artisan, the company’s first complete and balanced pet food. They introduced their popular oven-baked organic cookies that same year as well. In 2013, Grandma Lucy’s moved into its current location, which used to be a human food manufacturing facility. The company also purchased three new freeze dryers, doubling its freeze drying capacity.

Today, Grandma Lucy’s continues to think big but stay small and family owned. Both Breann and Eric have received awards for their achievements and contributions in the pet food industry. 

Grandma Lucy’s has had zero recalls since it was founded in 1999.