Happy HowlWhere it started:Rocky changedeverything andI never set out to start a dog food company.My husky Rocky had the worst stomach on the planet. Years of vet visits, prescription diets, and hundreds spent on premium food brands. We tried everything. Nothing worked.So I decided to build it myself. 36 recipe iterations. Countless hours with vets and nutritionists. All chasing one question: what’s the best food we could possibly make for a dog? When we finally got it right, Rocky was the proof.He hasn't been sick in over 18 months. He runs three miles with me every morning. That's the standard every Happy Howl bowl is held to. Nothing less.Colin Buckley– Founder
Happy Howl (thehappyhowl.com) has 4,371 customer reviews on Five Star Index, with an average rating of 4.3 out of 5.
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Valued Happy Howl C.
The dogs love the food, easy to work with and store.
Response from Happy HowlAug 22, 2025
We’re so glad to hear your dogs love the food! It’s great that you find it easy to work with and store too. Thank you for sharing!
Ariadna M.
Great food my dogs love and also great joint supplements
Response from Happy HowlAug 22, 2025
We’re so glad to hear your dogs love the food! 🐾 It’s great that the joint supplements are also making a positive difference. Thank you for sharing your experience!
Frank C.
The food is actually pretty good and my dogs enjoy it. But customer service is terrible. On two occasions now, they shipped me orders that I did not authorize, and they charged them to my credit card also without my authorization. They refuse to make good on it. They would not refund my amount even though the shipment hadn't shipped yet, according to UPS. In their response, they say that they can't refund after the label is created, but it should say they choose not to. UPS was clear with me that they had not even received the packages yet so they could have easily stopped that. But they told me that it was too late because UPS already had them. So it was a lie. My credit card company finally gave me my money back and charged it back to them. This just happened for the second time, even after I had cancelled that subscription months earlier.
Response from Happy HowlAug 22, 2025
Hi Frank! We're sorry to hear this issue. It looks like you had an active subscription set up under your email associated with this review and after investigating our customer service tickets, it doesn't appear that you had ever requested the subscription to be cancelled. it also looks like our customer service team was able to intercept one of the shipped cases from your order (which is not always possible) and redirected it back to us and a refund was subsequently issued. For the other order your referencing where your credit card company reimbursed your funds, it looks like that order was delivered to your home address and never returned to us. Please let me know if you would like any further insight for your records. Thank you!
Royanne N.
Initially I was going home about happy hour. I dog is a very picky eater and she would like a food for a day or two and then not eat it. With happy how she loved it and I was really happy about that. It also seemed to cure a skin condition that she's had since she was a puppy. So initially I was really happy with this food. But then I took her to the vet and she has lost 6 lb for a 40 lb dog that's a lot of weight. And I started looking at the composition of the food. There's only 7% protein in a box of this food. And the calories aren't that much. There's no evidence anywhere on the website of the that the food is complete because it's not. I'm very disappointed I'm going to have to find some other food for this dog. Like 80% of the dog food is water. Very disappointed.
Response from Happy HowlAug 22, 2025
Thank you for sharing your experience with Happy Howl. We’re genuinely sorry to hear about your recent concerns, and we’d like to clarify a few key points to ensure you’re getting the most accurate and complete information about our food. 1. Protein Content (7% vs. 30% Dry Matter Basis) While our guaranteed analysis shows 7% protein as-fed, this is standard for gently cooked or wet foods due to moisture content. To accurately compare our food to kibble or dry food, you must use a dry matter basis (DMB)—which removes water from the equation. On a dry matter basis, Happy Howl contains 30% protein, which is actually higher than many leading kibble brands. We’d be happy to share the exact dry matter breakdown if helpful. 2. Calorie Density Happy Howl is formulated to be nutrient-dense but calorie-controlled, which is ideal for many dogs—especially those who are inactive or prone to weight gain. However, every dog’s caloric needs vary, especially if they’re highly active, young, or underweight. We recommend adjusting portion size or adding a topper to increase calories if needed. We also offer free one-on-one onboarding to help tailor feeding amounts based on your dog’s activity level and metabolism. 3. Completeness & Balanced Nutrition Happy Howl is 100% complete and balanced according to AAFCO standards for adult dogs. Our food contains all required vitamins, minerals, and amino acids—this is something we take extremely seriously. If this was unclear, we’ll ensure it’s made more prominent on our website and packaging. You can view our full nutritional panel and AAFCO statement here: [Link to product nutritional info page] 4. Water Content It’s true that gently cooked foods like Happy Howl contain more moisture than kibble—but this is a good thing. Dogs are biologically designed to eat moisture-rich diets. Most kibble is only 10% moisture, leading to chronic dehydration over time. Our food contains around 70–75% moisture, which supports digestion, kidney health, and overall hydration. 5. Weight Loss We’re so sorry to hear about your dog’s weight loss. However, rapid or unintentional weight loss is rarely caused by food composition alone—it may signal an underlying health condition or incorrect feeding amount. We strongly encourage dog parents to monitor weight regularly and adjust feeding as needed. We also offer ongoing customer support to help troubleshoot these kinds of issues and prevent problems before they arise. Additionally, it has been proven that dogs that have calories restricted by 15% in comparison to standard caloric feeding schedules live on average 30% longer compared to dogs that are fed the standardized recommended caloric intake for maintenance. While we don't always recommend dog owners follow this, it is important to consider when thinking about dogs overall longevity. We’re proud to have helped improve your dog’s skin condition, and it sounds like she really enjoyed the food. We’d love the opportunity to continue supporting you and your pup with personalized guidance—just reach out to our customer care team at [email protected].
Mars M.
Their policy allows for almost no refunds if the food makes your dog sick or for any other reason. Discount code, human grade food, subscriptions, and other circumstances are non refundable. Their food smelled bad enough to nauseate me, and it made my babies sick.
Response from Happy HowlAug 22, 2025
We’re truly sorry to hear that you and your dogs had a negative experience. At Happy Howl, nothing matters more to us than the health and happiness of the dogs we serve—and we take your concerns seriously. 1. Food Safety & Quality All of our recipes are made in a USDA-inspected human-grade facility, using only real, human-grade ingredients with no preservatives or fillers. Each batch undergoes strict quality control and testing. If your dogs experienced any symptoms after eating our food, we urge you to consult your vet and report the details to our team so we can investigate thoroughly and escalate to our QA department if needed. 2. Smell Our gently cooked food contains real meat, bone broth, and fresh vegetables—ingredients that naturally smell stronger than dry kibble, especially because we don’t use artificial flavor masking or additives. That said, taste and smell are subjective, and we understand if the aroma didn’t align with your expectations. 3. Refund Policy Transparency We’re completely transparent about our refund policy, which is clearly outlined at checkout and in our terms. Because we sell perishable, human-grade food, we are unable to resell or reuse any opened items, which limits our ability to offer refunds in certain cases—particularly for discounted or subscription orders. That said, our customer care team is always willing to help and may offer solutions depending on the situation. 4. We’re Here to Help If your dogs had a negative reaction, we would love to learn more and see how we can support you. Our onboarding process exists to help dogs transition gradually, and many pups who experience early digestive upset end up thriving with a slower introduction. We’d be happy to walk you through that if you’re open to it. Please reach out to us directly at [email protected]. We truly care about your pups, and we’d like the chance to make this right.
Pamela J.
There is a $19.95 withdrawal out of my bank account for this company. I do not have a dog. I’ve never ordered from this company. I would like my money put back into my bank account please Pamela Jones 11423 North Lake Dr., Fenton, MI 48430. Phone number is 810-845-9930. the money was taken out of a Fifth third checking account. I never ordered these. I have not received anything.
Response from Happy HowlAug 22, 2025
Thank you for reaching out. After a full review of our customer database, we can confirm that we have no record of any transaction, account, order, or subscription under your name, address, phone number, or email. A few important notes: • Happy Howl only processes payments through verified, secure checkouts tied to confirmed customer purchases. • We do not have the ability to withdraw funds from any account without an authorized order placed by the cardholder. • If you see an unrecognized charge, this may be a case of fraudulent card use or confusion with a similarly named entity. What You Should Do: Please contact your bank or card issuer immediately to report the charge and initiate a formal dispute. They will be able to reverse the charge and investigate if your account information has been compromised. We’re truly sorry this happened to you, but rest assured, this transaction did not originate from our company, and we have no access to your account or funds. If your bank needs documentation from us to assist in the dispute, we’re happy to help—just have them contact [email protected] directly. Sincerely, The Happy Howl Team
Pat Edtl H.
Do NOT buy Happy Howl dog food. Initially, my dogs loved it, then quickly lost interest, then vomited twice after eating it. The company does not give you a courtesy warning when the subscription processes. Their refund policy includes an extensive list of exceptions, two being if you received a discount and if you ordered via subscription. They then said they would never take a product back because they can’t resell it. So, who qualifies for a refund? The email I received from them sounds like it was written in Chinglish AI and included how to introduce a new food to my dog – something I already did 2 months ago and informed them as such. I’m now out $379 (for 96 packs, the mailing boxes have not even been opened) plus the 30 packs from my 1st order that I wasn’t even asking them to refund. In a time when customer service makes or breaks a company, their customer service is substandard, for sure. Buyer beware!
Response from Happy HowlAug 22, 2025
Hi Pamela, We take claims like this very seriously. After searching our entire customer database by your name, email address, phone number, and mailing address, we can confirm that there is no record of any orders or subscriptions under your information in our system. We are not showing any transactions associated with your name or contact info. A few important notes: • Happy Howl only processes payments through secure, verifiable checkouts tied to confirmed customer orders. • If you believe your card was used without authorization, we strongly recommend contacting your bank immediately to dispute the charge and ensure your account is secure. • This may have been the result of fraudulent use of your card or identity, and your bank can initiate a formal investigation. To ensure we get to the bottom of this and rule out any possible error, please email our customer support team at [email protected] with a screenshot of the charge, including the transaction ID, and we will look into it further on our end. Thank you, The Happy Howl Team
Janet
Their return policy is scan! My baby got sick with this food, cost me two visits to the veterinary with stomach issues.
Response from Happy HowlAug 22, 2025
We’re truly sorry to hear that your pup wasn’t feeling well. As dog parents ourselves, we know how upsetting it is when your dog isn’t at their best, and we take feedback like this very seriously. Regarding Your Concern: • Food Safety: Every batch of Happy Howl is made in a USDA-inspected, human-grade facility with strict quality and safety controls. Our recipes are formulated by veterinary nutritionists to be complete and balanced for adult dogs. If your dog experienced symptoms, it could have been due to a sensitivity or a sudden diet change, which is why we always recommend a slow transition over 5–7 days. • Return Policy Transparency: Because our food is perishable and made with fresh ingredients, we’re unable to accept returns or resell opened products. This is standard across the pet food industry and is clearly stated in our policy at checkout and on our website. That said, our team does everything we can to offer support, credits, or partial refunds when appropriate—especially in situations where a pup has a sensitive stomach. We would love to understand more about what happened and see how we can help. Please reach out directly to our customer care team at [email protected] with any vet documentation or details so we can make this right. Wishing your dog a quick and full recovery, The Happy Howl Team
