Finding good brick-and-mortar pet supply stores of both the small independent and big-box discount variety is easy to do in my sector. I live in Chicago, about five minutes from two large chain stores and about fifteen minutes from an all natural pet food store. Could I still benefit by using an online pet food retailer?

MrChewy.com gave me the opportunity to find out: the answer is a definite “YES!”

I got a chance to try it out last month over the Presidents Day holiday with a simulated “emergency” food order. Freya was about to hit bottom on a bag of California Natural Lamb Meal & Rice Large Bites. If you are a repeat visitor, you might recall that Freya has a mild case of IBS and it is one of a very few foods that agrees with her. Happily, it is also one of the more than 70 brands of food currently carried by Mr. Chewy — an excellent variety, with an emphasis on premium and natural foods. Mr. Chewy’s selection of California Natural varieties is actually better than what is available locally. I have had a hard time finding the low calorie and grain free varieties at times.

Mr. Chewy also carries Axel’s favorite food choices: Wellness CORE and Orijen 6 Fish. I had been wanting to try Acana Pacifica as a substitute for the Orijen 6 Fish since it is slightly less expensive, but it wasn’t widely available locally. Since it was in stock at Mr. Chewy, I placed our order for a large bag of California Natural and a small bag of Pacifica. The shopping experience on this well-organized, easy to navigate website was pleasant with no surprises. Out of stock items were clearly marked as such and the toll-free number and live chat link were displayed on every page if I did have a question.

One of the most attractive benefits of Mr. Chewy is their free 1-2 day shipping for orders over $49. This is a huge deal for heavy items like the large bags of dog food. I had previously used another online pet food retailer to send food to Axel when he was on the road with Julia chasing his AKC Championship. While service and selection were satisfactory, the expensive shipping charges were not pretty. So it is wonderful to see Mr. Chewy offering both the free shipping option for orders over $49 and a $4.95 flat rate for smaller orders.

So. Would the food arrive as promised before Freya hit the bottom of the bag? Yes, it did! The order was placed on Monday afternoon and arrived on Wednesday afternoon as promised. It was raining that day, and no one was home when the package arrived. Not to worry, as it was packaged nicely and our FedEx driver doesn’t throw our boxes over our fence.

I did a quick check of local pricing of our most-purchased items. Base prices average about a dollar more at Mr. Chewy than at my usual local stores. However, sales taxes in Cook County and Chicago are among the highest in the country, as are gasoline prices, so the total cost from Mr. Chewy ends up the same or less than a local purchase.

In addition to dog food, Mr. Chewy carries a good selection of cat food, dog and cat treats, dog potty pads, cat litter, and flea and tick treatments. There is a further discount to their already-competitive pricing if you set up subscription ordering.

If that isn’t enough to get you interested, Mr. Chewy also has a referral program that benefits not only shoppers, but animal-related charities as well. If you try Mr. Chewy, enter my referral code KWIL7576 when you check out. Mr. Chewy will give you 10% off your first order, and donate $10 to their partner pet charities. The vom Viersen Rottweilers give Mr. Chewy a big paws up!

For more information or to place your first order, go to MrChewy.com or visit their Facebook page.

MrChewy.com offered us a store credit to use in reviewing their service. I did not receive any other compensation for this review and am not connected to MrChewy.com other than as a satisfied customer. I thank them for the store credit and the opportunity to write this review.