Why CNN Anchor Chris Cuomo Feeds His Dog Ollie

Breaking news: the man who received the Edward R. Murrow award for his work covering breaking news thinks there’s a better way to feed your dog. (Yes, this is the same man pictured above in his Halloween costume.) After adopting his lab mix Alabama (also pictured above!) from a kill shelter several years ago, Chris Cuomo says his dog has become part of the family—and giving him food he knows will help him stay healthy has become a priority. He answers our questions about why he made the switch to Ollie—and shares how the food helped his dog "tell time."

Ollie: How do you stay active and healthy with your dog?

Chris: He’s got my three children—and technically four, because I’m playful with him all the time on the weekends and all summer long. We’re very active in the yard and at the beach—he plays by himself a lot. I try more often than not to take him around the entire reservoir [in Central Park]. I used to do it jogging with him, then he got his knees done so now i’m just walking him around.

Ollie: How do you treat Alabama as part of the family?

Chris: When you have something that makes your kids happy, he becomes very important. I believe that humans should be accompanied by pets—I think it increase our humanity, reinforces a lot of the gentility in life that we forget about. And Alabama has the best disposition, he is such a family dog.

Ollie: Why was it important to you to feed him freshly made, human-grade food like Ollie?

Chris: It was a little bit of a ‘Eureka!’ moment. I always suspected I was feeding my dog shit so when I confirmed that, it made perfect sense. I’m not price sensitive—you get what you put into things—so if you put shit into your dog, you can’t be surprised when they get cancer.

Ollie: Has Alabama ever had weight issues?

Chris: Weight is one of the things that showed me that Ollie is a superior offering for dogs. We all know kibble that comes in a bag sucks—we tell ourselves it’s ok. However, his weight was going up and down, we had to work to keep it under control. Once he was on Ollie, he got to the weight our vet wanted him to be at in no time—and he was actually eating more on a volume basis. The food is helpful in that regard—we have his portion calculated as half a container, so you know you’re going through a container a day.

Ollie: What has his reaction been to the food?

Chris: The food has taught Alabama how to tell time! He knows when it’s mealtime—he loves the food, gets excited and devours it. It’s awesome.

The Ollie blog is devoted to helping pet parents lead healthier lives with their pups. If you want to learn more about our fresh, human-grade food, check out MyOllie.com.