View Full Version : dehyrdated raw dog food
sarahgirl
10-12-2009, 14:36
I searched this thread, but didnt come up with any hits. Does anyone have any information/recipes for dehydrating raw dog food?
I did a quick search for recipes, but it kept coming up with products I could buy. Honest kitchen looks promising, but I obviously dont have the money for it and am trying to do it myself.
I will talk to my vet, but this forum has been a great resource site, thought I would check here first.
Thanks.
Dicentra
10-12-2009, 14:45
Could canned dog food be dried? I'm thinking of something along the lines of refried beans (but with dog food)
Hmmm... might have to test this one. I don't have a dog, but my best friend does. And she hikes... :)
Wise Old Owl
10-12-2009, 14:59
oh wow - rehydrating dog food on the trail?
Dicentra
10-12-2009, 15:02
oh wow - rehydrating dog food on the trail?
I think it would work... If the fat content of the canned food wasn't too high to begin with. Add oil in camp? Might be worth trying!
superman
10-12-2009, 15:27
There's plenty of re-supply for your dog along the AT. Your dog will pig out on town stops as you will. I carried treats that both Winter and I enjoyed as we hiked. One time I ran out of my food and Winter was nice enough to share hers. :)
Like many people some dogs will stop eating for a while. The sardines and treats I carried got her eating. Feed your dog about an hour after you stop hiking for the day and make sure it eats. Winter went off the trail to go to the bathroom because she saw that was what I did. She quickly learned about treats at break time and meal time. She quickly learned to be directed where to drink from or not by my pointing my hiking stick or blocking her. Winter was trained for verbal, hand/stick commands. She was also trained to get to me as fast as she could with a dog whistle I carried.
Non of these things are difficult but you don't want to make it harder than it needs to be.:)
sarahgirl
10-12-2009, 16:33
Could canned dog food be dried? I'm thinking of something along the lines of refried beans (but with dog food)
Hmmm... might have to test this one. I don't have a dog, but my best friend does. And she hikes... :)
I hadnt thought of this...wouldnt see why not.
I'm thinking along the lines of raw food. Veggies, raw meat, eggs that sort of stuff. I personally dont eat meat, but I think it would be good for her out there. Wondering if I just threw it all in a food processor and dried it out, if that would work and if so how long it would keep. I sure wouldnt want to make her sick. Need to research this more.
Adding oil out there is a good idea.
Superman...thanks for the things to consider bit on hiking with a dog. Very helpful. The reason I bring the topic of drying dog food, is because I don't want to make as many maildrops and town stops, I want to lighten the load of the dog food and make it stretch a few extra days if possible. It's bad enough I will be carrying a tent for her to sleep in...just trying to cut some weight.
I know that Packitgourmet does carry a line pf dog food - maybe check it out?
LaurieAnn
10-12-2009, 20:11
I can honestly say this is one thing I've never tried although I do make homemade dog cookies. Then again our trail dog (don't laugh) is a Shih Tzu so the food weight is nominal. I know, totally funny-verging-on-hysterical but he's a terrific little guy on the trail. He tires at about 15 km though so if we are doing long hiking days on a trip he goes to the kennel/spa for the trip.
What about taking something like chicken livers and making a dog food (I'm sure you could find some recipes online) and then grinding it up in the food processor both before and after dehydration so you have a powder. It should work.
sarahgirl
10-13-2009, 02:26
I can honestly say this is one thing I've never tried although I do make homemade dog cookies. Then again our trail dog (don't laugh) is a Shih Tzu so the food weight is nominal. I know, totally funny-verging-on-hysterical but he's a terrific little guy on the trail. He tires at about 15 km though so if we are doing long hiking days on a trip he goes to the kennel/spa for the trip.
What about taking something like chicken livers and making a dog food (I'm sure you could find some recipes online) and then grinding it up in the food processor both before and after dehydration so you have a powder. It should work.
Lol! Hey, if the dog's happy its all good!
Good suggestion...think I will attempt this on my next day off. I will let you know how it goes :D
I'm with you Wise Od Owl. WOW! Dehydrating dog food. Only in America and here at WB! Kinda makes sense though when I really think about it.
I've been spending way too much time reading Dicentra's, Sarbar's, and Laurie Ann's posts! I can see their dehydrating minds working overtime on this one! I bet at least one of them comes back and tells us of their dehydrating dog food experiments shortly!
Dicentra
10-13-2009, 03:21
I'm with you Wise Od Owl. WOW! Dehydrating dog food. Only in America and here at WB! Kinda makes sense though when I really think about it.
I've been spending way too much time reading Dicentra's, Sarbar's, and Laurie Ann's posts! I can see their dehydrating minds working overtime on this one! I bet at least one of them comes back and tells us of their dehydrating dog food experiments shortly!
Can't hurt to try! :cool:
LaurieAnn
10-13-2009, 09:11
My dog is going to enjoy this experiment. The dryer is already running.
I didn't create my own recipe - I'll try that later... but I am using this one...
http://www.barkbarkimhungry.com/casserole.html
sheepdog
10-13-2009, 09:17
Why not feed it a good quality dry dog food? If the dog is tired and not hungry an added gravey packet with hot water would probably do the trick.
superman
10-13-2009, 11:29
Why not feed it a good quality dry dog food? If the dog is tired and not hungry an added gravey packet with hot water would probably do the trick.
When Winter and I started the AT I tried to get special dog food for her in the mail. That plan crashed and burned in big flames. As you say, supplementing what's available along the AT works. The best plan is a simple plan. If folks want to sit around and bake cookies and stuff for their dog at home that's nice but if your talking about a food plan for hiking the AT it needs to be as simple and easy as you can make it.
Why not feed it a good quality dry dog food? If the dog is tired and not hungry an added gravey packet with hot water would probably do the trick.
Or can of tuna. Let the juice soak in, so they don't suck the juice off and spit the pellet at you. Ya, you think I'm making that up don't you.:)
sarahgirl
10-13-2009, 15:05
Why not feed it a good quality dry dog food? If the dog is tired and not hungry an added gravey packet with hot water would probably do the trick.
Hmm gravy, I like that idea.
Superman- did you find that you were having to make extra trips into town because you couldnt carry as much of her food with you? I'm not trying to skimp on her food, I just want to spend less time in towns, so it would be nice to make a lightweight alternative to the dry dog food. Also, I'm trying to save money and not have to buy her food the entire way. When we do hit towns, i would try to load her up on canned fatty foods as someone suggested earlier.
sheepdog
10-13-2009, 15:52
Or can of tuna. Let the juice soak in, so they don't suck the juice off and spit the pellet at you. Ya, you think I'm making that up don't you.:)
nope seen it happen.
I've never hiked real long distance with a dog but, I have owned hunting dogs (springer spaniels) for more than 30 years. Sometimes on a long exhausting hunt the dogs would simply be too tired to eat. That is when gravy, canned food, tuna, or anything that will get the dogs interest is vital. Soaking dry dog food in hot water with a gravy packet has worked the best for me. They also will eat about 10 mcdonalds hamburgers no matter how tired.:D
Wise Old Owl
10-15-2009, 01:06
Dogs hate dog food because guys like me SPOIL our dogs. Speggetti is what they want.... no vegetables. No surprise here. As I write this Sheepdogs post above is 100 percent the answer here.
But Ruby is too finiky
My dog, Ben, did 300 miles with me on my hike this year. I did mail drops of a high energy working dog food, and it didnt work out too well. You can never tell what the mileage will be like when you plan. I expected Ben to only do 10 miles a day max, so I packed flat rate boxes as full as possible with food. He ended up doing 15 miles his first day, and by the end of it his last day was a 22 mile day. He chose the pace and everything by the way. So I ended up hitting the next resupply with food still in my pack.
Just about every town has a store somewhere that sells a 5lb bag of dog food. That will get you to your next resupply. Also consider tossing in a little cat food too for the extra energy.
The easiest and most lightweight way I found to get him to eat every day was to add a little extra water to every meal I cooked myself. WHen it was done cooking I poured the juices form my food over his. Just enough to make it wet.
As far as cost, the mail drops will probalby end up costing more. When you factor in cost of the food itself then the cost of shipping. A bag of dog food can cost just what you may end up paying for shipping.
sarahgirl
11-02-2009, 16:54
My dog, Ben, did 300 miles with me on my hike this year. I did mail drops of a high energy working dog food, and it didnt work out too well. You can never tell what the mileage will be like when you plan. I expected Ben to only do 10 miles a day max, so I packed flat rate boxes as full as possible with food. He ended up doing 15 miles his first day, and by the end of it his last day was a 22 mile day. He chose the pace and everything by the way. So I ended up hitting the next resupply with food still in my pack.
Just about every town has a store somewhere that sells a 5lb bag of dog food. That will get you to your next resupply. Also consider tossing in a little cat food too for the extra energy.
The easiest and most lightweight way I found to get him to eat every day was to add a little extra water to every meal I cooked myself. WHen it
was done cooking I poured the juices form my food over his. Just enough to make it wet.
As far as cost, the mail drops will probalby end up costing more. When you factor in cost of the food itself then the cost of shipping. A bag of dog food can cost just what you may end up paying for shipping.
Thanks for the tip about supplementing with leftover juices. I think this idea of supplementing sounds far easier than food prep and maildrops. Im still going to do a few maildrops for maps and some "gourmet" meals every once in a while, but the majority of resupplies will be done in town.
Thanks for the tip about supplementing with leftover juices. I think this idea of supplementing sounds far easier than food prep and maildrops. Im still going to do a few maildrops for maps and some "gourmet" meals every once in a while, but the majority of resupplies will be done in town.
That's probably a good way to do it. Maybe check out Baltimore Jack's resupply article, and send drops of dehydrated food to towns where you need a longer resupply. That way your dogs food will be lighter on the sections where your pack will be heaviest. Also there are places where a mail drop are more convenient, so you might as well send dog food there too.