Have you considered having dog treats in your preps?
Whether you make dog treats for your dog(s) now,
or not have you thought about making some
for them in prepping for times to come?
I have quite a few hard biscuits given to me from a
Pet Project but my dogs prefer something a little
more tasty. I prefer to give them something a
bit more nutritious as well.
We prep things for our comfort and well being in
prepping so what about them. If it might be
stressful for us and how about for them
when times are tougher.
I have a pretty simple and straight forward recipe
I use 2 eggs, approximately 20 Tablespoons of
powdered peanut butter (I use the Powdered
Peanut Butter because very little fat content
means less chance of spoilage), 1 quart of chicken
broth or water, and approximately 7-9 cups of flour.
Beat 2 eggs, add the broth or water and then the powdered
peanut butter and mix well. If you want to add
fruit it’s better to use dehyrated unless not going
to store long term then you can use ripe bananas,
blueberries, etc.
Next stir in the flour. I use half soft white wheat berries
made into flour and half white flour but you can use
all white if it’s what you have.
You can also purchase the white wheat berry flour already
done for you. Whatever works for you.
You want your dough a bit sticky after all your hands will
wash and too much flour makes them tough once baked.
I make the treats in a treat maker. You can do them in the oven
if you choose by dropping on a lightly greased cookie sheet
or flour your counter and cut them out
with a cookie cutter in a bone shape or any shape
you choose actually. I use about 1 teaspoon of the dough
when using the treat maker.
The dogs will be happy to have a small tasty treat and
doesn’t need to be humongous even if your dog is large.
As long as there is electricity I can use the dog treat maker and
won’t be an issue. If I had to I could probably dissemble it and
do over a low fire outdoors if need be.
Or simply cook them in my earthen oven
outdoors.
I do keep some out for the dogs each time I make these
but for long term storage I’d suggest storing in mylar bags
with oxygen absorbers or in canning jars with a sealing machine
that includes the means to vacuum the air out of the jar with a sealer.
I do both.
I’d like to hear about if you decide to add food preps to your
supplies and how you store yours.
Thanks for reading!
Cindy
P.S. I first found a recipe for making dog treats here and adapted
to my own liking:
https://www.askaprepper.com/diy-dog-treats-that-last-a-long-time/
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JamieLynn
Prepping for the pets, Very important 🙂
I’m always glad when this topic gets covered.
Cindy
Hi Jamie,
Thanks for stopping by and for sharing.
I think it truly is important to address our pets when it comes to prepping.
If you have some wisdom to share, please do.
I know you always seem to have a good wealth of knowledge that
I find helpful and appreciate.
Carla H.
I have thought about the pets in a crisis scenario, mostly about stocking food for them, but the treat recipe sounds like a good one to try. We have our two beagles plus our son’s 3 dogs for right now plus the cats. They go through treats like crazy.
Do you know how long dry dog food/cat food lasts?
Cindy
Hello Carla,
I thought I’d share a reply to your comment but don’t see it.
If it shows up twice it will be twice answered lol
I know you are mindful of those precious beagles, your son’s’ dogs and the cats.
If it’s anything like at my house, they certainly like their treats and any extra
they get to have.
I hope you try the dog treat recipe and let me know how the dogs like them.
My indoor cats are picky so at this point haven’t found any treats I can make they will eat.
The feral outside will eat most anything.
If the time comes there is only homemade treats for all the cats they’ll have to adjust or not
have any. Perhaps in times to come I can share a few cat treat and cat food recipes as well.
There are various schools of thought on how long dog and cat food last stored.
Some say to only store until the ‘best used by date’ and others say up to 2 years.
I think it best to store extra dog and cat food for long term in either jars vacuum sealed or in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers.
I do both. I believe this ensures the food will last a good long time.
Sometimes dog and cat food are made in such a way, even the best brands to last a long
time on the shelf and that isn’t always a good thing. Also sometimes the quality of the bags
it’s placed in isn’t that great either. So getting it out of the bags or containers it came in
is a smart thing to do in my opinion. Also using oxygen absorbers makes darn sure no bugs are in the food.
They can’t survive or their eggs in an oxygen free area like a mylar bag or jar with no oxygen.
Just as I do my own food, I rotate using oldest first and replenish what I’ve used with new.
To me and in my humble opinion, the ‘Best Buy’ and ‘Best Used By’ dates are misleading. Those do not mean the food is no longer edible
or usable.
It’s actually quite misleading and sadly many people throw food away because they think those dates mean
it is no longer any good. Couldn’t be further from the truth.
Of course whether it’s human or dog and cat food, if it appears to not be alright then by all means
toss it out.
I hope this helps some and it’s the best answers I have for now.
If I learn more that may be helpful, I will definitely share.