Is Raw Dog Food Safe for Camping? Keeping It Safe Outdoors

Is raw dog food safe to take camping?

Yes, and the honest reason is that freeze-dried raw was almost made for it. There is no cooler to keep cold, no thaw to race, and no soft bag going warm in the trunk. The sealed bag keeps at room temperature until you open it. It is still raw, though, so the habits that keep raw food safe in your kitchen come along for the trip. They are simple, and they fit in a pack.

What we do before it reaches your pack

Raw safety starts with the maker. We run a kill-step process and test the finished food, and the equipment it is made on, for Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli. Our recipes are developed with a veterinarian and a chemical engineer on staff. That work happens in our plant, so the part left for you is small. The full story is in is freeze-dried raw safe?.

We will not tell you any raw food is risk-free. An FDA study found Salmonella and Listeria more often in raw pet foods than in dry ones (Nemser et al., 2014), and the FDA notes that people can be infected by handling raw pet food. That is exactly why we test, and why the habits below matter.

What you do outdoors

Freeze-drying does not cook the food, so treat it like raw at home: wash hands and bowls, seal the bag, and toss rehydrated leftovers after two hours. Outdoors, that turns into five habits.

1. Hands

Soap and water if you have it, even a splash from a bottle. If not, hand sanitizer right after you scoop, stir, and pick up the bowl. Clip the sanitizer to the dog-food bag so it is never a question. Wash properly at the first sink you reach, and before you handle your own food.

2. Sealed bags

Keep the big bag sealed between meals: roll it down and clip it. Better still, bag each day's amount at home in its own sealed bag. Nothing spills in the pack, nothing picks up dirt, and you can count days at a glance. Keep the dog's food in its own stuff sack, apart from yours.

3. Bowls

Add warm water, let your dog eat, and wash the bowl right after. A collapsible bowl rinses in a few seconds with filtered water and a drop of camp soap. Do not let it sit. A dirty bowl is both a hygiene problem and a wildlife invitation. Dry it and stow it with the food.

4. The two-hour rule

Once you add water, the food is a fresh raw meal. After rehydrating, remove and discard any leftovers after 2 hours. Bag them and pack them out with your trash. Never leave them at the site, bury them, or offer them to the local wildlife.

5. Wildlife and bear canisters

Dog food is a scented item, the same as your own. Where bear canisters are required, the dog's food goes in the canister, along with the used bowl and any waste bags. At a car campground, use the bear box or the locked car. In between, hang it with your own food. Nothing with a food smell stays in the tent, and that includes the bowl, the empty bag, and the dog's treats. Freeze-dried makes this easy because a few days of food is a small, dry packet that fits in any canister.

Water for the soak

Use the same water you would drink. Filtered, treated, or carried in, then warmed on the stove or poured from an insulated bottle. Stream water straight into the bowl is a bad idea for the same reasons it is for you. Keep a separate water bowl down at camp and offer water at every break.

Which homes should check with a vet first

Most dogs and most households do fine with freeze-dried raw. A home with an infant, an older relative, someone who is pregnant, or someone with a weakened immune system should talk with their vet about raw handling first. So should the owner of a dog with a weakened immune system. Your vet knows your dog and your home.

The short version

Hands, sealed bags, clean bowl, two hours, canister. Five habits, none of them hard, and the trip is yours. The trail feeding card has them on one printable page, and what to feed at camp covers the rest of the routine.

AlphaPak is a food, not a medicine, and nothing here replaces your vet's advice. Not sure which recipe to pack? Find your recipe takes about a minute, and we are happy to help.