How do I feed my dog raw food when I travel?

I feed my dog Ace a pre-made raw dog food brand, Darwin’s. These patties are a convenient way to feed my dog raw food at home, and they’re pretty easy to pack for traveling as well.

Ace and I drove five hours to visit my parents in Wisconsin last weekend. I did not want to risk packing his frozen raw dog food patties in a cooler, so I had to think of something else.

I ended up bringing along his dry dog food (Evo) and feeding him that for the weekend. He seemed to do just fine with the temporary switch, but there are other options.

How to feed a dog raw food when you travel

One thing to keep in mind is your dog’s sensitive digestive system. Make sure you do not feed him anything new while you travel.

Don’t switch him to a dry food he has eaten in a few months. Don’t switch him to a freeze-dried raw dog food with a different protein source than he’s used to.

Don’t even feed him new dog treats or bones. A dog with explosive diarrhea is the last thing you want to worry about during your roadtrip!

Here are the options I considered for my dog Ace when we went on a roadtrip last weekend:

Feed your dog dry dog food during your trip.

I decided to pack and feed Ace dry dog food during our trip. This seemed like the easiest way to go. 

I thought Ace would be fine eating dry food for just a day and a half, and I was right. He ate raw food on Friday before we left, dry food for both meals on Saturday and one meal dry and one meal raw on Sunday. No big deal.

I was hesitant to switch him back to dry dog food for the weekend because I have heard that dogs do not do well when switching from raw food (easy on the body to digest) to dry food (difficult to digest).

Still, other dog owners swear their dogs are fine when they eat one dry meal and one raw meal every day or even when they mix the two for every meal. I’m sure it depends on the dog and the specific foods the dog is eating.

Ace might’ve had an easier time switching back to dry food for the weekend because he had only been eating 100 percent raw for five days. He had just eaten his dry food the previous weekend.

If I do continue feeding Ace raw food for the longterm, it might be worth it to feed him dry food once a week or so. That way if I feed him dry food on vacation, it shouldn’t be a huge surprise on his system.

Feed commercial freeze-dried raw dog food while traveling.

Another option I looked into was buying some freeze-dried raw dog food for the weekend. This is great for traveling because it does not have to be refrigerated or frozen. Since the price of freeze-dried raw dog food is much higher than dry food, I went with dry.

I also did not want to risk Ace getting sick from eating a brand new type of food. He’s never eaten freeze-dried raw food before. If I ever do feed him freeze-dried dog food while traveling, I will feed it to him for two to three days as a trial before we leave town.

Buy commercial raw dog food once you reach your destination.

This wasn’t a realistic option for me because I was headed to a small town in Wisconsin. I arrived at 9 p.m. and even if there was a natural pet food store in town, it probably wouldn’t be open that late on a Friday.

If you are headed to a larger city and you are getting there at a convenient time to pick up some raw dog food, then maybe this could be a realistic option for you.

Hopefully you are staying with understanding pet owners with a lot of freezer space. Be considerate and ask them ahead of time if it’s OK for your dog to eat raw food at their house, and if it’s OK to use their freezer for storage.

A lot of people are really bothered by dogs eating raw meat, and they are afraid of coming into contact with bacteria.

If you are staying at a hotel, ask for a room with a mini fridge and freezer and bring your own cooler along just in case.

I would rather feed my dog dry food during a trip than risk staying in a hotel room without a freezer and worrying that my cooler is not cold enough. Those mini fridges with a tiny “freezer” on top don’t seem very cold to me.

Another option is to have the food shipped right to your destination. Darwin’s is happy to do that for their customers!

Buy raw dog food ingredients like raw chicken from the grocery store once you arrive.

Buying ingredients for your dog’s meals at the local supermarket could be an option depending on where you are going, the time of day you are arriving and who you are staying with.

Again, I wouldn’t do this unless you have experience making your dog’s raw meals and he’s used to eating homemade raw food. Feed him foods he has eaten recently so you know he won’t get an upset stomach.

Can I leave raw dog food for my dog if he stays at a kennel?

That depends on each individual boarding facility. I pet sit a lot of dogs and I will absolutely feed dogs and cats raw food while their owners are away. I used to work at a boarding kennel, and even in 1999, dog owners were requesting that we feed their dogs raw. We did, and it really wasn’t a big deal.

If you are going to leave your dog at a kennel, dog daycare or pet sitter’s house, just make sure to ask in advance if it is OK to leave raw food for your dog.

Make sure whoever is caring for your dog understands what raw feeding involves – keeping the food frozen, washing the bowls and feeding area, etc. You’ll probably find that most dog care businesses are eager to go out of their way for you. They want your dog’s routine to be as normal as possible while you are away.

If your dog’s particular kennel or pet sitter is not willing to feed raw food, then you may want to consider leaving your dog somewhere else.

Or, you could switch your dog to dry food while you are away. Start feeding him dry food about a week before you leave in order to make sure his digestive system is doing OK with the switch.

That way he won’t have a tummy-ache when you are gone. You’ll also spare his caregiver some cleanup work 🙂

My dog eats raw dog food – day 42 update

Ace is continuing to do well eating raw dog food. I’m glad I didn’t decide to end the trial after he got sick from pneumonia and then his antibiotics.

There is not a whole lot to report other than he did just fine eating dry food for the weekend. I’ll probably feed him dry food every time we travel.

Ear infections

Ace’s ears seem normal. A few days ago, I thought he might be getting an ear infection, but today he seems fine. He is not shaking his head or scratching his ears anymore.

Itchy skin/dandruff

Ace is generally still itchy. He scratches all the time (most noticeably when I’m trying to sleep). And he still licks and chews his paws a lot.

Less poop!

Much of the same – small, hard turds that magically start to disappear into the ground if I don’t pick them up right away. Sometimes they are a bit crumbly. Maybe someone can tell me what that means. I wonder if he needs more fat in his diet – he’s about as lean as dogs can be!

My dog is always thirsty

Ace is burping and spitting up water in his mouth quite often – gross, I know. He throws up at least once a day when he gets too excited like when he runs up the stairs or chases after a ball. He also does this if he drinks too much water, so it’s a common occurrence at our house. It’s gotten worse since he’s been eating raw food.

Ace was very thirsty during our weekend trip while he ate dry food. I was giving him less water while we traveled, and he acted very thirsty all weekend. He took advantage of every opportunity to drink from the toilet – that’s my boy!

Now that we are home and he’s back to eating raw food, he hasn’t been as thirsty. He’s had water available all day and he’s only drank about 4 cups so far. He drinks about 8 cups of water per day.

Energy

Like always, my dog is pretty lazy. He’s still catching up on sleep from our “exciting” weekend. He is content to sleep the entire day. I have to make a point to take him out for at least one fun walk/fetch session each day even if he’s not full of energy.

Do you feed your dog raw dog food? What do you feed him when he travels?

Let me know in the comments!