Friendly disclaimer: Every dog is different, from their nutritional needs to meal portion sizes. What works for my dogs may not work for yours. This is not meant to be taken as nutritional advice or a feeding guide for your own dog. I'm just providing general info and anecdotes about the products I feed my dogs on backpacking trips. Everything shared here is my own opinion from my personal experience with these products. Nothing sponsored!
Jump To:
Today I'd like to share with you what I feed my dogs when backpacking. Believe it or not, there are a lot of options nowadays including freeze dried meals. Yes, they make freeze dried food for dogs! Of course there's nothing wrong with taking regular kibble on the trail, but it can be pretty heavy. Also, if your dogs are anything like mine eating the same dry crunchy pellets for every meal gets old real quick. Just like me, they look forward to eating something tasty and comforting after a long day of adventuring. So, when I first started researching backpacking food for my dogs it had to meet the following criteria:
Nutrition: it had to contain minimally processed ingredients that would provide them with the protein, fat, and calories needed to fuel them throughout our hikes
Weight: it had to be light enough that I could pack multiple meals in the dog's saddlebags that they could comfortably carry for the duration of the trips.
Easy Storage: not only did it have to fit in the dogs' packs, it also had to be compact enough to fit in the bear bag or canister along with my own food when properly storing everything at night.
Taste: obviously I can’t personally speak to how the food tastes. But I know based on the dogs' reactions when I tear open the package and prepare the food they really like it. When they're not interested in the food I give them, it's chore to get these dogs to eat. So, the food I chose for backpacking trips had to be something I knew they would get excited about.
For reference, both of my dogs are German Shepherds. Barrett is a 110lb male and Nora is an 85lb female. They are both two years old. Hopefully this info helps when I mention the approximate serving sizes I pack for my dogs in the rest of this post.
Instinct RAW Freeze Dried Meals
Instinct freeze dried food is predominantly what my dogs eat on the trail. When packing individual dinner size portions, I'll put a scoop of the kibble they normally eat at home with two or three scoops of the Instinct freeze dried food in a quart size freezer bag. It's light weight, contains minimally processed ingredients, and best of all the dogs LOVE it! Nora's absolute favorite is the lamb flavor. 1 cup of the freeze dried pellets weighs about 1.5 oz on my kitchen scale. I get the 25 oz size bag delivered every 4 to 6 months through Subscribe and Save on Amazon. It provides me with enough to make between 8 and 10 meals.
Flavors: Beef, Chicken, and Lamb
Requires Rehydration: Yes
Calories: 183 kcal/cup
Check out Instinct's full nutrition info PDF here.
Package Sizes: 25 oz, 9.5 oz, and 2 oz
Price Range: $55 - $60 (25 oz) $25 - $30 (9.5 oz) $5 - $7 (2 oz)
Where to Purchase: PetCo, PetSmart, Pet Supplies Plus, and Amazon.
You can find more info about this product and others like it at Instinct's official website: instinctpetfood.com
Acana Freeze Dried Patties
Acana's freeze dried patties are another meal option I offer my dogs. In my opinion they make the perfect breakfast. I typically pack three to four patties in a quart size freezer bag for each dog for one meal. This is another light weight option with quality ingredients. Both Barrett and Nora love the duck flavor. The 14 oz bag of these patties doesn't last as long as the 25 oz bag of Instinct food. It provides about enough for 4 or 5 meals. One patty weighs just under 1 oz on my kitchen scale.
Flavors: Beef, Chicken, Turkey, and Duck
Requires Rehydration: Yes
Calories: 105 kcal per patty
Check out the nutritional info for the chicken flavor here.
Package Sizes: 14 oz
Price Range: $30 - $35
Where to Purchase: PetCo, Pet Supplies Plus, and Amazon.
You can find more info about this product and others like it at Acana's official website: acana.com Acana also makes freeze dried morsels similar to Instinct, but I haven't personally given that product to my dogs yet.
Instinct Healthy Cravings Pouches
Another product from Instinct the dogs eat on the trail is the Healthy Cravings wet dog food topper. Each pouch is a single serving which I will either pour over a scoop of regular kibble or pour in the bowl by itself. These make a great addition to the dogs' dinner or an midday snack. It isn't the lightest weight food option, but it comes in a very compact pouch with about 3 oz of food inside. The total weight of one pouch including packaging is 3.3 oz on my kitchen scale. You can purchase these individually or in a variety pack. The variety pack includes 12 pouches, 4 of each flavor.
Flavors: Beef, Chicken, Lamb, and Salmon (not included in variety pack)
Requires Rehydration: No
Calories: 70 - 85 kcal per pouch
Package Sizes: 3 oz (available in 12 pouch variety pack)
Price Range: $1.99 (individual) $20 - $25 (variety pack)
You can find more info about this product and others like it at Instinct's official website: instinctpetfood.com
Other Options
Another dog food option I'm currently trying with Barrett and Nora is The Honest Kitchen Beef and Oat recipe kibble. Once I've taken it out on a couple trips for the dogs, I'll update this post with an overview and general info list like I did for the other products above. In the meantime, you can read more about this product from The Honest Kitchen at: thehonestkitchen.com
Along with food specifically made for dogs, I will also pack people food that is safe for my dogs to eat (in moderation). Below is a list of snacks I typically pack on trips for us to share:
single serve packets of plain chicken, tuna, or salmon
unsalted dry roasted peanuts
single serve peanut butter packets
cheerios (original / unflavored)
pretzels (unsalted)
freeze dried or dehydrated apples
freeze dried or dehydrated bananas
single serve applesauce pouches
rice cakes (original / unflavored)
plain oatmeal
Moon Cheese / dehydrated cheese crisps
I hope you found this post helpful today. Once again every dog is different. Do not feed your dog anything they have suspected or known allergies to or that you haven't asked your veterinarian about first.
