Traveling with a dog on a raw diet, with severe allergies and a sensitive stomach sounds like its going to be a real PITA! It would be nice if I could just grab a bag of kibble and go! & we have tried HK but 1. it made him break out in a rash, which happens with most everything. But it is much worse if he fed anything other than meat. and 2. he hated it. So that is a no go. I am going to have to bring meat with me, keep it frozen and just keep re buying at the grocery store as I run out. Has anyone else had to do this? I am a little nervous on how to pull it off. Someone mentioned trying dry ice to keep it frozen/cold without having to deal with the melting ice etc...

I can't lift a full ice chest out of my trunk by myself. So it would be best if I could use dry ice and just get the food out of the trunk when I need to defrost it/feed him.

ETA: I have never used dry ice in my life, so I don't even know if that is logical.

what about the food rolls that pet smart sells beef, chicken or lamb no fridge until opened? easy to pack

That stuff is full of preservatives, and other 'stuff' that I'm sure would send Capone into a giant allergy attack. Poor guy!

Kristi- I know we've got a couple forum members around that area- maybe they'll be able to hook you up with a good resource for raw while out there?

(Hey, Ana!!! I'm talking about you! Heck, I don't even know if you feed raw though. Humph. Maybe my great idea wasn't so great after all)

check out yardsales

there are these super tiny portable refridgerators that hold about a 12 pack of beer. They plug into cars via the cirgarette lighter and often have adaptors for walls for use in a hotel.

You used to be able to by them new at Sharper Image but they pop up around here at yard sales all the time...a lot of them have settings to turn them into freezers too, I know someone who uses one to fuel their ice cream addiction on the road.

 Quote: Kristi Molina

I am going to have to bring meat with me, keep it frozen and just keep re buying at the grocery store as I run out. Has anyone else had to do this? I am a little nervous on how to pull it off.

There ARE grocery stores in and around Fairfield. It's not like it's in the middle of the desert (Never mind my sig pic ) There is a Safeway, Petco and Walmart just around the corner. You'll probably survive.

lol I figured there were stores near by. I just was hoping not to spend a million dollars buying food every day at the grocery store for him. We are used to co-ops. Or buying whole chickens for cheap and cutting them up. Actually, I guess If I bring my ex large cutting bored and knife I could just buy a whole chicken and cut up into 3/4 portions over the sink depending on how much he eats in class. And now that I think about it, my parents have one of those small plug in fridges. I could take that. I don't know why I didn't think of that before! I guess, because I was thinking I needed to pre pack most of his meat to avoid spending so much money.

I don't think I can get those k9 Magic rolls in time. But I can try and cook A LOT of my ground beef/liver treats ahead of time. plus hotdogs. The link for the red barn rolls didn't work but I will go google them.

If he was a normal dog I would just use a high quality canned/kibble but every one I tried previous to raw made his allergies much much worse. and we would have instant explosive diarrhea for days. Its just too much on him to change to kibble than come home and change back to raw again.

I've traveled for 10 days with my dogs & feed raw with no problems.

A good cooler that you can plug into the car lighter & in the outlet in the room is great. I had gotten one at Costco. A regular good quality cooler with lots of ice will keep food good for a number of days. Just keep dumping the water & adding fresh ice. I put the food in frozen (per meal packages of meat-do ahead if this is not the usual way that you store you dog food)& then take it out for each meal & sit it in the sink in a container in the room to thaw during the day for dinner or over night for breakfast. Put the salmon oil in the cooler on the top to keep from freezing & any other additions to the meal that you don't want to freeze but need to keep cold.

If you have a frig in your room, you can buy fresh to hold you for a few days at a time, also, as Ana said.

You can also use the Honest Kitchen products & add some fresh RMBs to it that you buy every few days & store in the frig or cooler. It is not all the difficult to do, if you give it some forethought.

Sit down & make a list of what you need to feed for that many days & go from there. If need be keep it simple. Using a limited variety, if that will make it easier for you, will be fine for just a couple of weeks. Just make up for the lesser variety when you get back home, by really adding in more variety then usual for a few days. Raw feeding is all about total balance over time. I doesn't have to be each day, although most of us strive for the best balance over a few days...but stretching that time frame for a week or 2 will not be a bad thing, especially for an older dog. I would definately choose a quality premade raw for a puppy, if traveling, though. You do want to keep a pup on as perfect of a balance as possible for that growing body.

JMO & what I have done.

Kristi, not sure if your dog has any sensitivity to Venison or Lamb, but Ziwi Peak is a great food for travel and is a dehydrated raw. Have you heard of it?

I know that it is a bit expensive, but it is a food my dogs will eat and is easy for travel, especially if you are not able to get refrigeration for the food.

Also, many premade raw companies( Nature's Variety, Stella and Chewy's) now make a freeze dried raw, that is ideal for traveling. Just throwing some alternatives your way just in case it makes sense for you.

I have stayed in hotels that except dogs where they have fridges in the rooms as well and it is doable.
I think the Quality Inn is one that has them.
I hope it all works out for you.

Thank you Ann and Joyce! I got the plug in ice chest/fridge from my parents, so I am going to use that. And I will buy meat as I go. I have never heard of ziwi peak, I am not sure if we have any around here but I will look it up! I got my list going of everything I will need, and if i forget something I should be fine grabbing it at one of the stores near by =) Now I just need time to go by faster! I am so excited!!